Epic Video of a Manual Ferrari 360 Modena Hammering Through Back Roads Is The Stuff of My Automotive Dreams

Every now and again I wonder whether I am just being “that crazy old guy” who can’t let go of the past. Cars are faster and more efficient (just look at how 0-60 times have tumbled) and we have more sports car than we can shake a stick at. All is well. Why is it then that I feel we lost something in all this forward progress.

Don’t get me wrong, I love technology and some of my favorite cars are new tech-laden beasts like the Porsche 911 GT3 RS. Smaller engines, double clutch gearboxes and a myriad of other advancements are all good things for automotive progress.

BUT, every now and then I remember the past. I remember the sounds of a naturally aspirated V8, the feeling of the click-clack of an open gate manual gearbox, the agility of a lightweight car not weighed down by heavy safety requirement and I remember just how awesome it used to be to drive a car.

Not better. No worse. Just different.

This video of a Ferrari 360 Modena tearing up mountain roads sums up what I’m talking about. With a 3.6 litre flat plane V8 and over 400 bhp, all with a manual gearbox, this car is work. It makes you sweat. It makes you concentrate. I love it and I miss it. I am sure a modern hot hatch would destroy this car in outright speed, but I don’t care, I want more cars like the 360 Modena, I want more modern cars to take some work to enjoy.

Enough from the old guy. Turn up the volume and watch.