Enzo Ferrari walked his talk. “If you can dream it, you can do it,” he said. Nobody embodied that statement more than he did.

His luxury sports car brand has elicited countless fantasies but, lucky for us, those dreams came true when Autostrada Motore, the sole importer and distributor of Ferrari in the Philippines, held its first roadshow in Cebu at Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort and Spa.

“My biggest dream since I was 16 was to drive a Ferrari,” Maripaz Perdices gushed. Her wish came true via a test drive of the latest model of the Ferrari California T, with her kids Lorenzo, Kalina and Yano riding in the backseat.

Similarly, entrepreneur Marko Sarmiento’s excitement was palpable after doing his own test drive: “I was able to check an item off my bucket list. What made it even better was being able to do it with my kids in tow. Now that I’ve checked it off of mine, they’ve added it into theirs.”

Perfectly placed lines

Meanwhile, US-based Brooks Chiongbian, who was in town visiting his dad Jay, made it all the way to Marina Mall in a fraction of what it would’ve taken in any other vehicle. “I’m not normally one to eat up the lifestyles of the rich and famous but, wow, a memory I will never forget. The design, with perfectly placed lines and the power you dreamed of as a child only added to the experience of a lifetime.”

Fun behind the wheel is a priority for Ferrari, but Italian restaurateur and chef Marco Anzani was in awe of the car’s technology.

“The electronic sensors and gadgets are amazing,” he proclaimed. “What a way to always be in control.”

For us who know absolutely nothing about cars, we had to admit that the Ferraris on display—458 Spider, FF, F12berlinetta and the California T— were extremely sexy head-turners that deserved a double take, at the very least.

Autostrada Motore president and chair Wellington Soong and his son Marc flew in from Manila to talk to Ferrari enthusiasts in Cebu, which included everyone aged 5 to 75; while Simon Inglefield of Ferrari Far East presented Tailor Made, Ferrari’s ultrabespoke program which allows you to customize everything about the car, from the leather to the thread color.

As for grown men like Oppein showroom owner Oliver Ko, who couldn’t make it to the launch, he only had this to say: “I want to cry.”