Auto News 5

Ferraris aren't cars. They're rolling, metal-and-glass celebrities, photographed and obsessed over by millions of fans around the world. Any mortal who learns that you've just driven one--including the customs officer I encountered when I returned home from Italy--gets the vapors. Indeed, when Ferraristi spot any activity whatsoever through the hallowed gates of Ferrari's Fiorano test track near Maranello, Italy, they jump around as if an espresso had just been spilled in their laps.

In an island as crowded as Manhattan, motorists and pedestrians battle for territory. When you attempt to drive through teeming Midtown, great rivers of people spill out from the sidewalks, overflow the crosswalks, and brush past your fenders. You can feel their enmity. That is, unless you're driving a Mini Cooper convertible.

We're spending a weekend in the idyllic seaside resort of Laguna Beach, California, and each decision is tougher than the next: Beach or pool? Sushi or sashimi? Shaken or stirred? And most vexing of all, top up or top down?

It's all about youth these days. That's why Ford, taking a page from President Barack Obama's campaign strategy, is pitching its European Fiesta directly to Generation Y, with plenty of Twitter and YouTube pages devoted to the cause. And that's why Automobile Magazine's youngest editor - yours truly - drove the car to Madison, Wisconsin, home of more than 30,000 undergrads, as a way of measuring the truth - "truthiness," Gen Y'ers say - in Ford's claim that it has a legitimate subcompact contender.

RALLYE SANREMO: MONTALCINO
Dodging wild boars under the Tuscan sun.
Location: 27 miles south of Siena, this section of the Montalcino stage runs from Castiglione del Bosco to Nacciarello.
Length: 3 miles
Driver: Miki Biasion, 1988 and 1989 world rally champion

A trip to explore the winding lanes around Scotland's Loch Lomond with a new Lotus sounded idyllic enough. We were so not complaining. But was it just us, or did the press introduction for Lotus's new two-plus-two, the Evora, seem a wee bit obvious? You know, curvaceous Scottish roads, new Lotus, end of story we've heard before. Add single malt, repeat.

Travel experts call Modena, Italy, "the land of engines," prima facie evidence that this Emilia-Romagna city warrants a visit. The De Tomaso, Ferrari, Maserati, and Pagani marques were either born or were nurtured here.