FERRARI'S Birthday Burnout; Past, Present and a Fuel-Efficient Future on Display at Fiorano.(News)

Byline: PETE LYONS

Felipe Massa, 26, clambered aboard the upright old monster that is more than twice his age and plopped into the broad bucket made for a much bulkier man. Somehow, the slight youngster contrived to look instantly at home. He lit up the 4.5-liter V12 and, within seconds, was booting it into some of the most gloriously pornographic powerslides ever to brighten the Tifoso eye. Then he stopped, wound the revs up tight and disappeared inside a towering spiral of tire smoke, 460 screaming horsepower dissolving Dunlops that measured a scant 5 inches across the treads.

Ferrari F1 driver Massa may not have known that this precious heirloom, Jose Froilan Gonzalez's British Grand Prix winner of 1951-Ferrari's first-ever GP victory-belongs today to F1 czar Bernie Ecclestone. Or perhaps the impish Brazilian knew that full well and calculated he could get away with such in-your-ear wickedness, just this once.

For this was a once-in-a-lifetime occasion, the grand finale of a months-long birthday party in honor of Ferrari's 60th year of creating the world's most passion-stirring automobiles.

It happened over four sweltering days at Pista di Fiorano, the Prancing Horse's private track next door to the sprawling Maranello factory. Secret F1 and GT test mules were hidden away and the grounds opened to a claimed 1040 racing and production models from every point along Ferrari's complex and turbulent history.

In addition to tire-burning demonstrations of 10 historic F1 cars by the likes of Massa, Kimi Raikkonen, Michael Schumacher, Jody Scheckter and Niki Lauda, the festival included a huge concours d'elegance, the ceremonious finish of a globe-circling relay that began in January and a detailed presentation of technologies by which Ferrari is projecting its racing past into its road-car future.

Ferrari fever: It has never burned hotter than at Fiorano this summer.