Piazza del Ferrari

The inanimate (until the key is turned) objects of my affection. A Ferrari Enzo (foreground) and the 288 GTO. There are models I like better, but that's $4,000,000 worth of inanimate objects right there.

Not long after this shot, the Enzo owner fired it up to leave. Uhhhhhh...I don't have words to describe the sound. The old muscle cars have a beautiful, warm grumble to them. Sport bikes have a particular mechanical, wasp-esque harmony to them that sounds great as they wind into the top of their rpm range. Even the F430 I drove on a racetrack had this high-pitched scream that beckoned me like a siren to go faster, push harder, and ignore any signs of danger...all happily done. But this Enzo? It was terrifying!

I was not looking its direction when he started and revved the engine, but I spun around immediately to see my doom face to face. If an engine note were a wraith, with drivetrain sounds of gears enmeshed with stone giants and rocket launchers, it still would be less fearsome than the Enzo. I have never heard anything like it in my life, and I hope it's not the last time it graces my ears.