488 Pista - Super Exclusive Ferrari Takes On The Rann Of Kutch

There is the first Ferrari 488 Pista in India, and we decided the Rann of Kutch would make for a great backdrop to drive it in

- Aatish Mishra & Henry Catchpole

It was deathly silent all around us, except for the wind whipping at our t-shirts and hats. We were waiting in anticipation. The Ferrari 488 Pista, resplendent in Rosso Corsa with a black and yellow racing stripe down the center is just sitting there, the morning sunlight glinting off its smooth surfaces. It is such a stark contrast — the glistening red with the most sensuous curves against the broken flatland that is the Rann of Kutch. The Pista looks wild even on a racetrack, where big wings and massive ducts don’t raise eyebrows but here in the middle of nowhere, it looked positively otherworldly. Then it happened. The angry whole of the 4-liter blown V8’s cold start shattered the silence. It isn’t particularly musical, but it has this serrated, industrial edge to it. Out here in the vast openness with no buildings and walls to corrupt the sound with echoes, we were hearing its purest possible soundtrack.

The Legacy

This story was some time in the making. I remember the Ed walking into the Evo India office and telling us that we needed to find an epic road to drive Boopesh Reddy of Bren Garage fame’s recent acquisition — the Ferrari 488 Pista. It was the first one of its kind in India and is super exclusive globally too. The road, and consequently the story needed to be epic. Lots of research was done, lots of roads were scouted and lots of phone calls were made. Nothing epic enough was found. So we dug deeper into the archives looking for inspiration. And there it was, staring us in the face. A story that would be visually epic, a story with legacy and one that would blow everybody’s mind with the sheer audacity of it.