NOTES FROM THE PROVING GROUND

NOTES FROM THE PROVING GROUND

Manhattan intersection where Miles Davis crashed his Lamborghini Miura in October 1972. Jim Glickenhaus witnessed the accident and helped the jazz icon, who was covered in blood and cocaine.

Foam Roller

PART TWO, IN WHICH SUPERCOLLECTOR AND FERRARI RETHINKER JIM GLICKENHAUS’S NEW CAR TAKES SHAPE. BY BART LENAERTS

lamour may lie across the finish line of the one-off carbuilding marathon, but it’s certainly not part of the process. Each of Jim Glickenhaus’s trips to Italy to oversee the creation of his newest sports car winds up in an industrial building more anonymous than a CIA safe house. During our last installment, at carbon-fiber specialist HP Composites, Glickenhaus saw four design proposals and picked his favorite. On a lazy Saturday a few months later, in a drab, gray building that seems a galaxy removed from the opulence of Pebble Beach, l’ingegnere Paolo Garella and designer Lowie Vermeersch show Glickenhaus a full-size foam model of his new car. Vermeersch admits the presentation of one-offs was far more formal when he worked for Pininfarina. “Luckily, Jim doesn’t care about posh,” he says. “This is a race car. It’s about taking fat away.”

When the cover drops, as the saying goes, the bullshit stops. Although Glickenhaus has seen numerous 3-D renderings of this car, called SCG 003, he’s clearly in awe when Vermeersch and Garella unveil the foam.

“Did I have this in mind a year ago? Nope. That’s what’s so exciting. I only knew I didn’t need another monster. During development of P4/5 [Glickenhaus’s first, Ferrari Enzo-based one-off —Ed.], Ferrari kept bragging about a 2200-pound supercar, then launched LaFerrari, another dinosaur with a big V-12. So we’re doing it in their place, aiming for 600 hp and 2400 pounds.”

Glickenhaus claims SCG 003 doesn’t share family ties with P4/5 or chase the look of anything on road or track. But there is one benchmark: “Today, nothing’s cooler

than the Audi LMP1. But they’re ugly as hell and more complex than Battlestar Galactica. Lowie’s proven we can make something similar, but simpler, road-legal, and plain gorgeous.”

Glickenhaus is happy he can check out his latest venture

“Luckily, Jim doesn’t care about posh. This is a race car. It’s about taking fat away.”

May your days be

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