Community durchsuchen

Dank Ferrarisammler und Enthusiast Cheerag Arya entsteht nun das fünte Projekt der Ferrari SP-Abteilung aus der schon Eric Clapton’s SP12 EC, der SP1, der goldene P540 Superfast Aperta sowie der Superamerica 45 hervorgingen. Das neue Projekt hört auf die schlichte Bezeichnung Ferrari SP 30 Arya Das Ferrari Magazine schrieb dazu im Mai 2012 (Auszüge) A SILENT PASSION India, the US, the Emirates. To the many worlds of Cheerag Arya, a fourth one has been added: Italy, or Maranello, to be precise. After the F40, the car that ignited his passion for Ferraris, Arya now regularly drives Maranello models, currently a GTO and soon a one-off car created specially for him. Sitting on the sumptuous sofas of the Palace Hotel in the very centre of “new” Dubai, the 32-year-old Cheerag Arya (or CA, as he prefers to be known) looks everything but a Ferrari collector. The sun is seeping through the windows, blocked part by the looming Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building. Everything says money and power, apart, it seems, from our little corner of the reception coffee shop. CA is quietly spoken, almost embarrassed to discuss openly his passion. In a city full of loud, brash businessmen battling for the best key fob on the table, CA is the polar opposite, despite the brooding, black 599 GTO parked at the valet stand only metres away from our peaceful corner of this quite mad city. He might not show it, but he certainly has a burning habit, and it doesn’t take much scratching at the surface to release it. Within 30 seconds of sitting down with him, I find out that, unknown to any of the passing guests, I’m sitting with a man that owns a collection of some of most sought-after modern V12 Ferraris ever produced. However, he is also obviously uncomfortable with either being asked probing questions or having his photo taken by the photographer, who is setting up lights in the background. Clearly, CA is a private guy with a love for all things Ferrari. Born in India, he spent much of his life in the US, where his passion for cars began to take shape. Growing up in the car-mad US was always bound to take its toll on any young boy and he was no exception. The seed was sown and it was only a matter of time before it started to grow. But why Ferrari? Why this passion for the Prancing Horse? ‘It wasn’t Ferrari, but the F40. I’d wanted one since I was a child,’ he says. ‘I saw a South American football player driving one in a picture in a magazine and decided that was the car I wanted. After that, I learnt a bit more about the Company and its history. I then promptly fell in love with the Testarossa, just like everyone else at the time.’ In a cryptic twist, CA won’t tell me which football player was driving the car, although I’m certain he knows. He always plays his cards very close to his chest, making his choice of cars even more interesting. Given a wild guess, I’d have thought an anonymous black Mercedes would be his chosen drive in what is quite simply the flashiest city on the planet. However, I couldn’t be more wrong; out of all of his cars, he drives his startling 599 GTO the most. The GTO is surprisingly practical. It really is the complete package and the most beautiful car I’ve ever seen. Mine’s only a year old and I’ve already done 7,000km. I sent it to Europe this summer and drove it everywhere. The response from people is amazing. A guy started chatting with me about the car in a petrol station and we talked for ages.’ Arya only moved to Dubai six years ago to set up a manufacturing plant in Ras Al Khaimah, one of the seven states that make up the United Arab Emirates. Now at the helm of the family petrochemical business, he seems at home despite the glitzy backdrop andVegas-style fountains outside the window behind him. ‘We were looking for somewhere to set up a new manufacturing base and looked into the UAE,’ he recalls. ‘After a lot of research, Ras Al Khaimah proved to be ideal, as the government are very helpful and we had good synergy with them. It’s easy to live here. But the main reason for me is that it is very safe. There’s little red tape and you get left alone as long as you keep on the right side of the law.’ With the business doing well, CA bought his first Ferrari, a 575M Maranello. That was the tipping point. The floodgates had opened as the sleeping giant arose to start what would quickly become one man’s quest to own the perfect Ferrari GT collection. ‘I do prefer the bigger cars,’ he nods. ‘Gran Turismos are more spacious and easier to use on a daily basis, especially when wearing a suit. It’s hard to turn up to a meeting in the Scuderia without getting dusty and with your clothes getting all creased.’ However, a 430 Scuderia followed (one of only two V8s in his collection), along with an Enzo, a Daytona and the fabled F40. He had finally bought the car he saw as a child, but the buying was hardly about to stop. Far from it, in fact. Afterwards, he joined the very exclusive 599XX owners’ club. ‘I bought the Daytona purely for the looks. I love the pop-up headlamps; I think it’s a boy thing?’ he muses. ‘I don’t actually drive either the F40 or the Daytona much, but I might give them both a run on the track later this month to give them a drive. I love the classics, but they are obviously much harder to drive. My Daytona has the aftermarket power steering fitted, which makes a huge difference, but with the newer cars, you just jump in and go.’ Although he doesn’t currently race, CA is fully signed up for the Maserati Trofeo Middle East. But it’s noticeable that, when he talks about the upcoming race season, he doesn’t have the same spark in his eye that I catch each time he talks about Ferrari. He also follows Formula One closely, but only when Ferrari is winning. His passion certainly is singular. And with the championship already decided, he won’t be attending the inaugural Indian Grand Prix. ‘Since Red Bull won the championship I am far less interested in attending the last few races,’ he admits. ‘I only follow Ferrari, Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso, so now this season is done for me.’ The 599XX purchase opened a new chapter in the Ferrari experience for Arya, adding his name to the list for special car releases by the factory. Next to arrive was an SA Aperta, a car he was invited to buy: ‘I bought that car four months ago. I was invited to buy it, as I own a 599XX. It’s great to be on Ferrari’s list for new cars when they’re launched. I’m sure the Aperta is louder than my 599 GTO, but in a much more refined way. Perhaps it’s just because I have the roof off a lot.’ But then CA found himself at an impasse. He realised that he owned the F40 he had always wanted. The very best road-going 599 and its track sister had followed, along with the mountainous Daytona that started it all. So what’s next? What do you do when you can buy pretty much any new Ferrari that comes along? Do you continue to buy absolutely everything that rolls out of the factory gates, change tack and find a new hobby, or create your very own car through the manufacturer you love? Luckily for the rest of the world, he didn’t take up fly-fishing. Instead, he approached the Ferrari factory and threw around the idea of creating a one-off with the Company’s designers. After plenty of discussion and meetings, Ferrari agreed to help him build his very own car, based on his needs, his ideas and his input. According to him, the car is based on the 599 GTO and retains the running gear of the original car, although he cryptically mentions that he might play with the exhaust and suspension. Quite what there is left to do frankly baffles me, but he has that look of someone who knows exactly what he wants and is willing to wait to get it right. On the outside, however, things will be very different. ‘I told the designers what I wanted and they presented me with a total of 12 designs. I then picked the bits from each that I liked until we got an idea of the car I had in mind. A bit like a wish list.’ He recently visited the factory to see a full-size clay mould of his car, so he has a fairly good idea of how the final product will look. Unfortunately, he’s not too keen to share anything about the car. It’s clearly a project for him alone. I press him for details, but he remains tight-lipped, save a few sketchy details. ‘It’s not a recreation of a previous model. The car has a bit of everything in it, both old school and new. Once it’s done, I’ll keep it in Dubai, but will take it to Europe every summer. I won’t be showing it to the world, as it’s a personal thing to me.’ Showing off a one-off supercar is often something that proves to be beyond the owner’s control, even with the factory’s famed discretion. Once it hits Dubai’s streets, the cat will well and truly be out of the bag, even with its plethora of supercars. Trying to blend in is probably not going to be an option for him when he finally gets his car early next year. Many of these one-off cars are vanity builds, designed to show off to the rest of the world. I have a feeling that this car won’t roll out of the factory to a soundtrack of blaring trumpets and fireworks, leaving the “tuned” exhaust note to announce it to the world, as he swiftly disappears into the distance. The project still has many months to run, leaving me time to try and prise more information from him. It’s a task I already know is going to be a tough one. So, given a seriously unlimited budget and access to anything either in or out of the market, I try to guess what car he would buy. His answer is typically instant and yet double sided. He surprises me yet again. ‘From a value point of view, it would have to be a 250 GTO, but that’s the sensible businessman’s answer. In my heart it would be a 275 GTB. I think I’d buy it just to look at it. I have a real passion for that car. I’ve owned a lot of other supercars, but none of them push the button like Ferrari. There’s no spark there for me. There really is something special about the brand.’ We’ve been talking for what seems like ages, but when car people get going, time often becomes irrelevant. We’ve actually only had the briefest of chats and, as he leaves, I feel I’ve barely broken through the veneer of Cheerag Arya. He has a very real passion for Ferrari and its GTs. But the story is only half-written. The mysterious “special” remains a veiled secret and something tells me it’ll be finished and out the gates of Maranello before I find out more. It takes someone truly driven to go to the trouble of building their very own Ferrari, but to then keep it to themselves is almost unheard of. CA is non-committal on everything, from driving his classics and which one of them is his favourite to his love of F1 and whether he’ll ever sell any of his precious cars. For someone who obviously enjoys the high life, you’d never spot him in a crowd. And I think that, perhaps more than anything else, is ultimately the key to his secret. He’s enjoying the fruits of labour for himself and not worrying about what the rest of the world thinks, and that is probably the most sensible path. CA has come a long way from his 575. There are race-ready Scuderias, sought after classics, as Corse Clienti XX and, of course, the ultra-secret project car. I’m pretty sure this won’t be the last car he buys, but it may end up being the most special to him. He’s already talking about the new Enzo when it’s eventually released and an FF, but only when they add a panoramic roof. This is an addiction that doesn’t seem to be waning anytime soon. However, they saythat you always remember your first love and your last love, so I guess the 575 is going to be in good company.