SG Archives: Ferrari 458 Italia & Mercedes-Benz 230CE (C123)
Singapore - 29/3/24 - The Ferrari brand is no doubt a hugely popular brand all around the world. Best known for its supercars, hypercars, and overall prestige, its pretty safe to say that everyone in the current era has heard of a Ferrari, and known one when they see one.
For folks born in the 2000's, I'm sure they have at one point in their youth drooled over this, the Ferrari 458 Italia. Outside of other models that were both strikingly appealing to the young demographic and were very unique in their design then and now, cars like the Camaro, Challenger, or Aventador, I'm super sure that growing up with movies and early mobile games, these cars have had a strong impact on their lives. I say this with experience, since I remember and associate these cars with my youth, although the model that made the strongest impact would have been the Camaro, I still have my old Hotwheels of it.
But, personally and also agreed with by others, the 458 is also unique for being a modern Ferrari that works with its proportions just right. None of the aggressive and heavy emphasis on angular design. The design is pretty rounded, but has enough slits that it isn't incredibly aggressive and sharp. It is pretty non-offensive is what I would view it as.
The 458 is also noted to some as being one of the best modern Ferrari's, one reason being it was the last naturally aspirated V8 powertrain Ferrari would produce. Its successor, the 488, used twin-turbochargers in its powertrain, and today, Ferrari now has a PHEV powertrain for its cars.
Over the span of 6 years starting from 2009 and ending in 2015, it is estimated that Ferrari sold around 15k units of the 458, including all special variants.
The Italia as pictured here is not the rarest model of 458, with variants like the Sergio (6 units) and Speciale Aperta (499 units) being rarer and more desirable than the base Italia spec. I believe we have Aperta's locally.
Not to detract from this example; it is pretty gorgeous as it is.
Personally, over the years, while I still prefer a Ferrari F355 or a 360 manual, I think the 458 is still the pinnacle for all-out speed. Where the F355 and 360 ideally delievers in a more raw and hands-on experience, the 458 is more something you can easily fly down a highway in.
Just some youthful banter, if I could choose the specification of mine, I'd probably have the Rosso Corsa with a black roof, red leather interior and grey 5-spokes at a minimum.
The Mercedes W123 is a popular classic today. Part of the reason people love classic cars is, apart from the mechanicals, they are a representation of an era gone past. A reason why the current generation of upcoming car enthusiasts are less interested in classics and old cars is because more often than not, they aren't cars that have a connection to them.
Again, folks who were born in the 2000's grew up seeing the launch of cars like the Nissan GT-R, and grew up next to cars like the Toyota Mark X or Mercedes C-Class W204's, as an example. I grew up with my father's Honda Stream RSZ, and there has been days when I do strongly consider buying one because of the connection it has to my youth.
It can be said the same for these cars; folks whom looked up to these cars because they knew someone close who had one or they grew up admiring them when they used to be around.
The W123 had a production run of 10 years from 1976-1986, producing over 2 million cars including all variants during its life.
This here is a 230CE, a 2.3L powered coupe, which model code would be C123 as compared to the 4-door's W123 model code.
Like in many places, these used to be commonplace when they were fresh off the line, akin to the modern-day E-Class and other Mercedes models. These days, few remain in Singapore, at least those that were in the country from day one.
At least as compared to other cars of its day, the W123 has slightly more black plate examples still around compared to other classic models. This should be a newer import, assuming based on the new prefix plate number and lack of any C&C badge. This is all I know to differentiate a Singapore-delivered car though, so I can definitely be wrong in this case.
Additionally, this was an era when Mercedes were still offering manuals. These days, a good portion of the W123 sedans still around are manuals. This example is an automatic, so folks who do not hold a manual license can drive it no problem.
While they aren't necessarily contemporary in design; the W124 does a better job with that, the W123 in this day and age, still looks super good. The coupe definitely does the design the best, but perhaps I am looking at the range with the perspective of a young lad.
All in all, to compare this and the Ferrari, they're two completely different ball games. If presented with the choice, which one would you rather have?
(Photos all taken 29/3/24)
~Efini
