Sammy Hagar Gets His LaFerrari

Sammy Hagar Gets His LaFerrari

We’re following rock ‘n’ roll legend Sammy Hagar as he becomes one of 499 people in the world to own a LaFerrari. Here’s the next leg of his journey — Ed.

For most people, a cappuccino is a warm coffee drink from Italy. For Sammy Hagar, it’s a screaming hot cream over black LaFerrari - his LaFerrari.

“I have goose bumps, which I think will have to be surgically removed,” Hagar says while gazing up his car at a local dealership.

It’s the first time he’s laid eyes on it. Even though he and his wife Kari made the pilgrimage to Maranello last fall for an obligatory seat fitting and to choose interior and exterior details, the result was only a computer mock-up. Now this uniquely designed machine — which Hagar has nick-named Cappuccino — is gleaming in front of him in all its three-dimensional glory.

“It’s actually smaller and sleeker than I imagined it would be,” he says in an awed whisper. “I don’t think there is any detail they missed on this car. It’s beyond my expectations.”

More than a year ago, the Hall of Fame rocker turned spirits entrepreneur decided it was time to realize a boyhood dream. Not just to have a Ferrari (he’s got a half dozen, from a Daytona to a 599 GTB, and has owned Prancing Horses ever since he first made it big as a solo artist in the ‘70s), but to have the ultimate Ferrari supercar.

Hagar was intrigued when the Enzo bowed a decade back, but decided against a purchase, a decision he later came to regret. This time, he vowed not to miss out.

With the same grit and determination he used to make himself a force in Van Halen, Hagar worked his Ferrari world connections until finally receiving word that he would indeed be one of 499 original owners of Ferrari’s LaFerrari, a gas-hybrid, four-wheeled-plane of a carbon-fiber uber-car whose specs should each be followed by exclamation points.

Nearly 1,000 horsepower; about 20 percent of that from its front-wheel-mounted electric motors. A $1.4 million MSRP; there are online reports of one over-asking-price LaFerrari being available in the U.S.

“That’s nice,” Hagar says with a shrug. “But this car’s going nowhere.”

The journey from fantasy to LaFerrari reality initially progressed quickly, kicked off by Hagar putting down a healthy six-figure deposit on the car at his area Ferrari dealership. Then followed by an eagerly anticipated trip to Italy where Hagar not only toured the legendary factory and posed for photos with factory workers, but also bumped into the late Enzo Ferrari’s son, Piero, at fabled Il Cavallino restaurant just outside the factory gates.

And then came a wait of about 10 months, which for a car of LaFerrari’s rarity is par for the hand-made course. But for Hagar, it was akin to telling a child Santa Claus was making him a special toy but it might take the elves until summer to be finished.

“Was it worth the money? Yes. Worth the wait? Yes. I understand what this is all about, which is the Ferrari mystique,” Hagar says, sitting in the custom-crafted driver’s seat of his new ride. “I’ve seen the same thing in rock bands over the years. Pink Floyd was no hype, all mystique. Led Zeppelin had huge mystique. There’s something to that.”

Hagar then cackles. “Of course, maybe it’s funny that I’m obsessed with Ferraris because I’m the opposite of that. Sammy Hagar is wide open, I’m all yours.”