Today’s Post by Joe Farace
Why am I smiling? I just finished a ride in a friend’s Maserati MC12, around his private race track that you can see in the background. The track is a scaled down version of Sebring International Raceway. And no, I couldn’t ask this gentlemen if I could drive his million dollar car. But I wanted to.
This particular Maserati MC12 is one of the few examples of this particular model that are in the United States. Maserati designed and built the car around a Ferrari Enzo chassis but the MC12 is longer, wider and taller than the Enzo. (I happen to think it’s better looking too.) The Maserati MC12’s top speed is 205 mph but during my ride the owner/drive hit just a little over 100 mph on the longest straight on the track.
The MC12 was produced by Maserati to allow a racing version of the car to compete in the FIA’s European GT Championship. Worldwide only 50 of these cars were built for street use and this one is fully titled and has a real license plate. The car’s body is made entirely of carbon fiber and the shape had extensive wind tunnel testing to achieve maximum downforce across all its surfaces. The MC12 can accelerate from 0–60 in 3.8 seconds. Yeah, it’s fast
Just a reminder: Podcast #3 is live now on my YouTube channel, Joe Farace’s Videos, featuring a look at the Leica Z2X at Cars & Coffee and my experiences shooting 22-year old Agfa color film in a 40-year old Canon SLR, plus some information on where I get my ideas for blog posts!