In these days of the serious economic and social trouble that Argentina is experiencing, it is not easy to write about rich men's toys, such as Ferraris and Maseratis. But life goes on, and despite our problems we each must continue doing what one enjoys. And in these hard times, I have found a place of relative peace and harmony, where one is surrounded by the cars we admire, a place we can bring a girl and enjoy a beer. Ironically, it is a restaurant, which is also part of the only Ferrari dealership in Argentina.

Argentina did not have an official Ferrari dealer until the mid-1990s. In association with Fiat Auto Argentina, Hugo Pulenta began bringing in F355s and 456GTs to sell at his Auto Giallo dealership. This occurred on the occasion of the Argentinean Formula 1 Grand Prix of 1995.

The new dealership in Buenos Aires features a restaurant, and provides a very exclusive meeting place for the Ferrari Club of Argentina.

The first year of activities was very positive with about fifteen 355s going through the door and a couple of 456GTs. To provide proper service to the Ferrari customers, Auto Giallo brought a large amount of spare parts and created an exclusive Ferrari repair area in his Porsche workshop (Pulenta is still the official Porsche dealer in Argentina).

Those happy days of economic prosperity did not last long, and the market started to be saturated. The wait for a new Ferrari was long, and there weren't as many eager buyers as the economy started its downhill trend. However, Pulenta bravely continued selling 355s and 456GTs, and introduced the 550 Maranello to the market, of which about three or four were imported. But the most important sale by Auto Giallo was the very early F50, s/n 98170 to a very special customer who also bought a 308 GTS that was in the showroom next to the F50.

Sadly, business is slow these days, and this 456 GT remains unsold.

Finally, in 1999 Pulenta disbanded the Ferrari operations. Fiat Auto put Julio de Marco in charge of the Ferrari franchise, and a new showroom was opened. It is called Modena Design and in fact it is a restaurant, (it used to be the bar next to the Museo de Bellas Artes de Buenos Aires), which has place for showing a couple of cars. Usually you can see 360s, 355s, Maserati 3200GTs and Quattroportes, and the same dark blue 456GT s/n 100437 which has been there since June 2001! This is the perfect meeting place for the Ferrari Club Argentina which was started a couple of years ago, and is headed by the famous Ferrari Grand Prix driver José Froilán Gonzalez. So we have gained a remarkable meeting place, where the woes of Argentina can be forgotten for at least a while.