Ferrari, Velar and Subby BRZ In This Months Letter From Europe
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Letter From Europe
From Andrew Frankl
European Bureau Chief
If I had to have just one car for all seasons I would probably opt for the Range Rover Velar.
Vanity Fair called it a sanctuary with a steering wheel and I cannot think of a better description. For a start it looks like a million dollars. It also saved our bacon in a year with the biggest snowstorm in years.
Semi trucks were spinning all the sway down to bottom of the hill but we were just fine. First time we’ve followed a big truck for 20 miles but under the circumstances it was the only sensible thing to do.395 horses were more than we needed at that point but came in very handy once we hit I-8O.
Now comes the hard part...Range Rover are going all electric in 2025. To cries of how were they to know the timing couldn’t be worse. The new President in not a huge EV fan and to make it worse EVs have been getting a lot of bad publicity of late. Only yesterday there was a long news item about EVs riding to a halt in cold cold Chicago and elsewhere,
The charging lines were slow and in cold weather the charging taking longer. There were an awful lot of irate customers who will probably switch to Hybrid, which seems to be the thinking person’s choice.
My advise is simple-if you want to stick with Range Rover which many people do have a look at the used car market. To give you an idea. There is one -a 2024 with 8000 miles the clock, no accidents, one owner for around 50000 dollars. Tremendous value for money. Another one from 2023 has the bigger engine-the one I love for a bit above the 50 grand mark. Both of these come with all bells and whistles. All this at 50 grand with a stem to stern warrantee included from the manufacturer. The new all electric Range Rovers will all cost over 100 thousand dollars.
Having seen Tesla's going up in flames and EVs running out of juice I will never recommend one, especially like a Range Rover which-by definition and often used for going up into the mountains.
One year it took us an a Ford Truck 12 hours to get from Tahoe to Corte Madera. Imagine this in an EV with the gauge falling, the children crying and you are still miles away.
Coming back to the test car, the fuel consumption is nothing to write home about at around 21 mpg but if you take it easy like I did 23-24 is well within reach.
Some of my learned colleagues complain about”indifferent road manners” whatever tat might mean. We were very happy from the minute the Velar turned up and were seriously sad to see it go. The supreme comfort, the visibility, For me just the ticket. Take my advice-if you kite it it would like to have one-now is the time. It is what is known as a run out model, they won’t be making any more unless they change their minds . Is this a based report? Yes. Not often I feel totally at home in a car or SUV. Wish I could say the same about Subaru’s BRZ which I did not like at all. I know it is Car and Driver’s darling but then they live in New York and not in San Francisco. With that otherwise excellent 6 speed gear box it was nightmare on the hills having to stop every 200 yards. Not just stop but crawling up the hills as everybody in front of you stops-quite rightly as the crossings. Essentially all the boy racers at all these co-called specialist publications are trying to regain, re imagine their lost lost youth and hurtling around racetracks is their way of being young for day.
They should come to San Francisco in the pouring rain having crawled into the Subaru and see how much would they like it. If it is raining cats and dogs you won’t be wearing a T shirt consequently by the time you managed to sit in the BRZ wearing something more sensible you will be uncomfortable. Granted-on a sunny day in shorts and T shirt it would be great fun car, a bit like Mazda’s much-loved Miata but as it is not a convertible the Mazda wins hands down.
I have to be objective-the price is right! 30 thousand dollars for tons of fun-mainly on a race track is tremendous value for money. A six speed gearbox does encourage you to enjoy the shifts the way Austin Healey’s and MGB’s did in the 60-s and 70s. The controls are intuitive. The trunk is tiny and as for the so-called rear seats I can only quote John McEnroe-you cannot be serious.
This is the first time I was happy to see a Subaru leave our Norther California HQ. I have driven a great many Subaru's over the years, I am in fact a huge fan. You see more Subaru's in the Sierras than anything else. At 6 ft tall in the rain I am afraid it did not cut the mustard.
Now folks for something entirely different.
Can you imagine having dinner with a dear friend -a Forza subscriber and Ferrari owner-who says just as we were finishing the tiramisu-oh, I forget to mention I am leaving the key to the Ferrari 812GTS with the barista at Sunset cafe.
The car -500 thousand dollars worth-will be parked across the street. I nearly choked on the tiramisu but then most people would have done! Did I sleep all night? Certainly not. Yes, I’ve driven a lot of other of Ferrari;s over the years but for a friend to say pick up the key and have a nice time that is beyond the call of duty. So was the care we took.
Doing a 150 miles er hour in a 200 miles per hour car was out of the question, the California Highway Patrol would have had a heart attack before stopping us with one of those metal strips they throw the road.
So off we went to Sonoma Raceway where there is a road adjacent to the track. We drove up the hill, took some pictures and then my friend took the wheel. She has been dreaming for the last 30 years to getting into a Ferrari and as for driving one..a V12 with nearly 800 horsepower-beyond a dream.
The good news is that we did not get ticketed and that we returned the car without a scratch. So folks this was the ultimate Christmas present which neither of us will ever forget!
Well that's it for this month, I hope you had good holiday's...see you soon.