"Different Ferraris for different Ferraristi" was the theme today at the Ferrari press conference, as Chairman Luca di Montezemolo opened the show by highlighting the different purposes and customers of the various products on the stand, ranging from the GT cruiser California to the trackstar Scuderia. However, he did note that they all share one thing in common: "they are all like a good-looking woman that you have to look at."
But we weren't here today to learn about why a California is different than a Scuderia -- we were here today to see the all new 458 Italia, which di Montezemolo described as "the most innovative Ferrari of all time" -- and none other than the most successful driver in Ferrari F1 history, and hometown hero Michael Schumacher was on hand to introduce it to the world. Noting that he's had some spare time on his hands since his F1 retirement, Schumi described his close work with the Ferrari engineering team to produce this gorgeous successor to the venerable F430. After hearing him describe the performance targets this car achieves as astonishing even from an F1 driver's perspective and that it's also faster than an Enzo at Fiorano, you can bet this car should provide one hell of a driving experience. Although we haven't had the chance to drive one yet, we'll take Schumi's word that it drives as good as it looks. It's not every day you hear one of the best F1 drivers in history raving about how engaging the driving experience is on a road car, so we can't wait to get our hands on this one.