I’ve graduated the school of mid-engine! At least temporarily, may do a post-doc someday.

The 4C was sold last summer, and due to various life and work reasons I wasn’t able to replace it until now. Suffice to say, the journey towards this point was not an easy one and it has been my single biggest commitment to a car, ever.

The “new” car is a 2002 575M, Argento (silver) Nürburgring paint and Grigio Scuro (dark grey) interior.

As you can see, inaugural gas bill was Yuge.

First impressions are that it’s in much better condition and much better built than my previous Ferrari, a 1998 355 F1 Berlinetta. Part of it is undoubtedly the more modern design and construction (a full front-to-rear tube frame without any detachable subframe), but I also think this car has been treated better. It doesn’t seem to need any cosmetic work at this time. The interior, chassis and suspension are tight and feel like a very new car.

Haven’t driven it much due to work, but for such a big engine, the throttle is VERY touchy at the top of the pedal travel. Parking nose-first I immediately bumped into boxes and water bottles in the garage—this car is best parked rear-in due to the loooooong front end.

It’s also very hard to keep it slow, which you all probably expected. The noise and the torque are very thick and rich. No high pitched scream but it’s definitely musical in a very different way. It sounds more like a Lamborghini than its own successors like the 599 and 812.

Boiling wiper fluid for attention:

I've finally gone on some timid drives with the 575--given my experience with the 4C at the more extreme end of sports cars, forgive me for concluding that this big girl is entirely within my expectations.

It's an absolute boat with the suspension in normal mode, which is how I suspect many journalists came to criticise the car's handling in comparison to the 550. I should recall that even the F355 rode very soft by modern standards, but it had the benefit of weighing 900 pounds less.

In Sport mode, the ride and handling behaviour is quite good--you never forget about the fact that the thing weighs nearly two tons (or, as I like to put it, only 200 lbs. less than the Jaaaaaag). But it's willing and ready to crush the corner like a V12 GT car should. The limits feel well beyond what I'm willing to do and the fat 295 rear tires provide appropriate reassurance at all times. The F355’s sport mode did just about nothing to the shocks.

Brake feel is spongy, but since I’m not going for lap times, I’ve been quite easy on them and will withhold further feedback until I’ve had more experience.

Driving position is good—not as perfect as the 4C but much better than the F355. The biggest ergonomic issue is the brake pedal. For some reason Ferrari felt that the lack of a third pedal was a footwell eyesore, so on their F1 cars they enlarged the brake pedal, to the point that it comes too close to the throttle.

What is still intimidating is the horsepower. I've never owned a car this fast, and it just shrinks all the straights that I've ever driven in the past. Whereas in previous cars I could wind it out three gears for the sound, this thing has you at troublesome speeds far too soon. But at least the richly layered orchestra of the V12 provides a compelling soundtrack for you as it cooks your wiper fluid.

On a recent drive we came upon the grisly body recovery of a kid who flew off the mountainside in a BMW. There were now three sets of flowers on that hairpin—three sobering reminders to stay well within your limits, and the limits of a public road. Unless I find myself on a track someday, you will never hear me compare handling with respect to understeer, oversteer or coming even close to grip limits.

Be safe and be well, Oppo! Just upped the donation and also started my new job today. I've never had to acclimate to a Mac before; it's intimidating!

Belated X’mas occurred this morning—wish I was less busy so that I could enjoy the moment more instead of rushing back into work meetings.

First impressions coming later. Car’s got no plates which makes it a cop magnet. Temp permit is stuck in transit due to the snowstorms.

Happy hump day!

End of another era.

Been swamped with various things going on in life, so hope all is well on Oppo!

Down at the Garage: Since the car needs work to get it to Amerismog (MOT in Empirespeak) I decided to begin the 5-year major service in parallel.

I seem to have a bad habit of buying old cars due for big ticket items, but the upshot is that it is done to my satisfaction.

I miss the arresting looks of the F355, but not the maintenance. Engine-in service FTW!

End of another era…

Bring A Trailer - 2015 Alfa Romeo 4C Coupe

As is widely known now, some car manufacturers want to make their plastic touch interfaces feel nice without upgrading to more expensive materials like leather or real metal.

One solution is to apply a velvety coating so that there is some tactile softness and friction, somewhat like suede or real velvet.

From the late 1980s to the early 2000s, Ferrari decided to put this stuff all over their interiors. As it is well known now, these surfaces do not age well and turn into goo. Ferrari still uses this finish today, but on far fewer parts.

My former 1998 Ferrari 355 F1's climate control panel was no exception, and an opportunity to flex my very limited DIY resolve. Here is the original panel, with the surface finish decayed into sticky oils mixed with the black plastic dye. The entire applique has also begun to detach from the back plate and bubble upwards.

Using a hobby knife, I cut around the outer edge until the rest of the black layer could peel off. Clearly, some colouring masks remain underneath.

A closer look reveals the company that printed the mask and the surface coating--Serigrafia Pertoldi of Udine, a large Italian printing and graphics company that still supplies European car manufacturers.

Soap and water removes the rest of the graphics, revealing the translucent backlight panel. Once this dries out it's ready for the new non-sticky applique.

The new applique is laid on and the knobs are replaced. The font is a little off, but this was an early version and now you can buy one with the correct original font.

Mounted to the interior. The rest of the sticky plastics were redone by the shop.

This did not go entirely smoothly, however. In removing the "STOP" button (basically an "OFF" button), I broke its green backlight which had rested on two thin conductors soldered to the circuit board below:

This was beyond my abilities, so I took it to some random phone/TV repair shop who happily ordered a replacement bulb and soldered it back on for me. The shipping cost more than the bulb, but more importantly, the dude was fascinated by the car and the opportunity to do something for it.

Not really, but haven’t posted in a while due to work and life getting in the way.

Wife bashed our garage door frame with her Jeep. The frame turned out to be PVC and only needed new nails and a hammer to bend back into place.

The car suffered some dings and a lot of paint transfer, from the house, which required an hour of elbow grease to buff out.

The fender trim’s mounting feet all snapped, so a new one was needed.

Big scare ended up costing us about $60 for the plastic part, not bad.

Hope you all are doing well and staying safe! Covid is on the decline in CA so we’re really excited about that.

No evidence that Chinese tires are more prone to failure than others, but this was still hilarious.

In other news, I’m finally working on the 4C’s replacement. Candidate car is going thru inspection today. It’s got a lot of cylinders…

Trial by fire, an experience I am quite familiar with! Good luck, do your best and try not to worry too much about things that you can't change.

This has got to be one of the prettiest modern cars on Oppo. Congrats, enjoy safely and take some driving video when you can!

I like the look of saloons but not the ergonomics. I don't like bending into my Jag, and once inside I don't like the lack of headroom and the leant-back position that said lack of headroom forces me into.

My XJ will likely be my last saloon/sedan-type car for daily use. Driving a car that looks like nothing else on the road makes up for many of the sacrifices, but soon the balance will shift towards practicality as my thirties start to run out.

For people under six foot, though, I could see a saloon configuration working for life.

Here in California Covid is on somewhat of an uptick, but doesn't seem to be explosive like new variants have typically been. I think it's primarily caused by the rescinding of mask mandates.

My other home, Hong Kong, is freshly out of its worst outbreak yet (slow vaccination and general complacency from being Covid-free for most of 2021), and people are starting to act like the pandemic is over. Mask mandates and gathering restrictions are being relaxed VERY cautiously due to cultural differences and a dangerously high population density--there is no general politicisation of Covid like there is here in 'Murica.

Stay safe!

@KITT222 I love that body colour insert on the door handle! VERY classy detail. Looking forward to your next activities.

Glad to hear you’re doing better! Recognising the problem is incredibly important.

If the door claims to be unlocked, the cable attaching the door releases to the actual latch probably loosened and needs to be re-tightened. Worst case, it snapped and you need to install a new one.

Drinking soy milk, straight up! My week isn't over, although I hope it will be within the next half an hour. Hope next week treats you better and best wishes to your family!

@Snakesm13 too early for a mic drop.

@Snakesm13 No fakery found here, though. Suspension work is something I have never touched on any car.