For a Last-Minute Holiday Gift, Think Ferrari

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If you're like me, the calendar flips to December 21 with a shot of panic. Why's that? Well if my wife is reading this, it's not because I left Christmas shopping until the last minute. It's just that... I just need to run to the store real quick for some... hemorrhoid cream? These are not moments when the mind usually jumps to The Prancing Horse.

But 2023 was no ordinary year for Ferrari (unless you count the F1 team's usual position at spear tip of mediocrity). There was the thundering Le Mans victory, the Purosangue SUV, and an epic showing at our Performance Car of the Year test, but the Michael Mann-directed Ferrari biopic really sticks out for me.

From the perspective of this film dork, Ferrari was pretty entertaining (propose any flick with Adam Driver slinking about in wide-legged suits, bedding Italian women, and I'm in; Driver is the Millenial Al Pacino, before Pacino went all HOO-AH!).

But most car dorks are not also film dorks, and most car dorks will balk at the CGI used in Ferrari's racing scenes. If that's you, please try to compartmentalize your dork-ness for a minute and enjoy the movie. If you can't do that, may I pry your face from the dull procession of backlit screens we call "life" and place your eyes upon a book. A book?!

A book; Alongside the film, a re-edition of the Brock Yates-penned biography was printed. You can find Ferrari: The Man And The Machine on your favorite Seattle-based online purveyor of counterfeit skincare items, but it'd be better if you popped down to your local bookstore. Remember: putting money in your neighbors' pockets is far better than sticking it in the hands of Big Corporate America.

This book is a great stocking stuffer, a wonderful sorry-I-missed-Hanukkah present, or simply something to soak in the holiday bliss from a good chair, a glass of eggnog in hand. When it came to writing about cars, Yates was a legend of the form. It's worth reading this C/D piece from another late genius, the dearly missed Davey G. Johnson, which reflected on what Yates gave us during his enviable run. They don't make 'em like they used to.

The Ferrari book was one of those hallmarks in Yates's oeuvre, an accounting of Enzo Ferrari's fanaticism and passion, a piece of work brave and insightful enough to chip at the veneer of Italy's second-most-famous man and pull out some humanity in the process.

Buy a copy for yourself and all the people left on your shopping list. If you need me I'll just be down at the pharmacy, browsing the available creams. Happy Holidays from R&T.

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