July 5, 2014.

LaFerrari Is a Million-Dollar Dream

"Have you ever seen those bones, Winston? Of course not. Nineteenth-century biologists invented them. Before man there was nothing. After man, if he could come to an end, there would be nothing. Outside man there is nothing."

THAT'S NO TYPO: The name of Ferrari's latest thunderbolt is LaFerrari, with the article lewdly rubbing against the proper noun. It's a great name.

"But the whole universe is outside us. Look at the stars! Some of them are a million light-years away. They are out of our reach for ever."

First, note the anapestic gallop: la-fer-RAR-eee. For a company whose symbol is a black horse this is a trick worthy of our beloved Dante. Please observe, too, how it's a name that doesn't give a damn about Anglophones. Is it "the LaFerrari," which parses as "the the Ferrari"? Away from the factory gates, English dog.

"What are the stars?" said O’Brien indifferently. "They are bits of fire a few kilometres away. We could reach them if we wanted to. Or we could blot them out. The earth is the centre of the universe. The sun and the stars go round it."

In tune with a Latin ear, the name italicizes exclusivity and rarity. Ferrari has said it would build 499 of the hybrid hypercars in the next two years, and no more. Prices vary with markets but the conversation starts at €1.2 million ($1.6 million). Or started. LaFerrari's order book was filled within weeks of its debut at the 2013 Geneva auto show.