Greetings fellow Speedhunters. I headed out to a misty and fairly miserable Fuji Speedway over the weekend – to the ultra-exclusive 2010 Ferrari Festival. Now in its second year being hosted by Ferrari Japan K.K., the event featured the FXX Programme, encompassing the FXX and 599XX machines.

 Standing in its presence, the FXX is an astounding car. And the engine note – ear-splitting!

 With 860 horsepower on tap from its 6.2-litre V12, this is pushing the envelope even for Ferrari.

Not to take anything away from the mighty 599XX, itself a fearsome machine and utterly devastating in terms of looks.

 Like the FXX, the 599XX is purely for racing, run by "owner test drivers." 

The cars are brought to exotic locations in Europe, North America and Asia, where the owners get to play at a variety of different circuits and events, culminating in Ferrari's end-of-season World Finals.

Although only four were ever out of the pit garages at any one time, there were, in fact, a total of seven FXX at the event. Worldwide, 30 of the cars have been built since 2006 and are solely for track use. 

Check out the winglets on the rear pillar. The 599 road car is wonderful, but this is just unbelievable! At one point, the battalion of Ferrari technicians  who had come over from Maranello (everybody in red and white) fired up all four 599XX and a quartet of FXX at the same time – IN THE PIT GARAGES! The doors were open at both front and rear, but still, it was an unbelievable experience, like being in a tunnel filled with intense, barking blasts of spine-tingling noise. I shuddered. It was a rather excellent experience.

The event was beautifully organised, though I have to admit disappointment at the fact that the cars ran only two timed laps each before returning to the pits. This meant there were generally a pair of FXX and 599XX on track at one time (some of the owners had come with one of each!) but they weren't racing – too bad, though I can almost understand why.

 Ready for action.

Blast from the past: The Hitotsuyama Racing Ferrari 550 GT that took part initially in SUPER GT and then in the (now defunct) Japan Le Mans Challenge rumbles down the pitlane. 

The FXX features a new electronic traction control system with nine settings, allowing the car's handling to be "adjusted to suit every corner." Just like an F1 car.

 The incredible lines that say Ferrari. And only Ferrari.

 Four FXX lined up for a group shot.

Based around the Enzo, the FXX really is the limit. The latest version of FXX features less time required to change gear, dropping from 80 to 60 milliseconds….

The 599XX was equally impressive, and a car I preferred in some ways. 

 These last two images were provided by Ferrari's press office. First, of the cars on track on Sunday.

And the obligatory end-of-event group photo.

With all these incredible machines on this side of the paddock, one could (rightly) expect the parking lot to be filled with some pretty gorgeous cars too, right? Yes indeed, and that's my next post. Stay tuned. 

 – Len Clarke