Fat Francis / 21 April 2025 / Categories: Product and Brands, Cars and Motorcycles

Ferrari 296 GTB Semi Auto Top Speed 206 MPH

Not something you see everyday. A brand new Ferrari 296 S-A 296 GTB semi auto with an 8 speed semi auto gear box.

Year of manufacture 2025. Appreciate cost to buy prices start at £241,000 according to Ferrari the average cost on auto trader £260,000. It’s not mine.

I love driving and I am interested in cars. I grew up racing scalextric, to give context here my sister got a complete Hornby train set for her 2nd birthday) and I was always the first to get the track set up on bank holidays. I remember that smell of over heating the power box as we pushed our little cars to the limit.

Then the “spot the car games” to keep us occupied on long journeys. All that time

spent playing and observing ended up being a car make and model education. It was here I learned all the car makes and models, designs, and brand badges. Before I knew it I was spotting vehicles I liked and making a mental note of body shapes and designs I liked.

At one point I even applied for a scholarship university sponsorship with Ford. I was quite excited at the prospect of designing/engineering cars in my late teens.

All the Ferraris I have ever been in touching distance of have been owned by someone else, a boss, a boyfriend, a friend. I did get to drive one once as a favour to someone who needed their’s moving from one point to another and I remember being very nervous to touch the accelerator, it was so sensitive I thought I’d hit a wall by mistake. I remember it was a bit like driving a normal car with the brakes on, you had to be quite strong to depress the clutch and you have more gears than a regular car. Also the steering wheel is much smaller and I remember it being extremely sensitive.

I have been lucky and had experience driving lots of different cars from Porsche, Mercedes, BMW, Lotus and Lamborghini. I had a friend who impressed me with his racing, competing in Formula 2 for a short time thanks to his Dad and his Dad’s financial backing. Motor of any kind is extremely expensive especially racing driving.

My first car was a mini coupe, 1275GT very nifty and quick, then a triumph spitfire, then a Fiat punto turbo, and I’ve driven a Mazda, my friend had an MR2, and always imagined myself in an Alfa Romeo or Figaro skirting the Italian coastline, Cary Grant and Grace Kelly style with the top down, a scarf billowing, half a pack of cigarettes in my pocket and me, yes driving, tunes playing, elbow out the window wearing the iconic wayfarers from Rayban. Road tripping for me is open road bliss.

After seeing this beautiful Ferrari I am imagining an upgrade on the Fiat 500, another iconic Italian design triumph. For me when it comes to cars the higher price doesn’t necessarily make it better for me.