It’s easy to be jealous of people who are successful and have things that you desire but can’t afford. But it can also be aspirational, as you can see on social media today that millions of people follow successful people and their lifestyles. But what actually is the experience of that lifestyle? Well, I got an experience of that recently when Ferrari invited us to drive the 296 GTB to Jaipur with a group of other Ferrari owners. Here’s what I discovered.
Our experience began at the Leela Palace, New Delhi, a property I’ve long admired where we were treated to an extensive breakfast. But, soon after that, the attention shifted to the hotel porch where there was a plethora of Ferrari’s parked, and in today’s world, that means that a million people were there to take selfies and videos. Ok, I might have exaggerated the number a little, but you realise the pull and desire these supercars have on people when you see that just getting a picture with the car is, for most people, an achievement. And, to be honest, they are desirable for a reason, they look amazing, sound brilliant and are crowd pullers. What also helped that there were a couple of cars that are super rare in the world – two 812 Competizione’s – and if you know your cars, you would definitely want to have a closer look at these special cars.
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Now, I’ve driven many fast cars before, but what I’d not done till now was drive in a convoy of supercars in peak working day traffic in Delhi, and man, what an experience that is! You know, while you’re trying to make sure you don’t hit any bumps in the road and also not violate the speed limit, the people around you are going crazy taking selfies and videos – sometimes coming too close to your car for comfort. I’d always thought of people who have escort carts following them to be snobs or someone trying to project a certain image, but after driving the 296 through traffic, I can understand how an escort car can be an absolute asset.
The unique thing about our Ferrari experience though – and full kudos to Ferrari and Ferrari New Delhi for that – was we got to drive the 296GTB long distance and really stretch its legs. In fact, for most other supercar brands, we get very limited seat time in India, and this was a unique opportunity courtesy Ferrari. After navigating through traffic, we finally got to stretch the legs of the 296GTB, and I have to say that the Hybrid engine combination is something the engineers at Ferrari have really mastered. The experience of going into full-EV mode and just silently driving through traffic and then when the road opens up, using the over 800bhp on the road is a unique and yet addictive experience. Now, I know most people won’t equate Ferrari and Hybrids together, but my experience differs and I think Ferrari have a done a better job that most other companies in integrating the technology into their engines. If there is another fact I would like to state, is that whether in the mid-day heat of Delhi or Rajasthan, or the busy traffic sections of Delhi, or the open highway till Dausa, the 296GTB always felt in its element. Supercars are supposed to be temperamental, but the 296GTB was as docile as they get and yet fast enough to blow your mind. In fact, I had to make sure to limit how fast I was going, because on some sections of the new Jaipur highway you can hit speeds that I would neither record on video or write down for fear of being arrested!
By my experience, in the past 20-odd years, Ferrari has really transformed the supercar game and how reliable and easy to drive their cars are. The 296GTB, for instance, is incredibly capable, but at the same time, not intimidating at all to drive. You could literally drive it every day – save for our bad roads – and it would not give you any trouble at all. And achieving all this reliability while integrating cutting-edge technology into their cars is no easy feat. This is one of the factors why it’s no wonder that if you want to buy a Ferrari today in India, 2026 is probably the earliest you can get one. The only issue with driving such a gorgeous machine though, is the attention you get and how many people want to click pictures of it. But it’s a good life to live for sure.
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