We took half a day to go for some fun country backroad driving with the Boston Globe’s reporter George Kennedy. George wrote a nice article for the Boston Globe’s Sunday edition entitled “39 Glorious Miles in a Factory Five” where George documneted our trip up to Kennebunk, Maine.

“Once I felt I could let the beast stretch her legs, she was glorious – and manageable,” wrote George. ‘The car featured a 5-speed overdrive manual that dropped the revs to a civil 2,000 rpms. Fifth gear is for having a conversation with your passenger. Fourth is for tuning him out. Third? That’s for transplanting your eyeballs in the back of your head.”

On the way we hit some traffic and one of the rear calipers hung-up and overheated. I switched rides with George and, after the brakes cooled off, caught up with the group. George has been down to FFR and has toured the facility. A week ago we did some more driving around the Wareham area, grabbed some pizza and beers (1 each!), and headed home.

One of the great pleasures of my job is giving folks a ride in one of our Factory Five’s. Most people are not prepared for the brutal accelration and heart-attack cornering of a 2,200 lbs. car with 400+ horsepower. Giving guys that kind of grin is the highlight of my day!

You can read the full article by clicking here.

Dave Smith