Saturday, April 2, 2011

I drove in the rain and my car did not melt

Yes, I did it. I took the 308 out in the rain. Today was the annual NW Region Ferrari Club of America annual meeting. Last year, it was in town and this year it's in Portland -- some 200 miles away. I've been watching the weather forecast all week and it was looking grim. Today was forecast to be 80% showers all day long. I decided to not be such a rain wimp. After all, it's not like a single drive in the rain is going to destroy the car, right? What's the good of having this car if I can't drive it?

It wasn't raining when I left the house and I didn't have to turn on my wipers until about 75 miles away from home. For the next 125 miles, the weather alternated from sunny and dry to torrential downpour. Fortunately, it was mostly dry when I got to Portland. Maybe since I was moving when it was raining, the water didn't have much of a chance to collect in the crevices in the car.

This year's meeting was held at Ron Tonkin's Ferrari dealership. As I pulled up, I could see a large bank of open garage doors with two rows of cars inside. These were cars for sale and there was lots of cool stuff. How about a new 2011 458 Italia? Only $255,000! There was also a bunch of stuff I'd never seen before. In the corner was an F50 and in the showroom was a 599 GTO and an Enzo! Holy smokes! The 599 was brand new and the sticker price was $442,000! I thought I was going to pass out! Not too surprisingly, the Enzo didn't have the price posted. If you have to ask, it's too much, right?

After some club business, we had a quick lunch. Then we were off to see Ron Tonkin's private car collection. As I walked through a door in a non-descript building, I nearly passed out again. In one corner, was not one but three 512 Berlinetta Boxers. As I was drooling over them, I turn my head and was bowled over again. In the corner was a 288 GTO. Next to it was an F40, an F50 then another Enzo (aka the F60). Wow! I still can't believe it. Seeing and touching two Enzos in one day, as well as seeing in person my favorite Ferrari of all time -- the 288 GTO. There was lots of other cool cars there, but I kept drifting back to the Ferrari corner. I just can't get enough of these cars.

On the way home, I met up with TK. She and a friend had hauled their horses to a facility to ride and take lessons. As luck would have it, the place was on my way home so I stopped by to have lunch with them.



Overall, today was great. I logged my longest drive so far at 412 miles. I even averaged 16.5 mpg! Not bad for this car. The car ran great and there were no problems at all.