THERE was no trace of the blues last week when Eric Clapton, the rock star, became the first Briton to drive home the new £400,000 Ferrari Enzo. The guitar legend, nicknamed Slowhand, who has a personal fortune of more than £100m, took on a bit of speed when he left the Ferrari factory in Maranello with its latest, most exclusive supercar. A factory worker said: "Most people leave here with their cars on a flatbed truck, but Eric left with a huge grin and insisted on driving it all the way back home."The car is named after Enzo Ferrari, who founded the company. It does 0-60mph in 3.65 seconds and has a top speed of 220mph. It has borrowed much of its design from the Ferrari F1 car and sports its distinctive nose cone. The doors also open upwards rather than outwards.

Ferrari is limiting production to 399 and only the most well-connected collectors have been given the opportunity to buy one.

For the past 20 years Clapton has built up an impressive collection of both historic and modern cars and only last year bought a brand-new £110,000 Ferrari 360 Spyder.

The Enzo comes in just three colours - red, yellow and black - and Clapton went for yellow.

In the financial year 1999-2000, Marshbrook, his company, paid him £8.8m and his total disclosed earnings for the past decade stand at £67m. He played 60 gigs last year and reportedly grossed $44m (£28m). He has homes in London, Surrey and Antigua, where he lives with his new American wife, Melia McEnery, 25, the mother of his baby daughter.

C'est sûrement Sheryl qui a du lui transmettre le virus !