Ferrari 612 Scaglietti

This is not a good start. Night has fallen in Kashi and our old Volkswagen taxi has broken down. We stand by the road-side and watch our driver stare at the engine in a fit of desperation. I can't remember the Chinese words for "alternator broken," so we hail another cab as he waits for a tow.

Kashi lies on the western tip of China, about 2000 miles due west of Beijing and less than 200 miles from the border with Afghanistan. Officially, this area is called the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, and it's a world away from my perceived image of China. Islam, not communism, is the dominant belief system here, and you're more likely to be served a mutton kebab than Beijing Duck.

The people don't look or sound Chinese, and few have ever heard the word Ferrari. Even a bicycle is beyond the means of most residents, which makes the presence outside our hotel of two 612 Scagliettis seem even more incongruous. Unlikely though it might sound, these cars will be my friends and guides for the next five days as I drive 1800 miles along the Silk Road, the old trading route between East and West. In other words, I will pilot a $247,850 supercar where Marco Polo once rode.

For me, this is a mighty step into the unknown, but for the cars and their support staff, this is just another leg in an epic journey than began in Beijing on August 29. By the time they reach the finish line in Shanghai on October 29, the cars will have covered more than 15,000 miles. Part P.R. stunt and part durability test, the 15,000 Red Miles is the most ambitious trip ever undertaken by the folks from Maranello.

Today's stage starts at 8:30 a.m., when it's still dark. Despite being geographically closer to Europe than it is to the Chinese capital, Xinjiang still adheres to Beijing time. Its residents therefore live in a bizarre world wherein it doesn't get light until mid-morning and then stays light late into the evening.

We tack southeast, picking a route along the edge of the Tarim Basin and in the shadow of the Kunlun Shan mountains. Dusty desert wastelands are interspersed by tiny oases of paddy and cotton fields. China is home to 1.3 billion people, but few of them live out here.