2005 Ferrari 575 M Preview

Driving Ferrari's 575 M Maranello

You can go 202 mph in it--but it still takes two years to get one and costs nearly a quarter of a million dollars.

The Interior

Nonpareil. Put most succinctly, and accurately, that's the best way to describe sitting in this car. It's a true GT, but on the inside as well, where new electric seats hug the driver (firm, but not hard, so a day's drive won't hurt) and nearly everything you touch is leather or metal.

The wheel, in particular, is a work of art. It has preformed thumb slots at the top of each horizontal spoke, perfect for resting your hands in an easy grip.

This isn't a big cabin of course, but it's much easier to climb aboard than the Lamborghini Murciélago, and taller drivers as well as those wide of girth found no trouble driving the car or having both adequate head and legroom.

So what's so extraordinary? No single thing, save that wheel, but the fit and finish quality is of the highest level (not always the case at this end of the truly hand-made market) and the cabin is so comfortable, the site lines aftward so easy, the driving position so remarkably upright for a 202mph Ferrari that, again, the level of civility takes you by surprise.