by Megan Natt
posted on May 16, 2016
We’re bonafide motorheads here at Turo, so you can only imagine our excitement over inducting our first ever Ferrari into the marketplace last month. And not only is it a Ferrari, it’s a head-turning yellow Ferrari. Swoon.
I recently caught up with Jim G., the proud papa of this spicy 360 Modena Spider, to hear about the car and why he decided to put her up for rent.
A long-standing owner on the Turo marketplace, Jim has been renting out his cars in suburban Virginia for years. He has a Porsche 911, a Chrysler 300, an Aston Martin V8 Vantage, and now his Ferrari listed for rent on Turo.
And why such a list of luminaries? Jim is a true auto enthusiast. “I’ve subscribed to Car & Driver since I was probably 10 years old,” he recalls. “Growing up, I always idolized cars. I love the feeling of driving them,” and now, “the feeling of renting them out,” he says. “I love the look on people’s faces when I hand them the keys,” he continues. His guests are stoked to drive his cars, and they’re always “somewhat nervous and very careful” when he hands over the keys. Jim even gets under the hood and does all his own work. “I’m 13 years away from retirement, so ultimately I’d love to transition full-time” to collecting, maintaining, and renting out cool cars.
And the Ferrari? He recently discovered it on eBay Motors, and ended up getting a pretty sweet deal for it. He bought it from a seller in California who owned a chain of barbecue restaurants, and it came fully equipped with the vanity license plate “BBQ4RE”. He tinkered with the idea of flying out to California and road tripping back, but opted out because of work obligations.
Would it make a good road trip car? “I don’t know. Probably not. But it would be fun,” he said.
“The sound is amazing. There’s aftermarket exhaust, the redline is above 8,000, and it’s so light. It just sings. It’s definitely my fastest [car] — you definitely get the movie star feeling, and can’t get away from the attention.” It also has a paddle shifter so anyone can drive it, not just those skilled with a manual transmission.
If you find yourself near the metro DC area this summer and feel the need for speed (safely and in moderation, of course), check out Jim’s Ferrari, or any of the other super slick cars he rents out on Turo.
