Indian Entrepreneur Who Struggled To Afford Tata Indica Buys Ferrari 296 GTS [Video]
People love watching those who are successful in their lives. The wealthy, the powerful and the influential often have audiences. Most people get motivated and inspired by their success stories. Soumendra Jena, a UAE-based Indian serial entrepreneur, recently shared a heart-touching video on his YouTube channel, which shows him place an order for a brand-new Ferrari 296 GTS drop top and recollect his first ever car purchase which happened 17 years ago.
Jena's first car was a Tata Indica. He bought it in 2008. The entrepreneur says that back then, he had payment short by Rs 15,000. This caused a 3-day delay in delivery. Back then, the Indica's ex-showroom price ranged from 3.55 lakh to 6.04 lakh. He further adds that the steering wheel of the Ferrari that he's about to place an order for, costs more than double the price of an Indica back then.
He also talks about the time span and how it catalysed his growth. He concludes the video by reaffirming the importance or hard work and smart work in finding success in life. He also says that there is no shortcut to it.
At the time of compiling this story, Jena hasn't taken delivery of his Ferrari 296 GTS. His order has reached the dealer in Dubai, and is awaiting the PDI (Pre-Delivery Inspection) and PPF (Paint Protection Film) donning. In another video, he shows a few pictures of the car along with its exhaust sound.
Jena has bought his 296 GTS in Black. It gets a Red interior and Ferrari's signature steering wheel.
Ferrari 296 GTS: What Is It?
The GTS is the second model in the 296 lineup and is a drop top. In other words, it is the convertible iteration of the 296 GTB- Maranello's popular mid-engined hybrid supercar. In India, it has a base price of 6.24 Crore (ex-showroom).
In Dubai, however, the price starts at AED 1,380,000 ( roughly translating to 3.2 Crore rupees). This massive premium in prices can be attributed to the hefty import duties imposed by the Indian government on supercars.
In its design, the 296 GTS stands close to the GTB. The key difference is the drop-top design. Several exterior elements have been tweaked to accommodate the opening roof. The car gets a retractable hard top like the SF90 Spyder, and not a soft top that would have felt a lot less premium. When retracted, this roof sits in a bay behind the seats, and inside the engine compartment.
For the smooth functioning of the hard top and its retracting mechanism, the buttresses have been re-designed, and the 'aero bridge' has also been tweaked slightly. The engine cover also gets a new window at its bottom and the rear screen can be adjusted, for optimising comfort on roof-down drives. Getting the roof off takes just 14 seconds, and is done electronically.
The 296 GTS comes with an active rear spoiler that's integrated into its tail. This provides better down force at higher speeds.
Now, the most exciting part of the 296 GTS- its engine. The convertible gets the same engine as the 296 GTB. The 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6 produces 664 hp while an additional 166hp can be had from the rear-mounted electric motor. The combined output is 830 hp and 740 Nm.
Despite being heavier by over 70 kilograms, the GTS's performance remains unchanged. 0-100 kph is done in just 2.9 seconds. The top speed is over 330 kph, identical to the GTB.