the dream that roars at 300kmph
introduction
my love for supercars stems from my father, who completed his mechanical engineering from pune university in 1993, after which he spent his career working in the automotive industry. when i was 3-4 years old (2005-2006), my father took me for a motorcycle ride near the mumbai-nashik highway, where we used to stand and excitedly spot vehicles. he tells me i would light up at the sight of tractors, petrol tankers, jeeps, jcbs, and cranes—pointing at each one with pure fascination. i’d get new toy vehicles every single week, due to which my toy collection grew so huge that by the time we moved from nashik to pune when i was 5, my parents had to get three sacks—each weighing 15 kg—just to fit all my toy vehicles.
age 5 – age 7 (2007-2009)
after moving to pune, i remember my father bringing home the overdrive automotive magazines once a month, each filled with details about new car launches, and a glossy supercar room poster. i would spend hours glued to the magazine, completely mesmerized, trying to understand the meaning of speed and torque, while admiring the supercar pictures. i remember asking my father, "if the bugatti veyron can go from 0 to 100 kmph in just 2.4 seconds, does that mean we can reach nashik from pune (200 kms) in 5 seconds instead of taking 6 hours in our maruti 800?" (completely messed up the speed, distance, and time calculation. lol.) amidst all this, there was one magazine issue in particular that stuck with me—the one that introduced me to ferrari. it was 2009, the year ferrari launched the 458 italia. i still remember the exact moment i saw that red beauty on the magazine pages. it drove me absolutely insane. in fact, even in 2025, spotting a ferrari would have the same effect on me.
age 7 – age 12 (2009-2014)
there are five highlights of this phase—first off, i had started commuting to school by bus. this was the same time when manufacturers like jaguar, audi, bmw, mercedes, and range rover made their debut in the indian market. every day, for those 40 minutes in the school bus, i would manifest spotting one of these cars on the road, and every time i did, it used to make my day. secondly, this was when i got into computer games like need for speed: most wanted, gta vice city, and midtown madness, fueling my obsession with cars even further. third, my childhood friend akash and i started maintaining a scrapbook filled with carefully pasted articles, pictures, and stickers of supercars from newspapers and magazines. we even ‘traded’ for images—three bmws for a lamborghini gallardo or something similar. i remember waiting desperately for times of india’s sunday issue, where they would describe the latest supercar in detail, along with its pictures. two issues that stayed with me were the ones featuring ferrari f12 berlinetta and ferrari laferrari respectively. the sheer number of times i've drooled over laferrari by watching this video is insane. i vividly remember a class activity in fourth grade where our teacher asked us to bring the most precious thing we owned to school. while others brought toys or gifts, i proudly presented my supercar scrapbook—such was my love for cars. fourth, the f1 grand prix that took place in india in 2011 got me into motorsports. it was the first time an f1 race was happening in india, and you could literally sense the excitement in the air. i remember one instance when an indian notebook brand, classmate, started pasting f1 and supercar covers on their notebooks. the only reason i was studying hard back then was so i could fill up those notebooks as quickly as possible, just so i could cut out the covers and paste those images in my scrapbook (lol). fifth, it was this indian movie called 'ferrari ki sawari'—a love letter to all young indian kids, covering all aspects of their lives, including cricket and supercars (ferrari). this was the single most influential movie that made me fall in love with the ferrari 360 modena. when i look back at my formative years, i realize how supercars have shaped my dreams and passions, which drive me even today.
age 12 – age 18 (2014-2018)
this phase is marked by three highlights, once again. first off, i was completely obsessed with watching marvel. tony stark’s ceo personality, combined with my passion for supercars, led me to the grand idea that i would start my own supercar company when i grew up. i even came up with the name 'spyder industries' (a mix of 'stark industries' and my love for spider-man, though it honestly makes no sense), and the tagline, 'technology, reloaded'. secondly, i developed a love for math and physics during middle and high school. i knew i wanted to be an automotive engineer. finally, i began to truly grasp the meaning of terms like torque, speed, and acceleration, which i could relate directly to the supercars i’d read about in overdrive magazines. this was the same time when elon musk was building tesla, and i understood the chemistry of the electric batteries it uses so well, since i was a science kid at heart. third, i'd developed the skill of sketching existing cars and designing my own supercars during my downtime. i spent a huge chunk of my vacation after the 10th-grade exams sketching cars from almost all major automotive companies. in these 7 years, that should total around 130–150 sketches. these years of my life were academically demanding, limiting my direct involvement to pursue my passion for supercars.
age 18 – age 21 (2018-2023)
if you'd noticed in all the above paragraphs, i've never mentioned any in-person interaction with a supercar, because i hadn't seen one until 2023. yes, it took me 14 years to see a ferrari in person. on april 16, 2023, ferrari mumbai organized 'esperienza ferrari,' and that's when i saw ferraris for the first time in my life—sf90, 812 superfast, 488 gtb, f430, and roma. i was filled with joy. i cried that day. i wrote, "when you stand outside the showroom, and you know what it'll take to be on the other side of that glass, getting your custom ferrari built, and you imagine all of this happening one day, and telling a story about it to your kids and probably the world, you end up crying. it's the love for ferrari which can't be put in words, only those tears do justice to it." that day in mumbai was magical. i saw mclarens, lamborghinis, rolls royces and porsches. the kid within me was filled with joy. throughout this time, i kept spotting a few supercars here and there in pune, but 'esperienza ferrari' marked the beginning of my real, in-person supercar experience. the next big supercar experience of my life was at this 'pune supercar show' in 2024, during which i not only saw the love of my life—a ferrari 458 italia for the first time ever, but also heard its v8 symphony. i saw an aston martin for the first time. i saw a ton of other supercars including lamborghini murciélago, rolls royces from the 1900s, the latest rolls royce spectre, bentleys, porsches, and a few others. the highlights of the show were the ferrari 458 italia, and the ferrari 488 gtb. reflecting on this experience, i wrote, "i wish i could bring my 7-year-old self from 2009 with me to this event just to listen to the symphony of the beautiful v8 of the ferrari 458, only to see that child overwhelmed with tears of joy at the shear bliss of the moment." during my visa interview at mumbai, i'd visited the ferrari mumbai showroom, during which they let me and akash in, and have a close look at the ferrari 296 gtb, ferrari purosangue, and ferrari roma. there we were, standing in front of a roughly $2m ferrari suv, completely in awe of its presence. these were also the years when my instagram feed was curated so well, that i not only got to learn more about the car brands that i loved, but also fall in love with others such as mclaren and pagani. these years were undoubtedly the best of my life, as i finally got to see a ton of supercars i had been dreaming of for so many years.
age 21 – present (2023-present)
while leaving for new york city, my friends and family gifted me something ferrari-related—a ticket to ferrari world at abu dhabi, a ferrari backpack, a ferrari cap, and a 1:32 scale model of the ferrari sf90. they knew i was taking this step in my life to move one step closer to achieving my dreams. moving to new york city for my graduate studies at nyu completely changed my exposure to supercars. first off, during my layover at abu dhabi when i was flying from mumbai to new york, i visited the ferrari world—an 8-hour joyride during which i spent the whole day literally celebrating ferrari. there, i saw the ferrari sp3 daytona and ferrari sp1 monza. in my first four months in new york, i visited the aston martin showroom and got a chance to sit in the db12 and vantage. on my 22nd birthday, i saw some of the most exclusive cars in the world, like the $3.3m koenigsegg regera, $3m lamborghini countach, lamborghini sto, and the porsche gt3rs, along with a ton (literally a ton) of supercars at manhattan motorcars. i also went to the ferrari showroom and saw the $3.8m ferrari f80 and ferrari 12 cilindri. i see so many supercars on the streets of new york. the city literally fuels my ambition.
conclusion
my dream garage consists of a ferrari 458 italia, ferrari 488 pista, ferrari 812 superfast, aston martin vantage, mclaren 765 lt, porsche 911 gt3rs, and so many others—cars that i’ve admired for years. but the real dream is to share these with the people who made this journey possible—my father, who gave me my love for cars, my mother, who nurtured my love for math and physics, and my brother, friends, and mentors who have always been there with me. even today, when i see or sit in these supercars, my eyes light up with the same awe and wonder as they did when i first glimpsed them in those overdrive magazines when i was seven. the child within me encourages me to dream bigger, and to keep those dreams alive. i'll make sure that he experiences the thrill of driving his ferrari at over 300 kmph, with the symphony of the v12 engine echoing through his soul :)
~ sohan,
17:31 • jan 31, 2025