A pretty Ferrari 458 Italia, seen on the parking lot of the Beijing United Family Hospital in 2016. The great Italian sportsmachine was painted in Ferrari red and covered with a thin layer of Beijing dust.
The license plate decapitated the head of Ferrari’s horse. How cruel. The license plate was fitted in a nice after-market silver ‘Ferrari’ frame.
The interior was red over black. It looked a bit odd, a bit cheap even, never seen an interior like this on a Ferrari. Perhaps the owner had it done locally. Note the tine characters 北京 (Beijing) on the window, indicating the car had been on a transport recently. Chinese super car owners have the habit of shipping their cars all over China, mostly by truck, to join super car events in other cities.
The Ferrari 458 Italia was manufactured from 2009 until 2015 in various forms and shapes. The car we have here is a standard coupe, fitted with five-spoke and cool yellow brake calipers. Sales in China started a bit later than elsewhere, in 2011. Price in that year of the base model was a hefty 3.88 million yuan.
Triple exhaust pipe was one of the most notable design elements of the 458, which, in any way, was a fantastic looking Ferrari.
Power came from a 4.5 liter naturally aspirated V8 engine, good for an output of 570 hp and 540 Nm. The motor was mated to a 7-speed DCT, sending each and every horse to the rear wheels. Top speed was 325 km/h and 0-100 was done in 3.4 seconds. To go that fast it needed quite a bit of juice; fuel consumption in China was officially set at 13.4 liters per 100 kilometers.
The 458 Italia was quite popular in China and over the years I have seen tons of them, and one day they will all be on this website.
The Beijing United Family Hospital was, and still is, located in the Lido area in Beijing. Both of my kids were born there, great place, kids happy, so they get a well deserved and totally free link.