If you could go for a ride in a track-focused supercar instead of an old 1963 Opel Kadett with a cute name, odds are you’d choose the supercar 10 times out of 10, as would Sebastian Vettel, apparently.
The four-time Formula 1 world champion met up with Richard Hammond and James May, as the two Grand Tour presenters attempted to convince him to drive their cars. Unfortunately for Hammond, his ride was a lot less spectacular than May’s.
Captain Slow showed up with his own personal Ferrari 458 Speciale, generally viewed as one of the best-handling cars in the world. It is powered by a naturally aspirated 4.5-liter V8 engine, producing 597 HP (605 PS) and 398 lb-ft (540 Nm) of torque, allowing you to hit 62 mph (100 km/h) from a standstill in 3 seconds flat.
It’s the type of performance Hammond’s car could only dream of offering. By the way, he brought along the very same 1963 Opel Kadett (aka Oliver) he drove in the Botswana Special. The car proved surprisingly reliable, successfully crossing the Makgadikgadi Salt Flats.
Also read: Ferrari 458 Speciale A – An $850k Baby Blue Dream Come True
As you can imagine, Hammond told Vettel a very touching story about his connection with the car and everything it’s been through, in order to sway him into taking Oliver for a quick drive, as opposed to May’s V8-powered Ferrari.
While it would be easy to say that Vettel chose the 458 Speciale because he himself is a Ferrari Formula 1 driver, we can’t imagine anybody actually picking the Kadett over the Italian supercar, let alone a professional race car driver.
Also, he probably chose the 458 because the video was scripted that way to begin with, but that’s pretty much besides the point when comparing these two cars.