Ferrari Club Rally Nets High Speed Citations on Highway 20 West of Sisters

OK, if you were a traffic cop, wouldn't bagging a speeding red Ferrari sort of be a goal? State troopers brought out the brass and overtook some of the sports cars named for the legendary Enzo Ferrari, as they blasted down Highway 20 near Sisters. More Ferrari talk below.

Ferrari photo courtesy: adventureexperiences.co.uk, geocities.com, abama.com, home.att.net, speedace.info, ferraricars.org

(SISTERS) - State Police say they nabbed several Ferrari drivers near Sisters for speeding as they took part in a club meet that is going on here in Oregon.

The troopers say they received several complaints of dangerous driving involving Ferrari vehicles on Highway 20 west of Sisters, Monday at approximately 12:15 PM.

They were able to stop and cite some of the drivers; some were clocked at speeds up 98 mph. The vehicles were part of an organized rally called "Ferrari Challenge Rally: The Rally of Northern Oregon".

OSP troopers including one Captain, one Lieutenant and two troopers out of the Bend area, headed towards Sisters to try and locate several reported Ferraris that they say were the subject of numerous driving complaints.

They say the calls received by the OSP Northern Command Center dispatch personnel included complaints of high speed, bad passes, and reckless driving.

At least six of the cars were stopped and cited for high speeds ranging between 83 and 98 mph on Highway 20 west of Sisters.

Troopers estimated there were several other high-speed vehicles involved in the organized rally that could have been stopped and cited if there were more troopers available to respond.

Seems like there is always an advantage in traveling in packs.

The Ferrari Club Rally reportedly traveled on Highway 20 east from the Willamette Valley to Black Butte Ranch before returning westbound. According to a Ferrari rally website, the northern Oregon rally is scheduled to run August 7th-9th.

Ferrari Trivia...

Now I have to admit that I have been a huge Ferrari fan for most of my life. The closest I've ever come would be a few Alfa Romeos; the latest one in fact is sitting in the driveway. Anyone who is interested should feel free to write. Alfa in fact, is the reason that the Ferrari Motor Company exists in the first place. Founder Enzo Ferrari earned his world fame as a driver for Alfa Romeo in the 1920's and 1930's.

That is back in the day when race car drivers wore leather helmets and duked it out through the curves in places like the Mille Miglia and Le Mans in Europe.

As the years went by, Ferrari produced all kinds of designs with one common theme; they were powered by V-12 engines. Some were and still are serious firebreathers, while others, none the less potent, were comparatively small 1.5 liter motors.

Think about it; a V-12 engine the size of a '67 VW bug motor? Can you imagine what that would have sounded like?

As more years passed, Enzo's son Dino designed a V-6 car that performed extremely well. But it wasn't targeted for manufacturing, as Ferraris "had V-12 engines." Then when Enzo's son passed away, the decision to manufacture the Dino Ferrari was made.

We're talking about the 246GT Dino, this was indeed a V-6 car, and it was made by Ferrari, but no script on the car indicated that. If you see a 246 Dino and it does say Ferrari on the back, the script has been added.

But that is OK, because the car is a Ferrari, and if you look at the manufacturer's ID plate, it says Ferrari clearer than day. The Dino was considered the first somewhat affordable Ferrari, sort of on a level with teh Jaguar XKE, and today they command a high value if they are in good shape.

My favorite Ferrari is the 308 GTS. This is basically the red car you watched Tom Selleck drive all those years as Magnum P.I. They were made from the late 70's through the 80's and then the car became the 328. This is a V-8 powered Ferrari.

Enzo died August 14th 1988, but allowed the V-8 design in later years. There is also a good portion of the company that is owned by Fiat, a company that never really got beyond 4-cylinder cars, so the pressure to maintain the 12-cylinder models seems to have dropped a notch or two.

Today's Ferrari's are strong and I honestly don't keep up anymore. There is great associated trivia with these cars; the Ferrari "Testa Rosa" stands for "Red Head." The number that Ferrari uses for its car is based on each cylinder's displacement in cubic centimeters, multiplied by the number of cylinders on that particular motor.

They couldn't just be simple about it.

There are some variants of the 308 design, one is a 4-seater called the Mondial. These cars are just as potent as the Tom Selleck style car, but they don't look quite as good. For years, a person has been able to find a reasonable example with decent mileage for under 20K.

Did you know that the Alfa in Alfa Romeo is an acronym? It stands for Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili.

There is a great story behind Ferrari's prancing horse emblem.

Ferrari's famous symbol is a black prancing horse over a yellow background, usually with the letters S F for Scuderia Ferrari.

According to speedace.info, "The horse was originally the symbol of Count Francesco Baracca, a legendary "asso" (ace) of the Italian air force during World War I, who painted it on the fuselage of his planes. Baracca died very young on June 19, 1918, shot down on Mount Montello after 34 victorious duels and many team victories. He was the Italian ace of aces and he soon became a national hero."

WW1 aviation is one of my personal and professional fields of study, so that works well with my imagination to say the least.

A friend once told me that Fiat is an acronym too, it stands for "Fix It Again Tony." Sorry Fiat owners, we all know they are the closest thing to a Ferrari trainer in existence.