I'm not going to bore you with details as we have already covered the Scaglietti in a previous issue but for those who don't have a copy at hand, suffice it to say that the Scaglietti 612 is named after Sergio Scaglietti, a famous car designer who specialised in Ferrari designs during Enzo's early years. Scaglietti (and his brothers) used to repair damaged Ferraris but having caught Enzo's eye with a rebodied Ferrari of his own design, he started designing for him. However, the 612 is a Pininfarina job done as a tribute to Scaglietti, and has been in production since 2004. Well, to get to the point, the fact is that autoXchange – yours truly in particular – got a taste of Scaglietti in Jaipur. Both cars were at the Rambagh Palace hotel in Jaipur, and I was hanging around them hoping to get a ride.

For the last half-hour Andrea Costantini had been giving me the dope on the car…like how Ferrari has used aluminium for the chassis and bodywork, just like in the 360 Modena. Also, thanks to the properties of aluminium and the sophisticated production technology employed, overall bodyweight has come down a full 40%, and the key to its handling proficiency is the optimised weight distribution, 46% at the front and 54% at the rear.

Also, one does need to be a little careful in traffic since, even though the Scaglietti is nicely proportioned, it's actually 4.9m long and 1.9m wide – making it longer, wider and taller than a Lamborghini Gallardo, and longer than a BMW 5 Series as well.



Then Andrea starts the engine, telling me about the aluminium V12 unit, the Tipo F133E in Ferrari parlance. From 5.7litres (5748cc), the engine develops 540bhp of power at 7,250rpm and 588Nm of torque at 5,250rpm, which endows this family car (yes, it's a four-seater) with a max speed of 320kph, 300kph with four occupants, and a 0-100kph time of 4 seconds. The quarter-mile comes up in 12 seconds. This car employs Ferrari's 6-speed 'F1A' semi-automatic box with paddle shift operation.

Driver's briefing over, Andrea walks me over to the driver's side door and producing that scarlet key fob, unlocks the door for me. Settling into the seat I find a three-spoke steering wheel that seems to have been borrowed from one of Michael Schumacher's earlier F1 cars staring me in the face, the yellow prancing horse badge dominating the centre of the hub. On the left spoke is a big red 'Start' button and the right spoke has a red, three-position selector switch – the Granturismo manettino its called, Andrea informs me from the passenger seat, which in the Scaglietti is on the right hand side.

Immediately behind the steering wheel, in the centre of the instrument binnacle is a large tachometer, unmistakable due to the yellow dial face. On the right is the speedometer, calibrated up to 340kph while to the left of the tach is a black display, which lights up on turning the key to first confirm that I'm indeed sitting behind the steering wheel of a Scaglietti 612, and then switches to display information – time, ambient temperature, mode, oil and water temperature, fuel, distance and speed.

Andrea points to the manettino (mah-net-TEE-no) and continues to brief me. The manettino allows the driver to choose the mode he or she wants to be in - Comfort, Sport or CST Off. Comfort is for relaxed travel while Sport firms up the suspension and also alters the engine map for a more spirited drive. Selecting the third option switches off the electronic driving aids i.e. stability and traction control, but that is ideally used on a racing circuit and not a public road, Andrea informs me.



After Andrea is confident that I've understood the briefing, he gives me the go-ahead to start the engine and oh…sweet music starts emanating from the exhausts! First a 'whumpf' as the twelve cylinders come to life and then a steady low rumble as the engine idles. Blip the accelerator pedal and the engine responds instantly, the rumbling changing to a loud ARRRAOOOWWW!!! As we are up against a wall, I need to reverse out – flicking a tiny lever on the console to my right puts us into reverse and also changes the central display into a monitor which shows through a wide-angle lens camera what's directly behind us. Gently does it and then we are clear to go. Flick the lever back and we now have forward motion. I continue driving a bit gingerly as we make our way down the hotel's drive and on to the road, the steering completely masking the fact that the Scaglietti 612 rides on massive 245/40 ZR19 tyres in front and even more massive 285/40 ZR19 at the rear. Burbling away, we reach the exit onto the main road and I'm very wary of traffic – two crores worth of the finest Italian automotive engineering excellence means nothing to an unknowing, ignorant Jaipur auto or bus driver, not to mention the handcart pushers and assorted users of the road. The other point of course is that I'm in a left-hand-drive car on a right-hand-drive road, so that needs a little getting used to.

Finding a momentary gap, I go for it and ease into traffic. I'm concentrating on sticking to my lane and guard against the tendency to run into the divider on my right, a problem I had experienced the last time I drove a left-hand-drive car, a Porsche 911 in Noida. The Scaglietti is surprisingly easy to drive, I find, despite the traffic. Andrea suggests I put the window up so that the AC can do its job but I decline, as I want to hear the exhaust note when I mash the pedal to the metal. Unfortunately, the mid-afternoon traffic is not allowing me to do anything of the sort. Ok, during the driver's briefing Andrea had stressed on the fact that the whole idea behind the exercise (Magic India Discovery Tour) is to show people what a nice little family car the Scaglietti 612 is, how you can easily go on long drives in it, and that Ferrari does not only make otherwise undriveable track cars for the Schumachers of this world. C'mon! It's a Ferrari, with 540BHP under the hood. It's in India… You don't come by one everyday. And I'm in control! So am I going to pussyfoot around with it? NO WAY! Unfortunately, at the moment it seems that the Jaipur traffic is cooperating with Ferrari. Damn!

I suddenly realise that traffic is non-existent in the opposite direction. So I take an executive decision find the nearest U-turn and then drive the Scaglietti the way Ferraris are meant to be driven! Somebody up there likes me and approves of my decision, for miraculously a gap appears. Taking care not to hit the far side on the divider, I turn and then there is nobody around but me, the Scaglietti and three lanes of completely open and empty road in front of me. So this is tunnel vision? I floor the pedal and immediately the Scaglietti leaps forward with a growl that turns into a high-pitched scream as the engine revs rise quickly…first gear..second gear..I can feel the back of the seat kicking me forward..Third gear goes by too while all around me is that amazing growl – no, shriek – of the exhaust as the V12 engine revs continue to rise and… suddenly we are out of road. Run the traffic light or take the road to the left? Heave out the anchors… Quick! Immediately the 380mm front discs and 360mm rear discs go to work and we are almost instantly slow enough to take the left, which is what I do.



Back in the front of the Rambagh Palace, I want to go around and do it all over again. The fun has just started! So that's what we do. Impatiently, I tolerate the traffic up to the U-turn before coming up on the open road. Man, am I lucky or what? Again the same tunnel vision feeling as I mash the pedal to the metal and the Scaglietti blasts through three gears, shoving something hard into my back in the process, with everything around a blur – DAMN! Where did that auto come from? On the brakes again – hard but not hard enough to activate the ABS – but this time I make the left with the revs up – amazing how one can become so confident in such a short time! I also take in Andrea gently admonishing me, 'If you want to drive like this, you have to come to Fiorano. We are trying to show how this is both a family car that can be a fun car too'. Well, I'm having fun all right!

Back in the Rambagh drive, I floor it again for the sake of memory and this time I notice a lag between the gear changes. I ask, and Andrea points out,' You left the manettino on Comfort'. CRAP!! My first Ferrari drive and I go and miss out on the real fun! It was difficult getting myself to get out of the car but I finally did. This was too short, just a taste of Scaglietti! Oh well… guess I'll have to take up Andrea's suggestion – visit Fiorano!