Growing up in the neighborhood that I grew up in, I very rarely ever saw anything exotic. There was the odd Porsche or Corvette, but not much beyond that. If an exotic was ever spotted, it was almost a religious experience!

In my younger years, I had a buddy of mine that used to be my partner in crime in collecting brochures. We once went to an independent dealer, and were wandering around the building looking for a hidden stash of brochures. I don’t recall if we came across any, but we did come across a Ferrari 308 GTS just sitting in an empty indoor driveway, completely unattended. It was unlocked, windows down! You know what happened next……we both took our turns just sitting in it, and felt like serious criminals doing so, but we did it anyway. How often would we ever have the chance? We walked out of there on Cloud 9! This was the highlight of our exotic car enthusiast careers!

Fast forward to my days as a salesman for an authorized Ferrari dealer. Of course, I got to drive every single model dating back to a 308, and even a few earlier models. Heck, I regularly took them home for the weekend. I hate to say it, but it just became the norm for me.

One weekend, two of my childhood friends came to visit for a weekend. I took a Maserati Quattroporte home for that weekend to serve as our weekend transportation. Of course, my buddies were blown away. I let them all drive it, which was the 1st semi-exotic car they ever got to drive. I took them to the dealership over the course of the weekend, and let them all drive a 430 Spider. They were again, blown away! This type of experience, for car guys, is something that gets remembered, and talked about for the rest of their lives. And I was so happy to be able to provide it to them.

Another time, my oldest and dearest friend, whom I have known my entire life, came down for the weekend with his wife. I had made arrangements ahead of time to pay a visit to a very good friend, whom had become so after 1st being a customer of mine. I told my buddy that I had to run an errand, so we hopped in my car and we left. After 45 minutes, we arrive at my buddy’s house, or shall I say, mansion. He greets us at the door. I introduce one buddy to another, and then promptly make our way to his 4-car garage. He opens the door, and sitting in there is his black 430 Spider, a black 599 GTB, his brother’s orange Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder, and going pretty much unnoticed, a silver Porsche 911 Turbo. My visiting buddy’s jaw just dropped to the floor! He had no idea. We promptly jumped into the Ferraris with a video camera, and went out cruising. His brother joined us a little bit later in his Lambo. Of course, my visiting friend got to drive both Ferraris. Again, another once-in-a-lifetime experience for my visiting buddy, with a story that he’ll remember and share for the rest of his life.

A few more experiences like the ones above were created, whenever I had the opportunity to do so.

I have to believe that what my friends got to experience was similar to that time I got to sit in that 308, but of course, so much better because they got to drive the cars.

These are stories we will talk about for the rest of our lives. So few enthusiasts ever get to drive the cars they fantasize about. I am so glad to have been able to share this with my closest friends.