Mat Armstrong takes the Ferrari 296 he rebuilt to the Nürburgring to have some fun only to find out it's been banned
Published on Sep 29, 2026 at 2:38 PM (UTC+4)
by Ben Thompson
Last updated on Sep 29, 2026 at 2:38 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Mason Jones
When Mat Armstrong took his rebuilt Ferrari 296 to the Nürburgring, he was in for a surprise.
The YouTuber has been working on the car for a long while now.
So after countless hours of labor, he decided to have some fun with his Italian whip.
But he came up against quite a hurdle in doing so, when he realized his car was barred from the track.
Mat Armstrong’s endless projects
If ever there was a YouTuber who’s constantly getting his hands dirty, it’d be Mat Armstrong.
The man is constantly working on something, whether that be a luxury yacht or a Bugatti Chiron.
Another project on his agenda was a Ferrari 296 GTB, which came to him heavily damaged from a crash.
From there, it was a journey of a lot of ups and downs, as Ferrari wouldn’t help him repair it at first, before they relented.
But despite the hurdles, Armstrong persevered and saw the project through to the end.
And now, he wanted to have some fun with it.
He wanted to take his Ferrari 296 onto Nürburgring
Heading to Nürburgring with his Ferrari 296 in tow – alongside a Lamborghini Huracán and an Audi R8 – Armstrong was excited to light it up on the iconic track.
Even that drive wasn’t smooth sailing, with the 296 running critically low on fuel 20 minutes away from the Nürburgring.
With the local gas station closed, he managed to get it to the hotel in time for the fuel to run out.
“There’s a tortoise on the dash. In the history of me working on cars, I’ve ever seen a tortoise come on the dash,” Armstrong exclaimed.
As stressful as that was, surely now it was time to have fun, right?
Well, things weren’t quite so straightforward the next day.
Why was his Ferrari 296 banned?
Rocking up to the track the next day, Armstrong was met with a shocking surprise – his Ferrari was banned.
Well, not banned outright – but heavily restricted.
“This wing is not possible in Germany… It’s not because of the material. It’s because of the size. Because the wing makes your car longer,” a track official told Armstrong.
He was allowed one single lap, and it was a glorious lap, to be fair.
After that point, he was ‘kicked off’ the track.
“We’ve literally come all the way here for one lap. The car’s too loud. Too much,” Armstrong lamented.
“That’s really disappointing. Before we even got on the ring, [the track official] was saying the exhaust is too loud. How does he know?”
This didn’t deter Armstrong from sneaking back onto the track, by leveraging the car’s electric mode.
Now that it made zero exhaust noise, he managed to get back on.
“We absolutely stealthed up. Maybe hybrid isn’t so bad after all,” he remarked.
Armstrong and his friends finally got to have the fun they’d traveled for.
Ben joined Supercar Blondie in February 2025 after being published by international organizations including LADbible, The Sun, the New York Post, and the Daily Mail. He covers supercars, rare and collectible vehicles, aviation, luxury assets, and the fascinating people behind them. His reporting has explored everything from seven-figure supercars and historic Ferrari collections to unusual aircraft adventures and extraordinary automotive discoveries from around the world. Ben has also gained first-hand insight into vehicle craftsmanship and customization, including visiting specialist workshops to see bespoke vehicles up close.
