WITH MODERN CLASSICS
‘Pay to drive? No thanks’
You can be forgiven for not knowing, because it wasn’t widely publicised, but early in 2022 the Campaign for Better Transport (CBT) proposed a move to pay-as-you-drive taxation. With the rise in popularity of EVs and the corresponding drop in revenue from fuel duty, there’s growing support for reform. If you own a tax-exempt historic car, you may think this move is little cause for concern, but I’m not sure we should consider anything sacrosanct.
Any reform is likely to hit owners of modern classics hardest. Previous tax hikes have been skewed to punish those owning pre- 2001 cars, with rhetoric from government and those running our major cities hardly complimentary of older vehicles. Measures such as London’s expanding ULEZ have already decimated enthusiasts within the capital, many of whom had little choice but to sell their cars. According to the CBT report, three out of five members of the public polled (from 3000 respondents) were in favour of tax reform. A year since its findings were taken to Parliament, no decision has been made, but the issue isn't likely to going away. Let’s hope any new measures take us old car fans into account.
Check OUt J J on YouTubo. Surf to bit.ly/CurveAddict
REVIEW
Why Ferrari’s 575M still pulls heartstrings
The ‘old man’ with possibly the most famous surname in motoring wasn’t a fan of his road-going goods. Enzo infamously begrudged selling road cars, but needed the income to fund his true passion – racing. He went so far as to resist driving a Ferrari daily for decades, though one seemingly did give him a fizz in the plums – his front-engined V12 330 GT 2+2.
Despite their maker’s ambivalence, front-engined 12-cylinder Ferraris went on to become a Maranello institution, though by the mid-Nineties this traditional layout had been missing in action for nearly a quarter of a century. The 1996 Ferrari 550 made for a worthy successor to the mighty 365 GTB/4 ‘Daytona’. Its continuation, the 575M, refined the effortlessly rapid GT formula to near perfection.
The 575M Maranello – ‘M’ standing for Modified, we’ll get to that – was the first Ferrari of its type (front-engined V12) to feature the paddleshift F1 transmission – as befitted its energy-saving aesthetic.
More importantly, Ferrari engineers modified that famous V12’s displacement to 5748cc and made a host of internal changes that made for a much more efficient lump that put out a brutal 515bhp at 7250rpm.
That, together with aerodynamic enhancements, was enough to finally crack the 200mph barrier – something the 550 had come achingly close to with a top speed of 199mph.
A great GT can mix it with sports cars on twisting Alpine routes before rever
