Now we are free of the Classic, and the SP3 Daytona is on clear, empty roads. Sure, it’s unfathomably quick by most standards, but it’s far less explosive than a car like the McLaren 720S, whose twin-turbo torque will blast you across the field like an artillery shell from a field gun. You have to work the Ferrari engine, which doesn’t reach peak torque until a stratospheric 7250 rpm. But from 6000rpm until the ignition starts cutting sparks at 9500rpm, this is a magnificent engine, belting out its inimitable V12 song but with a hard edge of fury. Others that Ferrari has made in the past are perhaps more refined, but few if any have more purpose.
The chassis is excellent, despite the old-school direct steering and a bit too light. In the dry, it provides ridiculously more grip than you’d ever use in public; and when it rains and you’re brave or stupid enough to twist the little manettino clockwise, it glides along kindly enough. I probably would have done more of the latter if it weren’t for that width. Even on these big, quiet roads, I’m waiting for the moment when it starts to shrink around me, but it never comes.
Maybe it’s the fear of value, but the thought of encountering another car with outrageous driving, or even a perfectly sane driving bus, is more than enough to dampen my enthusiasm. If you gave its engine and chassis the full range of expression on a circuit, my strong feeling is that I’d be in for a driving experience as rare as it is special, like the one I enjoyed during my laps of Fiorano in a LaFerrari on 2014 but unfortunately I never got the chance.
Still, I’m very glad I got to drive it, and as fast as I could. Yes, the 296 GTB is probably just as fast, much more useful and much cheaper, but that’s not the way to look at the SP3. Instead, it is simply a car for the senses, a car to look at, hear and feel. And in all these respects, he is a worthy holder of this Daytona title. It’s not a P4 or anything like that, just a beautiful, fast, loud and rare Ferrari. And for the billionaires who bought it, it will be more than enough.