All of us drew in our notebooks at school, crafting and designing that perfect, wind-cheating, sleek, sexy, powerful sports car of our dreams. The machine that would set us apart from mere mortals. The machine that when you pulled to the curb, no one could take their eyes off of it.
But then the bell would ring and we’d go on to other things.
Not so for Nick Soprano. He kept on drawing, right through grade school, into high school and on into college. All the while, the image of his dream car continued to evolve, taking inspiration from racing cars of the ’60s. The organic shapes and the purposeful lines were speaking to him.
After graduation, Nick started his own business, Motor Classic & Competition, buying, selling and restoring an array of European sports, racing and GT cars. He also spent a great deal of time on the track, piloting some of the great cars from the golden age of motorsport—a Ferrari short wheelbase 250 SEFAC hot rod, a Ferrari TdF, a Cobra Daytona coupe and a Ford GT 40.
These all added fuel to the burning fire that was Soprano. He needed to bring those drawings, he had been doing all those years, to life. Starting out, he was told by several designers that the lines he wanted were impossible. The computers were saying they were mathematically incorrect.
This was not the direction Soprano wanted to take. The computer was set aside and he laid his hands on clay, model-shaping the Sensuale by touch, not digital algorithm. Creating the shapes he had carried so long in his mind.
A chassis builder was given the parameters to build a rigid, oval tube chassis, with a fully adjustable Heim-jointed suspension. The heart of the car was always going to be Italian, so a 4.4-liter Ferrari V12 engine with triple Webers putting out 340-hp was used. It was mated to a 5-speed ZF transaxle by a torque tube. With a 94-inch wheelbase with spun aluminum 17×9 wire wheels in front and 17×11 wheels in the rear, the skeletal system was in place.
Soprano could see the organic body shape in his mind’s eye. He wanted the car to be optically and emotionally inspired, not mathematically correct. Working with a very talented sculptor (and driving him crazy over the gestation period), those images became 3-D. Multiple spray outs finally provided the optimal color for the prototype’s hand-formed aluminum skin.
Opening the butterfly door, you land in an interior reminiscent of those ’60s road-race and GT cars that filled Soprano’s consciousness. A black crackle-finish dash houses a traditional layout of Veglia gauges. Mixed with the leather seats and wood-rimmed steering wheel, you’re in a functional, no-nonsense traditional Grand Touring environment.
The engine comes to life with a proper Ferrari snarl, not the neutered purr of modern cars. The tall shift lever is just where it needs to be to allow for quick shifts with a minimum of time away from the steering wheel.
The Sensuale exudes a powerful, purpose-built aura. With its near perfect weight distribution of 49 percent front and 51 percent rear, it has a very neutral and planted feel to it.
Behind the wheel it has that feel of a road car bred for the track, but unlike its older counterparts the Sensuale is not high-strung and twitchy. With power-assisted rack and pinion steering you don’t get the upper body workout you get with a ’60s GT car and with more rubber on the road there is plenty of grip. Unlike modern cars there are no electro-minders. The idea of the Sensuale is to engage you, for you to be in the moment—to really enjoy the sensual experience of driving. It’s like having a 330 P4 for the road.
Soprano’s creation is one of a kind: hopefully there will be more.
