Emelia Hartford, the cool car vlogger who became famous for tinkering (a lot) with, and then racing her modified Corvette C8 Stingray, is now ready to catch more expensive fish destined to fry at the quarter-mile dragstrip.
If you scout around for Emelia Hartford, her official biopic states that she is a race car driver, a custom vehicle builder, a television host, and even an actress. Well, if you ask automotive aficionados, especially those who are keen on discovering anything with a GM badge on it, then she is that affable hostess of C8 Chevy Corvette Stingray shenanigans that used trial and error to achieve greatness. Now she is an established builder and vlogger, so of course her experiences have been broadened to the point of playing with just about anything.
That would include stuff like a towering supercharged 9.8-liter Big Block Ford Mustang, which is obviously used for drag racing, as well as the new Ferrari 296 GTB. Speaking of the latter, which is a two-door Berlinetta from Maranello, Italy, this sports car hero is equipped with a rear mid-engine and RWD layout, plus a plug-in hybrid powertrain that mixes a 120-degree V6 with an electric drive for a combined 819 horsepower. Which is a pretty bonkers combination, right?
Well, since this is Emelia that we are talking about, after taking delivery of the 296 GTB, doing a first drive, and some launches, she immediately straight piped the Prancing Horse, irrespective of the fact that she claims Ferrari forbade her modifications. Now, of course, when you have a tuned Ferrari, the best thing to do is hit the local quarter-mile dragstrip – if you live in America, that is. Even better, if you’re from California, the choice of venues is wide-ranging, and Hartford decided upon Famoso Dragstrip, located in McFarland, CA.
It wasn’t for nothing, though, as there were other people of interest, out there – including someone with a mindlessly-modified Subaru BRZ. If you do not believe us that it’s bonkers, then just check out the first skirmish of the feature embedded below, which occurs at the 6:50 mark, between the crazy BRZ and a vintage car. Then it’s also time for the main event, aka the Ferrari 296 GTB duking it out – on two separate occasions – against a Dodge Charger sedan, from 7:25. The fast Mopar seems to have had the upper hand during the first staggered pass but the second one sanctified the video’s title about Emelia having the “unofficial 296 world record” in the quarter mile with a 9.743s pass.
And, additionally, it also slapped silly the Mopar with some Ferrari greatness, in the process. Only that every god has its godfather, as they say, and when the 296 GTB duked it out with the Subaru BRZ dragster (which needs both a chute and wheelie bars to perform correctly), it did not stand a chance, either, against the seven-second car, despite its renewed 9.742s effort!
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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