news.com.auFerrari’s $2 million hybrid supercar La Ferrari lands in Australia3 hours ago April 04, 2014 12:00AM
(more images at link)FERRARI’S first ever hybrid supercar has arrived in Australia — but don’t expect to see it on the road anytime soon, because it can’t be registered here.
The $2 million LaFerrari is for display only as the star attraction at next weekend’s Ferrari Festival at Sydney Motorsport Park, Eastern Creek, where more than 300 classic models valued at $175 million will gather to celebrate the brand.
A warehouse clerk was the first person in Australia to get behind the wheel of the car after it was flown-in yesterday but he didn’t get a chance to give it a rev.
Ferrari is so concerned that the LaFerrari goes home in one piece that it disabled the engine so it can’t be driven.
Jesse De Caires, 23, from Hurstville, is still the envy of every Ferrari fan because he at least got to sit in the bright red supercar as he steered it out of a shipping container — while others pushed — after it landed in Sydney.
“I have to jump into the container because I’m the only one skinny enough to fit through the car windows,” said De Caires, who over the past two years has unpacked about one Ferrari every fortnight after they are flown in.
He said he is never tempted to take one for a spin because he knows it would cost him his job.
“It’s not frustrating because we know we have to be careful,” said De Caires. “But I was a bit disappointed this time because the engine didn’t start. I wanted to hear it.”
Just 499 LaFerrari supercars are being built and Ferrari says between “five and 10” Australians have bought one, even though the car can never be registered locally.
Instead, the unnamed wealthy buyers will drive their cars either overseas or on race tracks.
Ferrari head office in Italy has disabled the complex petrol-electric engine to prevent anyone from driving the car during the LaFerrari’s visit.
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