Driving the Ferrari F50 and Pagani Zonda — The Carmudgeon Show Jason Cammisa Derek Tam-Scott Ep. 163

The Carmudgeon Show

Reviewing two V12, manual-transmission masterpieces — the Carmudgeons drove a Pagani Zonda Nero and a Ferrari F50, thanks to DK Engineering.

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DK Engineering slid into Jason's DMs with an offer to drive an F50, a car he hadn't driven. Derek is already on record praising the F50 — but neither had driven a Zonda.

They drove the cars, but didn't talk about it with one another until now. So here's the unfiltered truth about these two cars. In reality, they couldn't be more different.

Disappointing. Derek called the Pagani disappointing — the worst thing you could ever hear from your parents.

Especially after Jason had just ridden in the Gordon Murray GMA T.50. Perhaps this Zonda, which had been federalized for U.S. emissions, was quieter than most, but it was an acoustic nonevent: it sounded like a Toyota Camry V6. Which isn't an insult (that's the best sounding V6 in production today) — but it was out of bounds with their expectations.

Where the Zonda surprised, however, was that it's a nice GT. But one perhaps that's not what the boys expected.

On the other hand, the Ferrari F50 was a complete experience. Its V12 sounds nothing like any of the other 3 Ferrari V12s (Colombo, Lampredi, or F116/F140.) It's not a particularly beautiful sound — more a yell than a scream — but it's fully enveloping and wonderful.

The rest of the experience matches up, with linear controls, beautiful steering, and a chassis that feels natural and wonderful. With one of the best clutch/shifter/gas calibrations ever, despite the V12 having almost no flywheel weight.

Also, we include a video of Jason shifting the F50 about 2.2 million times in a minute.

All this and more on this episode of the Carmudgeon Show, which is part of the Hagerty Podcast Network.

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