2008 was a big year for Ferrari in Formula 1. They won the Constructor’s Championship and the Maranello based team missed out on the Driver’s Championship by the slightest of margins after Hamilton pipped Massa to the title – the damp nail biting finish to the Interlagos race and the season will forevermore be remembered as one of the very best. To commemorate the team effort, Ferrari unveiled a very special machine – the 430 Scuderia Spider 16M.<\/p>\n
As the name suggests, the 16M is a Scud that has been treated to the topless treatment. The ethos of the Scuderia was to be a lighter, harder and faster F430 and one Michael Schumacher had a big part in the changes that were made. The results were mesmerising and made the Scuderia a car that earned a reputation an adrenaline fuelled road racer that had to be experienced to be believed. The noise of the 4.3-litre 503bhp all-aluminium V8 was particularly memorable, a boomy bark that shook windows before pulling hard through the rev range and transforming into a blood curling howl as the needle swung towards the 8,500rpm redline. As you would imagine, this car becomes a thing of dreams when you stow the roof away at the touch of a button and drive it in the sun. To see how the 16M feels 13 years on, I went out for a blast.<\/p>\n\r\n