Ferrari Dreams at Penske Racing Museum
When Microsoft Copilot suggested I check out the Penske Racing Museum in Scottsdale, I wasn’t sure what to expect. But it turned out to be spot on for a motorhead like me. First off, admission was free, which already makes it a win. Even better, the museum was attached to a Ferrari dealership, meaning I got to see more brand-new Ferraris in one place than I ever had in my life.
Walking through the museum, I was struck by how many of the race cars boasted 800 horsepower. These machines ran on methanol, and while 800 hp isn’t unheard of in today’s high-end consumer vehicles, back in the 1970s and 80s that was a staggering amount of power.
The collection itself was compact with just over a dozen cars, but each one had a story. A few were “stock” race cars tied to dealership models, while the rest were Indy or CART cars. The collection included:
- Pontiac stock car from the 1960s
- 2022 Verizon IndyCar Championship Car (Dallara DW12)
- 1979 Indianapolis 500 Winner (Penske PC-6)
- 1982 CART National Champion (Penske PC-10)
- 1984 Indianapolis 500 Winner (Penske March 84C)
- 2017 Verizon IndyCar Championship Car (Dallara DW12)
- 2018 Supercars Championship Winner (Ford Falcon FG X)
- 2019 Indianapolis 500 pace car (Chevrolet C7 Corvette)
- 2019 Indianapolis 500 Winner (Dallara IR18)
- 1972 Indianapolis 500 Winner (McLaren M16B)
- 1972 Indianapolis 500 pace car (Hurst/Oldsmobile Cutlass)
- 1977 Penske PC-5
- 1973 IROC Porsche RSR
- Reynard 2K1 (Penske Racing’s 100th Indy car win)
Looking at the lineup, I couldn’t help but notice how modern Indy cars have become increasingly complex, bristling with scoops, wings, and funnels. The older cars had a cleaner, more elegant look, but progress marches on.
The most memorable encounter of the day, though, wasn’t with a car. Instead, it was with a person. While I was looking at the 1973 IROC Porsche RSR, a short, hunchbacked man in his seventies approached me. He declared the Porsche was the nicest car in the museum (to be honest, I disagree), then launched into a rambling conversation. He asked if I was a doctor, saying that I looked like one, and when I mentioned living in Galicia, he shared stories of his own travels in Spain. He claimed to have been a VP at a company tied to Boeing that had him travel a lot.
Things got stranger when he wanted to exchange contact info. We tried the iPhone NFC-to-NFC tap, which worked well, though his details came through as “Sam Uptje”—apparently a taxi driver in Brooklyn. He explained he never gives out his real information, insisting he wasn’t a criminal but preferred burner phones. Luckily, the only detail I shared was my email address.
He rambled on about being a fighter pilot in his youth, then revealed he was there to buy a Ferrari 296 GTB. He even showed me photos, and later I realized I had accidentally snapped a picture of him with the car. A manager called him during our chat, so despite his eccentricities, it seemed he was genuinely purchasing the Ferrari.
Before leaving, he Airdropped me the contact info for Porsche North Scottsdale, who was selling a 2017 Lotus Evora coupe for $72.9K. He insisted it was a bargain, and it was somewhat tempting to arrange a test drive, especially since that price was only about $3K more than the original window sticker (albeit way more than double what I paid) for my own car, a Mustang Mach-E dubbed Meter Mackenzie. But after a quick search, I discovered brand-new Evoras had started brand new in the $90Ks eight years, which made me reconsider if this truly was a good deal.
Of course, I couldn’t resist taking plenty of Ferrari photos. My favorite was a matte-red Roma coupe, sleek and understated. I also saw the Purosangue SUV, which was the first Ferrari SUV I’ve ever seen in person. It has a 12-cylinder engine. But honestly, I thought Meter Mackenzie, my all-electric Mustang-inspired crossover, looked just as good for less than a tenth of the price, while having things like BlueCruise Level 2 autonomous driving and still being very quick, arguably being more luxurious, and certainly way more serviceable.
All in all, the Penske Racing Museum was a fascinating mix of history, horsepower, and unexpected human encounters. Free admission, legendary cars, and a Ferrari showroom next door—it’s hard to beat that combination.
