Making the F-List
Category: Rides...
Posted Monday, October 30, 2006 at 04:49 PM [GMT-6]

One might be tempted to feel sorry for Christina Binkley for having a name that's just too close to comfort to that of the model who once was married to what's-his-name, but don't: she gets to test-drive cars like the new Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano, which you won't be able to buy from an American dealership until next year, and then only if you can pony up (get it -- pony -- heh.) the $249,034 it takes to get into the starter model. Ms. Binkley wrote about her experience with the 599 in her Drive Buy column in last week's Wall Street Journal.

The 366 cubic inch V-12 engine generates 620 horsepower (or 620 cavelli, according to Ferrari's website...which, by the way, runs considerably slower than any of its vehicles. Or so I would assume, having driven only the former.), and moves from 0 to 60 mph in a spritely-but-not-coma-inducing 3.7 seconds (coma induction being the pretty much exclusive domain of the Saleen S7, which covers that distance in 2.8 seconds).

The F-List is mentioned as proof that simply being obscenely wealthy is not enough to buy one of these cars. The Ferrari dealership in Beverly Hills has a waiting list for the most desirable models that takes years to conquer...although there are shortcuts which are as closely guarded as Google's page rank algorithms. One way to move up is to buy Ferraris regularly, whether you need them or not. Another way is to be famous, in the Hollywood sense of the word, although that really just gets you into a different form of competition:

I'm guessing Mr. Cage got dinged for making The Weather Man, but that's just conjecture.

Anyway, the 599 is a pleasant-enough looking car, especially with the clichéd Ferrari red paint job (or is it "Lamborghini red"? I always forget.) Still, when I look at the front profile of the car, I can't help but think a bit about Jack Nicholson in The Shining. And to make matters worse, that funky logo placement in the front grill calls to mind nothing so much as a picture of a crazy guy with a piece of broccoli stuck between his teeth. Really...am I wrong?

For $250,000, I hope the car comes with a lifetime supply of dental floss.