It\u2019s not exactly a scene from\u00a0The Planet of the Apes,\u00a0though it might as well be now that it\u2019s been confirmed that an animal invasion is about to take place in New York City from October 7 to October 8. No, monkeys aren\u2019t coming to the Big Apple to take a bite of it. Prancing horses are coming, and they\u2019re coming en masse for the party of a lifetime to celebrate Ferrari\u2019s 70th anniversary.<\/p>\n
The wall-to-wall celebration is taking place all over Manhattan, capping off a global celebration that has literally spanned more than a year. That\u2019s how Ferrari rolls, people. Where others do celebrate anniversaries in one location, the Scuderia does it in over 50 countries, the last stop of which will be right smack in the US in an event called \u201cDriven By Emotion: Ferrari Through The Decades.\u201d As part of the festivities, Ferrari will set up a total of five different exhibits throughout the city, including \u201cThrough The Decades\u201d at Rockefeller Plaza. Those who get the chance to go to this exhibit will get to see one Ferrari car per decade, in addition of course to seeing the\u00a0Ferrari LaFerrari Aperta\u00a0in the flesh. Four more locations will host other Prancing Horses as according to Ferrari, 26 of the company\u2019s most iconic models will be on display in any one of the five locations throughout New York City. Check out the teaser video of the event to get an idea of what to expect and head over past the jump to find out where else in Manhattan exhibits will be opened.<\/p>\n
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The \u201cDriven By Emotion: Ferrari Through The Decades\u201d celebration is a spectacle in it of itself, and if the \u201cThrough The Decades\u201d exhibit isn\u2019t enough to satisfy your quench for everything Maranello, there are three other exhibits to go to to get your fix. The second of these exhibits is called \u201cMotorsport And Performance,\u201d which will be held at Hublot\u2019s flagship store on 743 Fifth Avenue at 57th Street, just a few blocks away from Rockefeller Center. If you\u2019re going here, prepare yourselves to see some of Ferrari\u2019s most fabled racing cars, dating all the way back to its infancy in the 50\u2019s all the way up to today\u2019s modern Formula One cars.<\/p>\n
The next stop is Ferrari\u2019s own New York showroom, located on 410 Park Avenue. This venue will play host to the \u201cFerrari Today\u201d exhibit, where you will get the chance to see the finest front-engined V-12 Ferraris ever made, including two of the most recent ones: the\u00a0GTC4Lusso\u00a0and the\u00a0812 Superfast.\u00a0If you haven\u2019t had your fill yet after visiting these three exhibits, the last exhibit, appropriately called \u201cIconic Ferrari,\u201d is located at RM Sotheby\u2019s New York office in the Upper East Side. This exhibit will host the best of the best Ferraris, a fitting description for the most legendary of legendary Ferraris. The last of Ferrari\u2019s two-day event extravaganza is the 70th Anniversary Gala celebration, which takes place at the Rockefeller Plaza. It\u2019s unclear if this event is open to the public, but for what it\u2019s worth, it might be best to show up and see for yourselves anyway.<\/p>\n
Like I said, Ferrari will be displaying a total of 26 cars throughout New York City with models ranging from the\u00a0166 MM,\u00a0the\u00a0400 SuperAmerica,\u00a0and all the way to modern exotics like the\u00a0488 GTB\u00a0and the\u00a0F12berlinetta.\u00a0This is how Ferrari celebrates its anniversaries and for fans of the Prancing Horse, October 7 and October 8, 2017 will be two days that will likely live on as two of the best days to be a loyal\u00a0tifosi.<\/p>\n
Remember when I said that Ferrari\u2019s 70th anniversary has been going for over a year now? That\u2019s all true, and over the past 12 months, we\u2019ve seen just how far the Italian automaker went to showcase its history and lineage for all the world to witness. It kicked off the celebration by launching 70 new liveries for all of its five current models. Do the math and that\u2019s 350 Ferraris getting 350 liveries, some of which were debuted at various points throughout the year in different locations all over the world. The most recent one to be showcased was the\u00a0488 Spider Heartthrob,\u00a0which was unveiled in all its glory at the 2017 Fraknfurt Motor Show last month. It wore a livery honoring the\u00a01954 Ferrari 500 Mondial Spider PF,\u00a0a legendary race car that was one of only 14 open-top models designed and built by Pininfarina and was owned by Dominican racer and famous playboy Porfirio Rubirosa, hence the nickname \u201cHeartthrob.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition to the overdose in legendary liveries, Ferrari also hosted various events all over the world, including the Legend E Passione sales event that took place at Ferrari headquarters. Together with RM Sotheby\u2019s, Ferrari auctioned off some of its most valued vehicles, not the least of which included the\u00a0Ferrari LaFerrari Aperta #210,\u00a0the last model of its kind and the one that holds the disctinction of being the only LaFerrari Aperta that isn\u2019t included in the model\u2019s 209-unit production run. Quite fittingly, the LaFerrari Aperta #210 sold for almost $10 million, more than three times the amount of the other\u00a0LaFerrari Apertas.<\/p>\n