38 AUTOWEEK JANUARY 23, 2012

PARTLY BECAUSE OFa flagging economy

showing only faint glimpsesof recovery, most car collec-tors aren’t willing to roll upextra miles on the odometersof their concours-qualitygarage queens. Even if depre-ciation is not a concern, thethought of a fender-bender or, worse, an all-out collisioncauses night sweats for mostserious aficionados.

But there are among us agroup of people—you mightcall them renegades—whothrow caution (and their wal-lets) to the wind and drivetheir cars as much as possible.

Richard Stein, 63, is consid-ered by close friends and fami-ly to be slightly insane—offhis rocker in a way that only a true car fanatic can reallyunderstand. Each morning,from his home in New Jersey,Stein commutes 15 miles tohis law practice in a 2003Ferrari Enzo. Sure, he hasother Ferraris in the stable,such as a 599 GTO and a 16MScuderia Spider, but the 660-hp Enzo is his preferred modeof transportation. Even theNortheast winters don’t stophim from trekking back andforth to work in the Enzo.

“I’ve been caught in the

MY COMMUTER CARIS A SUPERCAR3 rebels don’t mind putting serious miles on their exotics

BY NATHAN LALIBERTEPHOTOS BY NATHAN PERKEL

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JANUARY 23, 2012 AUTOWEEK 39

snow a few times. That tendsto get a little hairy,” he sayswith an impish grin.

For Stein, who was diag-nosed with Parkinson’s dis-ease five years ago, using theEnzo as a commuter car hasgained him local notoriety,especially among car buffs, asa quixotic rebel on a missionto live each day as if it’s hislast. When asked why hechooses to drive a $1 millionFerrari to work, instead ofsomething a little more prac-tical, Stein responds, “I justdon’t know how much time I have left, so I’d better enjoyevery moment.”

Rijk Rietveld, 57, is a soft-spoken architect who liveswith his wife and two chil-dren in New York City. A native of Amsterdam, hewears red tortoiseshell glass-es, prefers a thick Germanstout with lunch and has anicy complexion that serves as a strong indication of hisDutch heritage. He also is theowner of a rare 2006 SpykerC8, which, with 30,000 mileson the odometer, recently became the second-highest-mileage Spyker in existence.

The mid-engine Spyker isadmittedly a strange choicefor a daily driver, especially

Richard Stein treats his $1 million 2003 Ferrari Enzo like any othercommuter car, fueling up the car (above) and himself (left). Rijk Rietveld(opposite and below) relishes the daily commute in his 2006 SpykerC8. He has clocked more than 30,000 miles on his Spyker driving inand around New York City. Stein (left) and Rietveld (right) at bottom.

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in Manhattan. It lacks tractioncontrol, power steering andpower brakes and comes witha flimsy top that prevents thedriver from seeing anythingbut cloth in the rearview mir-ror. Spyker’s answer to themirror problem was a custom-fitted periscope that extendsover the roofline.

For Rietveld, who admits to being a gearhead of thehighest order, putting loads ofhard city miles on the Spykeris not unlike his approach torunning his company, RietveldArchitects.

“We never do what is logi-cal. It’s boring to go down thebeaten path,” he says.

Joe Limongelli, 45, is a fast-talking insurance executivewho calls everyone he meets,both men and women, “baby.”Along with an impressive col-lection of low-mileage FordGTs, including a rare factoryprototype from 2004, Limon-gelli—who is known to hisfriends and family as “GTJoey”—often finds himself traversing the frenetic LongIsland Expressway in his daily driver, a 2006 GT.

Having already put 14,000miles on the car—the result of his daily commute and a recent cross-country drive thatincluded stops in Detroit andPebble Beach, Calif.—Limon-gelli will soon be embarkingon a world tour that by hisbest estimates will add awhopping 15,000 miles to the odometer.

“Hopefully, we’re still aliveby the end of the trip,” Limon-gelli says with a wink and asmile.

When asked over a steakdinner whether he ever wor-ries about the miles he isputting on his car and the sig-nificant depreciation that goesalong with that, Limongelli,devouring a mammoth T-bone, responds in typical fash-ion, “Nah, we’re having fun,baby!” c

40 AUTOWEEK JANUARY 23, 2012

Rijk Rietveld pilots his Spyker (above left) through the streets of New York. Joe Limongelli (above right andbelow) drives a 2006 Ford GT every day. Limongelli has racked up some 14,000 miles on the GT, including a cross-country drive. For the insurance executive, driving the sports car is all about having fun.

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