As far a bold publishing goes, this just might take the biscuit: a Ferrari book that will set you back the price of a dozen 308s. But it's true (we think). We checked everywhere for the obvious April Fools Day giveaways and there was nothing (close as the 31 March launch date was). And then there was a glitzy launch in Abu Dhabi with John Surtees and others: could they really all be in on this elaborate ruse?
For the record, the tome we are referring to is the Ferrari Opus Diamante edition, pointlessly limited to one copy per country (its price should do all the limiting required, and besides, anyone who can afford it will have homes in several countries anyway to circumvent this silly rule). The book weighs 37kg (presumably including its diamond-encrusted slipcase, but still enough to cost you excess baggage when you bring it home), has 872 pages (presumably painted in gold leaf by Leonardo da Vinci) and loads of stuff that is in pretty much every Ferrari book and magazine article. And some other stuff which isn't.
Lesser editions – adding up to a total print run of 3400 – can be bought for £2000-20,000.
Let's hope that the book pays better attention to detail than the press release, which stated that one 'Sterling' Moss would be at the launch. Anyway, see for yourselves here.
James Elliott is a former Editor of Classic & Sports Car