Following the launch of the new 12Cilindri models, it seems like the perfect time to investigate just what it is that makes the marque’s legendary V12 pedigree so special to Ferraristi. In the second in a series of three stories, New York-based hip hop producer and serious Ferrari collector Steven Victor answers that very question…
There are people who like V12 models. There are people who love V12 models. Then … there’s Steven Victor. “Oh yeah, it’s definitely an obsession,” he laughs, a generous smile spreading across a youthful face that belies his forty-two years.
His “pretty full garage” currently houses five V12s. “No no, wait a minute,” he corrects himself, bashfully. “It’s six, six V12s”.
It’s a garage for which the music industry executive has big plans. His home-office in New York state is designed around a traditional Japanese garden. “But the new place I’m having built, it’ll be designed around the cars,” he enthuses. “The idea is that from each room you’ll look out onto a car. They’ll be part of the house.”
For Steven Victor his love of Ferrari runs deep. Last year he named his new baby boy ‘V XII’ - yes, Roman numerals that spell out ‘V12’. Admittedly, the music genres in which Steven moves – hip-hop and rap – are known for their unorthodox monikers. But this is surely breaking new ground. “At home I just call him ‘V’,” Steven says, beaming another of those broad grins.
Above: Steven Victor with his prized Monza SP2. The music producer admits to being a little obsessed with Ferrari's V12 models
He ‘blames’ Pharrell. That is Pharrell as in Pharrell Williams, famous US rapper cum luxury brand creative director. “It was my good friend Pharrell who suggested the name ‘V’, because the baby boy is my fifth child. Then my wife, Christine, wanted to add the ‘twelve’, because she knows how much I love V12 automobiles.”
That general fascination for “automobiles” dates back to his childhood, even though he grew up the son of struggling Haitian immigrants, in Brooklyn, in 1990s New York City.
But it wasn’t until 2016 that his enormous success in the music industry allowed him to realise those boyhood dreams. “My first Ferrari was the 488,” he recalls, eyes widening at the memory. “Not the Spider, the Coupé”, he specifies.
The fixation on V12s? “Well … Pharrell had a black Enzo and he kept telling me about it. Then one time I was at a video shoot for (Virginia rapper) Fam-Lay. That’s when I saw it in person and was hooked.
So, yeah, the V12 fixation is also kind of down to Pharrell,” Stevenlaughs. Then he pauses, looks suddenly earnest, and adds: “But I’ve got to say that Pharrell’s responsible for a lot of my success. He’s definitely been my inspiration.”
Ferrari really is a family affair in the Victor household. Wife Christine “just loves the Cavalcade events”, for example. “She spends a lot of time checking them out,” he says. “She’s the one who chooses which Cavalcades we go on. They are really cool events. Really nicely organised.”
Their middle child, named Victor, has certainly inherited the Prancing Horse gene from dad. At just eighteen-months-old he could already say the word ‘Ferrari’.
Above: Hip-hop mogul Pharrell Williams ignited Steven's passion for the Ferrari V12, and he now owns six, including this Daytona SP3
Little Victor accompanied mom and dad on a Cavalcade event. “We were in Rome on a stopover,” recalls Steven. “There were about seventy Ferrari parked up. And Victor went running over to a LaFerrari, really excited.”
Amazingly the three-year-old had recognised the model from dad’s collection back home. “But mine’s aluminium opaca,” explains Steven. “This one was black. And y’know, he ignored all the bright red cars that were there, and went straight for the LaFerrari.”
Victor knows the names of most of dad’s cars. “At home in the morning he’ll go running outside and try to tell me which one I should drive that day. I have to talk him out of the Spider if it’s raining,” Steven smiles, evident pride in his voice.
But what is it that makes V12s so special for Victor senior? “Every time I drive one, it’s like driving it for the very first time,” he says. Is it solely the sound the engine makes? “Sure, I go by the sound. But the feeling is …” His voice tapers off as he struggles, searching for the right expression.
Can it be likened to the recording studio, when things all come together? “Yeah, exactly!” he exclaims. “It’s like hearing a hit record for the very first time. It’s something very, very emotional,” he smiles, relieved. “It’s like a total body experience, if you will.”
Sounds like a good title for a song … but that’s another story.
Click here to meet more passionate V12 collectors