Vinyl is making a comeback apparently. Yours truly thought it had never disappeared but LP sales are on the rise again and the reason, we are told, is that people have re-discovered the peculiar qualities of music recorded on a grooved, 12″ plastic disc as opposed to a shiny holographic Compact Disc or the overly-compressed MP3 format.
The sound of noise makes a difference and ‘heavy metal’ car manufacturers have known that for years. Lamborghini could never make a car that sang ballads. It is the Motorhead of the car world – raw, raucous and mental. A Lamborghini Lemmy would have been entirely appropriate. TVR was (and hopefully still will be) any thrash metal band you care to mention. Aston Martin (and Jaguar) has adopted a Led Zep Jimmy Page hammer-tone to its latest cars and Ferrari is the Iron Maiden of the same universe since they have been around for so long with their loud, extrovert cars.
When you buy a super-car slash hyper-car you expect it to be loud but when you fire it up you want it to hit you in the chest with an invisible fist that expels the air from your lungs. Literally breath-taking. Many cars can do that these days but back in 2009 Ferrari gave to the world the F430 Scuderia Spider 16M. At first sight it looked like a convertible Scuderia F430 but in reality it turned out to be a member of Judas Priest.
The bark from a 16M is addictive. It is visceral and it will make your ears bleed. Every drive in the car will involve a route that consists of a bunch of tunnels to search for the next fix. Just visit YouTube and type ‘Scuderia 16M’ into the search bar to get an idea of what makes the 16M special. The videos will give you an insight of what to expect from a 16M but you really need to be standing near or sitting in one to appreciate the car properly. It’s all about the noise.
Dinner-party fact: the car was called ’16M’ to commemorate Ferrari’s 16th victory in the Formula 1 Constructor’s World Championship in 2008.
The 4.3 litre V8 engine produces 510 PS (503 hp) and 470 Nm (350 lb·ft) torque at 5250 rpm so 60 mph comes up in a smidgen over 3 seconds and the 16M will max out just shy of 200 mph. The car has a fair share of carbon fibre so it is pretty lightweight and the chassis was stiffened to cope with the extra performance available to make it more track-focused. Lightened front and rear bumpers (compared to the 430 Scuderia) and unique 5-spoke forged wheels were produced for the 16M and helped to considerably reduce unsprung weight with larger front brakes and calipers added for extra stopping power. Enough said.
Other features include a race-tuned suspension, carbon-ceramic brakes, the ‘Superfast2’ automated manual transmission that enables shift changes in 60 milliseconds, LED up-shift markers in the steering wheel plus the now-familiar ‘manettino’ race-mode selector.
Only 499 vehicles in total were produced from early 2009 and all were sold to pre-selected clients. Only 37 were made in right hand drive form which means that if you live in the UK and you like your passenger seated to your left in your 16M you may wait some time before you see your preferred car of choice come on sale.
Which brings us neatly to the 2009 right hand drive example that is being offered on behalf of the current owner.
Finished in Rosso Corsa with Tessuto Nero Tipo Cordura interior this 16M has covered only 7500 miles since new and comes with a comprehensive service history. The most recent service and MOT was carried out by HR Owen Ferrari in October 2015.
This particular 16M features Carbon Fibre Exterior Package, Carbon Fibre Racing Seats, Nero Soft-top, Rosso Brake Calipers, Racing Livery with Italian Flag, Extra Campionario Nero Carpets, Rosso Rev Counter, Rosso Stitching, Dash-mounted i-Pod Touch, Navtrak, Ferrari book pack, Ferrari toolkit, Ferrari car cover and two keys. Also included is a valuable Ferrari Classiche Certificate and supporting documentation. It really doesn’t get any better than this.
This stunning right hand drive Scuderia 16M is currently, oops sorry now SOLD! To find out more give The Car Spy a call on 01892 506970 or email sales@thecarspy.net
The Car Spy 