Those Ferrari XX stripped-out track day cars are expensive, rare—and thought to be part of this weird deal where even if you bought one, Ferrari wouldn’t let you keep it anywhere except at its factory Maranello. You could go and drive it there. But that isn’t true, as it turns out.
Google executive Benjamin Sloss, who owns at least a couple of XX cars, took to Instagram to debunk the myth.
For a while, no one questioned the myth. Top Gear has discussed it numerous times before. And though we cannot confirm or deny that Benjamin Sloss keeps his cars in a garage and rubs them vigorously with diapers, we didn’t hear a peep from other XX owners.
In an email to Road & Track, Ferrari wrote:
The majority of the cars are stored in Maranello in the Corse Clienti department, but customers are free to have them at home. It is mandatory, however, to have a full review of the car by the Ferrari crew team before the car hits the track in any event or private testing session. Anytime the car is taken to the track, for an official Ferrari event or personal test session, there is always a mechanic and technician. He’ll do the full check up when the car arrives at that said track.
Which, I don’t know, still sounds kind of oppressive to me? If I’m understanding this correctly, owners can track their XX cars whenever and wherever, only first they need that Ferrari-approved inspection. That part is mandatory. If I’m going to spend millions of dollars on a car, I wouldn’t be too jazzed about “mandatory” anything, unless it concerned the health and well-being of the car. Like mandatory maintenance checkups.
Also, say you’re the lucky owner of a Ferrari XX. And your friends go, “Hey. Let’s visit the track after lunch.” Then what happens? Do you have to wait for Ferrari to send their guy? Would that not take the spontaneity out of things?
Maybe I’m overthinking things. That’s why I’m not an XX owner. That’s the only reason.