As co-owner of a film and television car rental company with his father, Charlie Graovac has always been passionate about cars. Although he was never a fan of shows or meetings, he did make some small modifications to the vehicles he previously owned.
Even though I’ve never driven a Ferrari, Charlie‘s dream was to give one as a gift for his 30th birthday and then personalize it to his own taste.
Initially, Charlie set his sights on a classic Maranello model, specifically looking for a 348. However, he quickly discovered that 80s Ferraris often had issues with 80s Ferraris, preventing him from enjoying the car as much as he would like. So Charlie set his sights on the F360, an early 00s model that combines analog and modern features.
But while Charlie was on vacation abroad and browsing through the online classifieds, he came across something even better: a low-mileage F430 F1 Berlinetta in Nero Daytona black with a custom white leather interior. There and then he decided that this would be his first Real project car and proceeded to purchase it.
A few days later, Charlie’s wife Charlotte took delivery of the F430 at Car Audio & Security in London. A plan was hatched: the Ferrari would be modified and the first time Charlie would see it would be when it was finished for his 30th birthday.
Originally the build was going to be limited to air suspension and wheels, but it quickly grew into something much bigger when Charlie met Jimmy Pearman from Liberty Walk EU, who showed him what could be achieved with some improvements from LB-Works.
Over the course of eight months, the Ferrari underwent a dramatic transformation with Liberty Walk’s LB-Works F430 Ver.2 full bodykit, which added front, side and rear diffusers and a ducktail spoiler to the wings. The finishing touches came with Morimoto LED taillights before Colourkraft in Northamptonshire wrapped up the job with a full paint correction and Petronas Green accents.
Rotiform wheels originally adorned the car, but Charlie replaced them with a set of custom 6AD Forged 2.55s wrapped in Yokohama Advan semi-slicks. To keep the Ferrari sitting just right, the suspension uses Prazi air springs actuated by Airlift performance 3H management.
A beautiful looking custom Deutsch Tech exhaust system really lets the F430’s 4.3L Ferrari F136 E V8 engine sing. But when Charlie isn’t cranking all the way up, there’s a full JL Audio sound system to enjoy.
For a bit of fun, the frunk lid inside features a custom comic strip of Jonny Fyvie in The Simpsons style, referencing Ferrari’s legendary ‘cease and desist’ messages and the ‘destruction’ of a collector’s item.
Despite owning a Ferrari for about nine months, Charlie didn’t see his purchase until he received it in all its Liberty Walk glory at his “Three Zeros” birthday – just as planned.
After meeting Charlie and Charlotte at Resurrection in Belgium earlier this year, I was surprised to hear that they regularly drive the Ferrari to events all over Europe. It has certainly sparked a passion.
During our shoot, Charlie revealed plans for a ‘winter spec’ version of the car, and hinted at icy driving early next year. So stay tuned; we might be seeing more of this wide-body Ferrari soon.
Collin Tiemens
Instagram: collinclicksphotos