196 SP

   I can see them now.  The then Nouveau Riche, in garish eighties garb, standing beside their newly acquired Daytonas.  Patting the fender like the haunch of some horse, misquoting some horse before the cart nonsense. Stridently insisting that all real Ferraris have the engine in front. I’d just listen and correct the quote, putting it in context; Colombo trying to convince Ferrari, as new head of Alfa racing, to build a 1.5 liter Auto Union in May of 1937. Ox that pulls the cart.
   It may have taken Enzo 23 years to see the potential of moving beyond the oxen metaphor, but when he did, the result was a superb series of cars. This 196 SP being a fine example of the earliest series, fully realized.
   Maranello’s then stellar engineering team of Chiti, Bizzarrini, Jano, Forghieri, with some conspiratorial input from Fantuzzi, set about to go midengine. Having interest in both worlds of competition, F1 & sports racing, the project analyzed solutions for Multi-range displacement power output, chassis design and aero packaging of bodies, using one of the first private wind tunnels. The results were a display of strength, skill and ingenuity that cast a long shadow over racing for over a decade before the Daytona arrived.
   A decade through which Enzo questioned the capability of luxury motorcar customers’ ability to deal with a hyper performance mid-engine car in a civilian setting. All bringing into clear relief those memories of the ill informed and over financed, driving their Daytonas more loudly than well. Another classic car bubble driven by the simple.  Much like now.