I’m calling today Ferrari Day for me, because today is the day I get to go and drive a 458 Italia around a track for a bit! Definitely been looking forward to this for a while!

So I decided to gather up some of my various photos of Ferraris that I have around and share them. I’ve been a huge Ferrari fan for quite a few years now, and I still get excited every time I see one. And yes, I usually have to take photos.

I will be sneaking in some live tweets and photos from my time at the track at Disney, so feel free to follow me somewhat live on my adventure. In the mean time, enjoy the pretty girls posted here!

First up: Some weird artsy attempts from my first encounter with one of my personal favorite Ferraris, the F430.

While I still take photos like this with the other Ferraris I see, I make sure to get a good full car shot these days.... Lol.

I'm not just in love with the full sized Ferraris... This little Hot Wheels F430 Challenge is part of my collection.

Saw this and really wished I could have it, haha.

My only good shot of the Testarossa I saw, and not for my efforts. They had her parked awkardly & doors open and all that...

Thankfully I made sure to get a shot of *this* F430 I saw.

The Ferrari that wasn't a Ferrari and is now considered part of the Ferrari family, the Dino.

One of my candidates for my first Ferrari, the 308.

LOVE Ferrari's gated shifters. So classy.

Seeing as how I just posted this 360 Modena the other day, I won't post all her photos.... But I couldn't leave her out!

I already know I want a Porsche 911 — I’ve wanted one for quite some time now, especially after I realized just how affordable they can be. I’m very eager to continue saving up for my own 911, I’m about 25% of the way there! The day I really start searching for mine is going to be great.

I figured some of the first 911s I’d ever drive were from the ’80′s, since that’s the years I’ll be buying from. I don’t think I ever expected to get the chance to drive the brand new 991. Why would I? I certainly can’t afford her! (Not that I feel buying an older 911 is settling AT ALL. The Carrera is really the one I want!)

The first 911 I've ever gotten to drive -- The 991 at that!

Funny enough, the first Porsche 911 I’ve ever gotten to drive in my life is the brand new 991. Crazy. Never in a million years would I expect it to happen like that!!

First Impression

If you told me that I would have not only gone to a launch even for the 991 911, but get the chance to drive the car a month later, I’d probably have laughed and called you crazy. But it happened, and I’m all the more in love with Porsche and the people around Porsches for it.

The 991 is every bit a 911 — I love her. She fits in the family perfectly well in my eyes. I wish I have driven more 911s so I could make an accurate comparison, but I can’t. There are plenty of magazines that have done it, though. And from what I understand, the general consensus is that the 991 is a fantastic 911.

I may not have driven many 911s, but I have been around them. My favorite thing about them? Listening to that amazing flat six engine. They just sound FANTASTIC. The 991? AMAZING. That flat six just purrs. To me, it’s one of my favorite sounds in the car world ever.

Hiding in here is one of the best sounding engines ever, I think.

Of course, part of what makes the 911 so magical to me is the sensation you get when driving or riding in one. There are very few rear-engined cars out there, and you can definitely tell the difference. Not only do you get that fantastic sound from behind you, but the combination of that and the RWD makes it feel different. It’s like you’re being pushed around — that’s the only way I can put it.

It’s really hard to describe, if not impossible to relay how it is. All I can really say is you need to ride in one at the very least. They’re incredible.

The 991 is a very stable car. The engine, aside from sounding amazing, is great. Acceleration is not a problem in the least, and if you aren’t careful, you’ll find yourself going a lot faster than you think you are.

The PDK

If I’m not mistaken, most 991s in existence right now are PDKs. Porsche decided to release the 991 in the PDK only at first in order to get more attention and orders for the cars with these transmissions.

The interior of the 991 911 -- Very comfy!!

Yes, the PDK is an automatic. There is no clutch pedal. If you want to, you can put her in drive and just go. When she’s like that, she shifts flawlessly and smoothly and you can barely tell she’s doing anything at all.

Then there’s the manual mode, which gives you use of the paddles on the wheel as well as the shifter in the console. Adding in the sport button makes her even better — More response and noise. Of course, if you don’t, say, downshift when you stop the car will do it for you.

To me, it was odd but really nice not having to take my hands off the wheel to shift, but trying to shift when turning was weird because I’d lose the paddles. (I mean like shifting from first to second turning from a stop sign, I didn’t drive her crazy in any way — Just a little gas to see what she had to offer.) It’d take some getting used to, but that I didn’t mind.

No issues braking with her either -- These are just awesome.

She didn’t seem to have any issues with me downshifting to higher RPMs for acceleration, which was nice. She really seemed to hold gears and wait for me to change, save for the stopping and the downshifting for me. (Which happened in my first few minutes of driving, so I was still sorting it all out.)

Missing a Piece

I do miss the clutch pedal, though. A LOT. I’m not sure what it was, but downshifting seemed less effective without the clutch pedal. I was missing that feedback. Though I did downshift a lot because the nice rev matching made her sound great.

But I want to learn to get her to do that on my own. I can do that. As great as the PDK is, it is still an automatic…. You take your foot off the brake and the car moves forward. She doesn’t depend on you for driving like a manual does.

Really, I’m eager to see how the seven speed manual turns out. I’d really like to drive that one and see the difference. I loved driving this 911, but I want my traditional gearbox…. I need my three pedals.

All in all….

She’s amazing, period. PDK or not, the 991 911 is an awe-inspiring car. She’s insanely comfortable and quiet and seemed like the perfect road trip car to me.

I really can't wait until I get a Porsche key of my own.....

I really can’t wait to start the search for the 911 that will become mine. I love the 911; all of them. I’m especially excited about getting one in the years that I am — No computers, no electronics, not even power steering. Just the car, the engine, the gearbox and you. I’m looking forward to my first track day with the rear-engine layout and learning to master the art of racing a 911.

The 991 911? Yeah, I think she fits right in. She just makes you smile…. Though I’m pretty sure that the biggest smile a 911 will ever give me is when the one I get to call mine is sitting in my driveway…..

I’m really happy that I get to share this photo. It means more to me than I can express in a way, but I figured I would try.

A few weeks ago, we went up to Mt. Spokane to get some skiing and boarding time in. We had just switched to going on Saturday nights from Friday nights, and we discovered that Saturday had more interesting cars to offer. We always check out cars.

Well, it was a few weeks ago that we saw something I never thought I’d see: An older Porsche 911 at the lower lodge. Like wow!

I always knew they weren’t horrible in snow and that they can do it, but I never expected to actually see it for myself! It was a delight to see, her in her gorgeous coat of Guard’s Red set against the white snow of the mountain.

For whatever reason, though, I decided to not snap a photo of it. The parking was somewhat crowded yet, and we were headed to the upper lodge and not parking there. I reallly can’t say why I decided to not have us stop to grab a photo.

The problem became that I was haunted by my choice to NOT get the photo. I mean, who was gonna believe me?! Sure, they can drive in the snow, but who would actually do it? How would I prove how awesome the 911 is when I passed up that shot?

I told myself that if I ever got another chance to take that photo, I would. I didn’t care if it was going to be awkward. Too bad. I’ve been a parking lot creeper for quite some time, it has never really bothered me before. I needed to get over myself and just grab the shot.

Well, on Saturday I got my chance. I had my dSLR on me, too, because we had gone straight to Mt. Spokane from the Auto Show. That was fortunate for me, as I never bring my SLR boarding normally. I also had my kit lens on my camera — not the best lens, but I needed the lower zoom range to deal with the crowds.

As we were passing the lower lodge, there she was! And it was snowing, too, and clear she had been there all day with the snow accumulated on her hood. Yup, I had my husband turn around, he pulled in across from her and I got to snap this photo:

Dreams come true. Really. And I liked how she was parked on the side with the trees in the background instead of the lodge. Bit more pretty.

The big lesson for me? Learning that I really need to act on my feelings the first time. If I want a photograph, I just need to take it. I got lucky in this case — I got a really rare second chance at this shot, and I was even better prepared for it than I would normally have been given the circumstances.

But second chances rarely happen. I got lucky, really lucky. I know better than to think this will happen a lot. I’m very appreciative of my second chance for this.

I’m almost positive I’ll print this photo out and frame it. What do you think?

Maybe it’s not the best photo or totally perfect, but I love it and it makes me happy. And to me, that’s what makes it a great photo.

I have this new interest… And it’s kinda weird. I think, since it’s winter and nothing much is going to be happening here, that I’m going to figure out if it’s a passing thing or not.

My weird new interest is…..

Not sure what it is..... But vintage cameras have captured my interest!

Vintage cameras. Kinda random really.

While I really love photography, I’m a happy digital photographer. My only brushes with film that I can recall were disposable cameras given to me on vacations to play with. I sort of remember having a regular sort of point and shoot film camera, but nothing crazy.

My Nikon D3000 was my first SLR, and I still love her. Even if I don’t use her nearly as much as I should. :/

My interest in vintage film cameras mostly comes in the collectible and resale market. For me, it seems like a possible way to take something I enjoy (photography, cameras) with a way to make a little money off of it.

This probably has to do with: one, my recent sales of a few things on eBay — I mean actually selling things for once! Haha. And probably also to do with the fact that since I decided to sell some things on eBay I began reading blogs written by people who sell things on eBay.

Yup, work gives me way too much time to read…. I have read blogs that make me want to sell on eBay, refinish furniture and can pickles. Help.

Either way, in the end I’m just looking for ways to help save up for the next car I want to buy…. A Porsche 911 SC.

I've actually printed out this photo to keep as a visual reminder of what I'm working towards right now!

Seriously, how appropriate would it be paying for a vintage Porsche with profits from vintage cameras?! (Yes, I daydream way too much. I already know.)

So I think I got it to work from my phone…. If it looks weird or isn’t working, I apologize. I’m certainly not the greatest with video at all.

However, I did want to at least try to share this clip. It’s a whopping ten seconds, but it’s quite heavenly. Of course, she sounded so much better in person still.

And hey, doesn’t the iPhone 4S take great video?? I definitely need to mess with it more… (I just *hate* video editing!!)

Are you ready to hear about the second day of the CanAm drive? I hope so, because it’s pretty cool.

Day two was entirely spent driving around British Columbia and mostly sightseeing. But for me, it was all about one thing…

My ride in a 996 Turbo.

Yup…

A 996 Turbo. A real 911 Turbo. One of the cars I would name as in my top five dream cars. I have loved them for longer than I’ve owned my own turbo car.

I’ve heard a lot about them and the way they drive. I know how it should have been. But it was completely different actually being in the passenger seat of that car.

This is the amazing 996 911 Turbo that I got to ride in. ^_^

She belonged to an awesome guy who lives up in Nelson and recently retired after 29 years in the police force there. He led the group on an awesome little road to New Denver, and I got to be the passenger in the Turbo leading the way. (Huge thanks to his wife who graciously gave up her seat for me! It was a life-changing ride!)

And really, it was life-changing. I had my desire to own a 911 Turbo before. Afterwards, I knew I had to make sure that at some point in my life I own one of these beautiful and amazing cars.

I don’t care if I could get better performance with a GTR or something. I want a 911 Turbo. I want to know what it’s like to drive that much power — and not useless power, completely controlled power. It was an amazing ride and I will find a way to have one. Mark my words: Some day, I will own a 911 Turbo.

Of course, the ride came with some warning, which was mostly to not get one for my first 911. Get a regular 911, learn how to drive the car properly, and when I’m ready for the toy that is the 911 Turbo then get one. But not before — I must learn to drive a 911 properly first.

Which is okay with me, honestly. I’m looking forward to getting that first 911 and learning how to drive one fast and smooth. And then that wonderful day where I can call a 911 Turbo “mine.”

The Rest of the Day…

To be honest, the rest of the day just couldn’t compare to that ride. It was fun, relaxing and dinner was great. But I kept remembering that ride in the Turbo.

It’s not really describable with words. It’s a feeling you get. The way that car hits boost is similar to other boosted cars but at the same time it’s not. It’s more. It’s wicked, wicked fast.

I feel incredibly lucky to have gotten to ride in the car, let alone on a beautifully twisty road by a driver who knows the road like the back of his hand.

You couldn’t wipe the grin off my face, that’s for sure. And no photo could capture that feeling it gave me. (Thankfully, it’s a feeling that was so strong that I kept it with me. There’s now a fire inside me — it reminds me to work hard and I will have my Turbo too.)

Oh, there were a few photos though too.

This is one of the Canadian Porsches that joined us; leaving Ainsworth on the second day.

Another photo of the same 911 -- I really liked the paint scheme. I also laughed when he told me he had an S2000 before and called it his "gateway drug" to sports cars. Too perfect, because they are!!

I have this weird thing for foreign signs, but I don't indulge nearly as often as I should with photographs. This sign I couldn't resist snapping a photo of.

Another somewhat successful driving snap. I like how I managed to catch the sign in it -- km/h instead of the miles/hour I'm used to.

Needless to say, the entire trip was well worth it for those 30 minutes of pure bliss. If I didn’t think I wanted one before, I now know I need to have my own 911 Turbo. That’s the only way I can put the experience into words.

That and, well, I think I need to find a way to pay for one of those super car experiences. Long before I can have one, I want to try driving one… Just to have that feeling again. To remind me what I’m working towards.

Yeah, I feel like my (working) life finally has a purpose, and that is a 911 Turbo.

March, I must say, started off really well for me. We got our taxes taken care of with nothing but good news, and then there was this treat…

Rare Porsches

One morning I was browsing Facebook, as usual, but I came across something very unexpected… The local Porsche dealership shared that they had not one, but two pretty rare Porsches in.

Needless to say, plans were immediately placed to go and check out these girls while they were still there. Thankfully, things happened to work out in my favor and that night we went to scope them out.

Gorgeous…

The Porsches that were there was a 2011 911 GT2 RS and a 2005 Carrera GT. Both pretty rare, both exceptionally beautiful, and a very rare treat to see them both together. Porsche’s super car, and the fastest iteration of the 911. (Tweaked so that it didn’t reach the top speed of the super car.)

Really, I could talk about them all I want, but the photos speak for themselves I think.

GT2 RS

As soon as I heard she was there, I HAD to go and see her. So amazing.

I have to admit, I touched the seats and the seats were crazy soft. I can only imagine how awesome it feels to sit in this car.

She proudly wears number 234 out of the 500 built.

I have zero doubts that she won't be anything but pampered and adored in her new home! (She came in just for a client of the dealership.)

Carrera GT

One note of mine: She is SO much more in person than in photos. She has this charisma about her that makes her presence so enjoyable… It’s something a photo could never convey. If you get the chance to stand by one, DO IT.

This photo does NOT do her any justice.... But she still manages to look beautiful in it.

She's amazingly low, wide and small in person. (And yes, that's the GT2 RS in the background!)

It was pretty cool to see the air intakes, exhaust parts and the rear suspension through the mesh on her. Details I wasn't sure I was good enough to capture with my camera.

One of the few details of her that I *did* manage to capture was this bit of carbon fiber -- found *inside the front wheel well.*

Amazing cars, I love them both and feel honored to have been able to add them to my car photo collection, as well as spend a few minutes in their amazing presence.

Anybody who’s watched any length of television lately has to have seen Toyota’s commercial for the LFA. Even if you don’t watch tv, if you’re into cars I’m sure you’ve seen it.

Just for review, to make sure we’re envisioning the same thing:

Well put words

For once, I’m not mad about seeing the same commercial a bunch of times… Really, who can get sick of seeing, but more importantly hearing, the LFA?

Not me!

But what I like is when it talks about the pursuit of the impossible… The pursuit of perfection.

Maybe the LFA is perfection to some, but the way the commercial puts it, it certainly isn’t to Toyota. And it shouldn’t be.

Perfection is too much of a moving target for anybody to ever hit it. I don’t think Porsche, Ferrari, Lamborghini or even Bugatti feel that they’ve hit perfection yet.

Always more

There’s always another level to achieve. When you hit one milestone, you may celebrate a little bit, but then you work on achieving the next level.

Each one of us is following the same path as Toyota — the pursuit of perfection. We all just have different definitions of perfection.

There won’t ever be one perfect car. Likewise, in racing you’ll never feel like a turn is perfect — perhaps good enough to win a race, but you’re always pushing for the next level, the next achievement, the next possibly perfect lap.

Sure, a novice like me is far, far, far from perfect, probably far from even worrying about perfection. But it’s still a target to aim for, a goal to aspire to reach.

One level and onto the next

I don’t think I could have guessed I would actually make Rookie of the Year when I started autocrossing.

No way was I near that good! Not when some of my friends, even my husband, didn’t even make it a whole season as a novice before moving up into the real competition.

I, for one, knew I would spend my entire season as a novice. My goal was to get Rookie of the Year.

And I did it. I still don’t know how. I know there were a lot of better racers out there than me.

It was achieving a new level, though, and as much as I celebrate it even now I know I need to strive to achieve the next level. I’m not totally sure what that is yet, but that’s okay. It’s a pursuit. A chase. A moving target. I’m just taking aim right now.

Track Days, then Time Attack

I’m planning on doing as many track days as I can over the next year. It’s going to take a lot out of me to just try and come up with the funds to do such a thing, as I’m pushing myself in my other pursuits as well. (Both writing and photography.) If necessary, I’ll find some job that works with all this.

All I know is I want to pull this off. The stakes are set, the die are about to be cast and I’m gonna need to hit the ground running as best as I can. I’ve got very little to lose, but a lot to gain.

After a sufficient number of track days, I’ve got my sights set on Redline Time Attack. I’m not sure how I’ll do it, but that’s the direction I’m going in. Autocross is incredibly fun and I still encourage people to start there if they’ve never done anything before, but I want more. More turns. More speed.

More chances for the perfect lap.

I’m not sure I can pull it off, but I’ve never been sure of what I’m fully capable of either. It’s time to start finding out.

This is the pursuit of the impossible. This is the pursuit of perfection.

Well…. Okay, maybe it’s not. But it is my pursuit for better developed racing skills.

Hope you’re here to share the ride with me, it’s gonna be interesting.

June is an exciting month, because what I consider to be the greatest race in the world takes place then (oh, plus my birthday… hehe) — the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The Race

Why do I say it’s the greatest race in the world?

You’d just have to watch it, but it’s brutal. Insanely brutal. It’s one thing to go out and race for a few hours. It’s another thing to even run the 12 Hours at Sebring. But it’s a whole other level to run the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

I don’t think it rained this year, did it? I didn’t watch the whole thing! But it usually does rain for part of the race, making it incredibly chaotic when it does.

It also asks a lot from the cars, as well as the teams. This year especially saw many, many cars not finish.

Audi’s Comeback

Last year was a very sad year for me — Audi didn’t win. Peugeot did.

It was then that I realized how much I actually cared about the race… I didn’t think I did so much. This year I started watching ALMS more and I very much enjoy the series. The 24 Hours is the big highlight, though.

This year I watched some of it on tv. I saw one of the Peugeots blow up live. I ended up recording the last three hours of the race, and watched it Sunday morning. By then, I already knew who won…

It was Audi, with a 1-2-3 podium sweep! Woohoo!!

It’s kinda sad how it went down — all four Peugeots running were out of the race by the end. Audi was hoping for a showdown between themselves and Peugeot, not for Peugeot to blow up. I think most people were hoping for that too.

Endurance Racing 101

Then again, I think the way it happened shows just how awesome Audi is at racing at Le Mans.

Peugeot pushed their cars too hard. Sure, they were fast, but the cars couldn’t take it for the entire race.

Audi, on the other hand, proved to be reliable. All three of their R15′s finished the race, leading Audi to win their ninth time at Le Mans.

I hope Peugeot learns from their mistakes this year and comes back next year better. I have no doubt that Audi will continue to improve.

Besides…

The Audis are so pretty, aren’t they? I think they are….

Sleek, beautiful and deadly.

How they looked at Le Mans.

Even if they aren’t your thing, you have to give the Skyline a lot of credit.

I don’t expect many JDM enthusiasts to be turning their noses up at this car, then… Even if she is “only” an R32.

Just gonna say this: To the UK, you have NO idea how lucky you are. UGH! I hate you guys sometimes. </3 (But deep down, I really just wish I were British.)

Top Secret R32 GT-R

No need for words, if you wanna see what’s done to her read the page here. Lucky guy, whoever bought her…. He got a real gem!

All of the following pictures are from the sales page.

I would give quite a LOT to have one of Top Secret's cars...

Such a sweet looking back shot... Haha.

<3!!!!

The tried and true...

Perfectly clean & comfortable!

I have HUGE amounts of love & respect for Top Secret... They build amazing cars.