A Ferrari of any colour, is still a Ferrari.


Our beloved South Africa, admittedly, doesn’t have the best track record when it comes to discrimination based on colour. So, find myself having to choose my words very carefully here. The truth be told though, we are still discriminating in South Africa. Travel to Europe and you will find people have embraced all colours equally. Yet in South Africa there is still a firmly held belief that a Ferrari should be red. In fact, they get more specific than that – Ferraris should be red, mid-engine, V8, supercars.
This couldn’t be further from the truth though. The founder of Ferrari, Enzo Ferrari himself, never intended his cars to be red. Nor did he ever want to produce mid-engine supercars for the public. The first mid-engine cars he eventually produced were therefor not sold under the Ferrari name, but under a new brand called Dino. As for the colour, Enzo wanted his cars to be yellow. In honour of his hometown, Modena, who’s flag is blue and bright yellow.






And Italy? Well they had Rosso Corsa – and so did Ferrari
The FIA however, assigned each country a colour to paint their race cars when competing. England had British racing green. France got Blue, Germany silver. And Italy? Well they had Rosso Corsa… Red. And the rest as they say is history. People saw the red cars winning and wanted to buy red cars for themselves. Thus, Enzo’s dream of yellow Ferraris was shattered. He did manage to retain some yellow to pay homage to his hometown. The background of the famous Ferrari prancing horse logo is Giallo Modena, or Modena Yellow.

Personally, I have never been that fussed about the colour of a car. Interior colour is important to me, as that is where I spend my time sitting. I like to have a nice mix of colours and textures and materials. Nothing is more depressing than an interior where everything is just black. Ultimately though, even a drab, all-black interior can be forgiven and forgotten if the driving experience is special enough.

This, I feel, is where Ferrari comes good. A year ago, I had never driven a Ferrari before. Today, I’ve driven several examples from a large spread of ages. From the early 80’s, all the way up to a 2017 488 Italia. Some mid-engined, some front-engined. Some V8’s, some V12’s. All of them, without exception, incredibly special and rewarding cars to drive. The driving experiences can be vastly different, but ALL are brilliant. From the hard-edged dart-like feel of a 360 Modena, to the superbly comfortable and relaxed feel of a 612 Scaglietti or even the completely unhinged madness that is the 599 GTB. They are all incredibly special, exciting, fun and unique to drive.
mounted machine-gun looks of a Lamborghini
What is more though, is that they are beautiful things to behold. No matter the colour, they are all stunningly purposeful designs. Aggressive and striking, without the over-the-top, mounted machine-gun looks of a Lamborghini. Best of all, the designs all age extremely well.



Crucially though, it doesn’t seem to matter what colour they are. The 599 in Rosso Corsa looks amazing. It carries the flag for the Ferrari Racing Team. The stunning 612 in Nero Daytona, screams sophistication with its contrasting cream leather interior. The Giallo Modena 360, historically Enzo’s colour of choice looks incredible. Especially when you see it’s blue interior – blue paying tribute to the other half of Modena’s flag. Bianco Avus perfectly shows every single curve of the F12’s incredibly complex shape. The ultra-bright Scuderia Red on the California perfectly suits the style of that car, and in the sun is almost blinding. And of course, the 400i in its stunning shade of metallic blue, again a throw-back to the Modena flag.






I would honestly love to own any of these Ferraris
In this selection of cars, the colours perfectly suit each car. However, had these cars been painted any of the other colours, they would still look great. Insisting on a red car is a personal choice, but I would honestly love to own any of these cars. Regardless of colour, these cars are simply beautiful, and amazing to drive. So please, stop discriminating.







These cars were provided for this photo shoot by Gilmour Collection
