At last, the yellow ball in the sky returns

Can it be true, the great rain has stopped, well maybe not completely but looks like it's taken a day off today. The sun is out, the sky is blueish and we need to make the most of it.

So the plan is lunch at the world renowned Loch Fyne Oyster bar, the journey takes in some great roads up past Loch Lomond, through Arrochar then round to Loch Fyne.

Our first pit stop was at the rest and be thankful, were we had a wee rest and were very thankful, took a quick pic of the car which is below and it really just reminded me of how beautiful Scotland actually is(when it's not pissing down)



After taking the pic above, my battery warning on my camera started flashing, couldn't believe it, the canon 1d can usually go for a couple of thousand pictures between charges, I've never actually ran out the battery and it's typical that it might be tight the day I want to get a few nice pics.

From the rest and be thankful it's full steam ahead to loch Fyne. Managed to get a nice parking spot near the door at the oyster bar and a cheeky wee seat by the window. No danger of door dings as you can see....



The car gets quite a bit of attention and it's amusing hearing people talk about it when they don't realise it's yours, makes sense though if I were to look at me I wouldn't think I would own one either, I like to call my look Ferrari Tramp Chic :)

So anyway, at the table behind us were two old ladies and what appeared to be an Australian relative, probably a grandson or a nephew and honestly this is exactly how the conversation went :-

Old lady: What kind of car is that white one?
Man: It's the new VW Scirrocco
Old lady: It's very sporty looking, looks like a Ferrari or something, what's that red one next to it?
Man: That actually is a Ferrari
Old lady: Oh.


I couldn't help but let out a little chuckle, that the poor old dear commented on the Scirrocco looking like a Ferrari or something and not even knowing that it was in fact parked next to one, bless 'em :) and no it doesn't look like one ;)

After a very tasty lunch we thought we'd go a little further on to Inverary and maybe take a picture or two at the castle, well, it was shut but we still managed a couple of pictures.





So the first proper dry run and the car continues to impress, I could slabber on all day about how it gets the power down, handling, acceleration etc but rather than write about it I'll try and do a short video next time. Stay tuned....

Out for a drive

Well today is thanksgiving in the US and as my team are all based in the US and there's no one working over there it's quieter than usual today, so today I give thanks that all my American friends are on Holiday which means I have no meetings whatsoever, result!

So at lunchtime I was thinking to myself what will I do for lunch and then it occured to me, I'll go for a quick drive. I must admit I think this is the first time I've ever just went out for a drive for no other purpose than just to have a drive, my starting point and my destination where the same place I just had to decide the route I would take in between.

I decided on a quick circuit, Glasgow to Drymen(almost) through Gartocharn and back home across the Erskine bridge, I was working afterall so some good roads nearby was the task at hand.

It started out dry and sunny, the first dry day I've had since I got the car almost two weeks ago so I was going to make the most of it. On the drymen road typically stuck behind a couple of cars that while the speed limit was 60 they decided that they wanted to go at 30, amazingly this car opens up a whole new world of overtaking opportunities that may not have been possible before so very quickly I had dispensed with my first victims, the accelaration in this thing is just brutal in a totally awesome way, it just goes, it corners like nothing else I've ever been in, steering is just so precise and gives so much feedback. So yeah I was having a pretty damn bloody good time, then in typical Scottish style, the first spit of rain hit the windscreen(windsheild for my American friends :) ) and that was it, it was as if Jebus had poured a bucket of water just on me, and that's been it since then, pissing down. I cannot believe how bad the weather's been, there can't be that much rain left......

A lookback at week 1 - The Drive

What can I say about the way this thing drives, WOWOWWEEWAAA as Borat would say, it's just immense. From the day Gill and I picked up the car it's done nothing but rain, although a little bit of water isn't gonna stop me, it did water down(get it) the full on experience. That may have been a good thing though to allow me to adjust but even in the wet this thing is just amazing, it's inspires confidence like no other car I've driven, after owning the car for a couple of days I was pushing it harder in the wet than I ever dared to in my Jag XKR which I've had for almost 3 years. The XKR is no slouch at 420bhp but it does feel a bit slow in comparison to the 430.

Even Gill can't help but put the foot down just to listen to the music emanating from the exhaust, I found this out to my horror when she decided to take our friend Kathy out for a quick spin, it was quite wet and I said in a caring way "Be careful" yeah, yeah she replied, followed by BBBWWOOOAAAAAAA, that's what a 430 sounds like at full pelt in case you didn't know, it's exhaust for a waste disposal pipe makes the most beautiful sounds, however, my waste disposal pipe was a little worse for wear waiting for Gill to return :)

So I long for a dry day to really see what it'll do, I'm sure I won't be disappointed.

Here's the only proper picture so far, had to go under a bridge to avoid the rain.

A lookback at week 1 - The Collection

Well, what a week it's been, where do I start


Friday 13th November
I'm not normally superstitious and I had the choice of picking the car up on Friday the 13th, something just didn't quite sit right with me picking up a Ferrari on Friday the 13th so superstition delayed pickup by 24 hours. Not a big deal Friday was the build up to collection.
Morning and early afternoon were taken up with work as usual but late afternoon the journey started, we got the train(yes public transport, don't think I'd like to do it again) from Glasgow to Edinburgh. We were staying at the Balmoral hotel, very niiiice, if you're going to pick up a Ferrari you might as well do it right. The day consisted of some shopping, some relaxing in the pool and some dinner, I should also point out that Friday the 13th turned out be a beautiful day weather wise.


Saturday 14th November - Pickup day
Saturday started early, about 2 am with me thinking, 2 am is that all, then similar following at 4, 5 etc until we got to about 7:30 and I could actually get up. Had a quick look out the window, pishing down, looks like my stupid superstition robbed me of pickup on a sunny day, oh well.
Taxi was booked for around 8:30 so we got ready and off we went. When we'd been to the dealer before it was normally a 20-30min journey through the middle of Edinburgh so we wanted to make sure we were there for around 9am. Should have thought that traffic wouldn't be too bad at 8:30am on a Saturday morning so at approx 8:40 we're at the dealer. Gary our salesmen had only just got in before us, yes we were keen to get going :)
First things first, we need to pay for the car, buying something big using a debit card always has to go to a referral where someone in the call centre grills you for a few mins on your banking habits to ensure it's actually you. It's good that they do it but simple questions can feel like the Million pound question on who wants to be a millionaire only this time there's no life lines to fall back on. Million pound question answered and we were good to go.
It's been a long wait, I first fell in love with the prancing horsey at a very young age, around 8 or 9 I went to the Scottish motor show with my Dad and he managed to blag our way into the Ferrari stand so I could get my picture taken with the cars, well done dad :)


Below is a picture of where it all began



And here am I again this time it's miiiiinnnnneeeeeee :)

A dream come true, can't believe it's actually mine......

1 Week and counting

OK, a week to go until I fulfill a boyhood dream and pick up my first Ferrari!

A big red shiny F430 awaits, don't really know how to effectively describe the excitement in words, but I'll have a go, 'OMG, Canny beleive it, I'm getting a f'kin Ferrari, a FERRARI, Jebus, I don't beleive it' hmm think that may be a bit weak, I'm sure I could express it better through dance....

There is some sadness though as my beloved Escort Cosworth will be going to a new home, I imagine I'll get over that pretty quickly though :)