| Author |
Message |
Andre Vieira (Goggles_pisano)
New member
Username: Goggles_pisano
Post Number: 42
Registered: 5-2002
| | Posted on Friday, September 06, 2002 - 9:17 am: | |
I think a perfect ending to that story would be to take the wrecked 360 to the same shop where that guy rebuilt the F40 and have it restored, then fly the original customer back to drive it again.
Great story though, it would make a touching TV movie... |
Martin (Miami348ts)
Advanced Member
Username: Miami348ts
Post Number: 2734
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, September 05, 2002 - 12:27 pm: | |
Boy, that brought tears into my eyes.
Brings up an interesting question:
Which country gets the most Ferrari's wrecked? |
Hans E. Hansen (4re_gt4)
Junior Member
Username: 4re_gt4
Post Number: 156
Registered: 4-2002
| | Posted on Thursday, September 05, 2002 - 12:37 am: | |
Agree with Rob.
But....Also, Dave328, you've got a great point. If taken care of, these cars could live for a long time. I drive the piss out of mine, however, somehow I think I'm just passing thru in this life and the car may have greater things to come. |
L. Wayne Ausbrooks (Lwausbrooks)
Member
Username: Lwausbrooks
Post Number: 287
Registered: 8-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 04, 2002 - 11:37 pm: | |
Great story, but I agree with Rob. I think you owe him something for that enormous amount of advertising space. :-P |
Don Norton (Litig8r)
Junior Member
Username: Litig8r
Post Number: 110
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 04, 2002 - 11:29 pm: | |
That was damn funny Rob! |
Dave328GTB (Hardtop)
Junior Member
Username: Hardtop
Post Number: 231
Registered: 1-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 04, 2002 - 10:50 pm: | |
I have to admit, sometimes I feel more like a caretaker than an owner of the Ferraris I have had. I don't clean them all that often, but they are well cared for and when it's time for them to go (always to make room for another!) I like them to go on to good homes. All the other cars are just piles of metal and petroleum products.
DAve
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Horsefly (Arlie)
Junior Member
Username: Arlie
Post Number: 193
Registered: 5-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 04, 2002 - 10:22 pm: | |
For what it's worth: John Denver was also arrested several times on drunk driving charges before he died in the plane crash. Good thing he bought the farm by himself in his airplane instead of driving drunk and killing some innocent guy out for a drive in his Ferrari. |
Cmparrf40 (Cmparrf40)
Member
Username: Cmparrf40
Post Number: 405
Registered: 3-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 04, 2002 - 10:20 pm: | |
A great story! Too bad the first Ferrari met an early death, I hope the driver does not!
What a great feeling it must be to make peoples dreams come true!
Good job, I plan on being in europe next year, I will rent a car from you if time permits! |
Rob Lay (Rob328gts)
Board Administrator
Username: Rob328gts
Post Number: 2043
Registered: 12-2000
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 04, 2002 - 10:14 pm: | |
Are you guys going to finally sponsor FerrariChat.com? This story is really a thinly veiled advertisement for your company. Maybe everything except the rolling over and bursting into flames part. ;) |
Michael Yurinko (Gage)
New member
Username: Gage
Post Number: 32
Registered: 8-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 04, 2002 - 10:13 pm: | |
Even Mario makes mistakes. Trust me, I know first hand.
That story hit home. Not everyone can afford a Ferrari. But that doesn't make us less passionate than people who do own them. |
Frederick Thomas (Fred)
Member
Username: Fred
Post Number: 604
Registered: 2-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 04, 2002 - 9:58 pm: | |
I may be mistaken but I think John Denver was a fairly experienced pilot. |
Horsefly (Arlie)
Junior Member
Username: Arlie
Post Number: 192
Registered: 5-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 04, 2002 - 9:16 pm: | |
Driver #1 (the American): Sounds somewhat wacko; a permanent Ferrari wannabee. Why would anyone have to wait 40 years to rent a Ferrari for 2 days? If it meant THAT much to you, why not rent the car years earlier? Its not like it costs a kings ransom to RENT a car for 2 days.
Driver #2 (the German): Sounds like a typical Mario Andretti wannabee. Just because you can afford the car doesn't mean you can handle the driving. Same things goes for airplanes. John Denver, JFK Jr.??? Another sad waste of a beautiful performance automobile; another injured person, another photo for wreckedexotics.com. |
Don Norton (Litig8r)
Junior Member
Username: Litig8r
Post Number: 109
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 04, 2002 - 7:53 pm: | |
Don't tell him. It'll freak him out and ruin a good memory for him. |
Berthold Klotz (Rueschenberg)
New member
Username: Rueschenberg
Post Number: 10
Registered: 8-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 04, 2002 - 7:40 pm: | |
Many thanks to our North American customers, who have made our American launch a success this year. I believe there are a few even signed up on this board.
This week something really quite remarkable happened. I must share it with someone, so thought American tifosi would be the ideal forum to share....
Last week we rented a 360 Modena to an American fellow... I will withhold his name to protect his privacy, but perhaps he will read this and contribute. The customer is a physicist with a graduate degree, and a citizen of both Luxemburg and America, having grown up in Luxemburg, now living in the States. He is an extremely articulate, thoughtful, and well-educated individual who's dream has always been to drive a Ferrari. He saw our article in Autoweek this spring, and actually was our first American customer since official launch, having booked his reservation all the way back in April.
Upon making the reservation, the customer could not contain his excitement. He explained that he was traveling to Luxemburg in late August to celebrate his 40th birthday with his grandparents, uncles, and cousins who live in a small village just outside Wilwerwiltz. Because he has always dreamed of owning a Ferrari, but can not yet afford one, he decided that he would rent one from me as a gift to himself. So he booked a one day rental of the car.
About 30 minutes later, after making the reservation, he called back, and extended it for 2 days. He just did not think he could bear to have the car for only one day, so we extended to 2. During the period between making the reservation, and actually driving the car in Luxemburg, the customer called probably 15 different times, with many questions, wanting to make certain that everything would be coordinated in precisely the correct manner (i.e. delivery time and location, etc).
Considering how excited he was regarding the rental, I made sure to rent him car #455, which is the lowest-mile, newest, most pristine 360 Modena in our collection. I wanted his experience to be optimized by having the best car available.
As I already mentioned, his rental was last week. On Monday night, just before boarding a plane from Germany back to the States, I checked voice mail and got a message from him. He said:
"I just wanted to let you know that the rental was not at ALL what I expected -- it was ONE THOUSAND times more incredible than I could ever have imagined!" He wanted me to call back so he could share some stories and pictures with me.
On Tuesday morning, I received a call from our truck driver in Germany who delivers all the rentals, and had delivered car #455 to the customer last week. As it turns out, on Monday a German customer -- a 52 year old man who apparently was quite overconfident in his driving capabilities -- was driving car #455 on the Autobahn in excess of 170 miles per hour, and went off the road while navigating a long bend. The car flipped and rolled, and burst into flames. The German man was transported via helicopter to a local hospital, and is in critical condition.
So, this afternoon the Luxemburg customer called again, anxious to share his stories and pictures. He told me how he essentially adopted the car for 48 hours. When he arrived at his grandparent's home in rural Luxemburg, they had a Scuderia Ferrari flag hanging outside their farmhouse. Having grown up in this area of Luxemburg, the customer drove all his favorite backroads around Wilwerwiltz in the car, and said it was, without a doubt, the most spectacular 48 hours of his life. He washed the car THREE times over these two days, each time to the good-hearted ribbing and jeering of his girlfriend and relatives.
He did send several pictures, in which he is washing the car, and even kissing the hood in one of the pictures. You can also see his girlfriend teasing him in one of the pics.
So, my obvious dilemma -- Should I tell him about the wreck or not? I decided to tell him, since he said he wanted to rent the same exact car again next year when he visits for his 41st birthday.
As it turns out, he was the last customer to drive the car before it met it's unfortunate demise with the German customer. Our truck driver was even teasing about the fact that, upon returning the car, and waiting for it to be loaded into the truck, the customer was taking out the floormats, shaking them off, and making sure the car was clean -- not because he HAD to, or the contract stipulated that it must be clean or anything -- but rather, because he really fell in love with the car.
When I told the customer what had happened to the car, he fell silent. I thought we had lost the connection, because he was on a cell phone and often cell phones drop calls. But this was not the case. He was crying.
After composing himself, he told me about the attached narrative he had written, and the pics, and wanted to send them to me.
Yesterday we purchased a brand new 360 Modena as a replacement for car #455, and I assured him it would be available for him next year. This seemed to make him feel better, but he was still very sad that his favorite Ferrari had been a total loss in the accident.
I think only a true tifosi can appreciate the magnitude of this story. Non "car people" might read this and think this man is a little crazy. But as it turns out, this story is quite typical of all the American customers we've had this year. They/YOU are EXTREMELY passionate about Ferraris, and really seem to "adopt" the car for the duration of their rental. You would not believe the stories I've heard about the lengths to which customers go in parking the cars in safe locations, washing them twice a day, waxing the paint to keep it shiney, etc.
Anyway, I just wanted to share this with all of you. I find it all really quite remarkable, and would like to compliment all you American tifosi.
Berthold Klotz
Forwarded Message:
Subj: My rental
Date: 02-09-04 15:20:39 EDT
To: [email protected] (Berthold Klotz)
Driving a Prancing Horse,
Since I was a little kid I�ve always been car crazy. I went to car shows every year and to
multiple Formula One races. Growing up, my ultimate dream was to drive the mother of
all sports car, the brand of the prancing horse:
Ferrari.
After nearly 40 years of waiting, I couldn�t take it anymore and decided to rent one for two days and drive it in Europe. The location offering
one the best and most beautiful winding country roads in the world, high or no speed limits and drivers who actually move away from the left lane when they see a speeding Ferrari.
Thanks to a company named Scuderia von Ruschenberg
-(402) 390 5001 or www.EuropeanFerrariRental.com- a shiny new Ferrari 360 Modena was delivered to the location of my choice. A first glance at the Italian beauty and my heartbeat went into
triple digit. Finally after all those years, there I was, standing in front of the red
thorough-bred with unmatched looks, history and soul.
Inside it was also pure Ferrari: nothing but leather and polished aluminum. A turn of the key and the 400 horsepowers come to life in the most delicious roar.
Even though this car is scary fast, its dynamics and handling are unparalleled:
The steering is ziggy sharp way into the three-digit speed (don�t sneeze), body rolls stays
flat as Nebraska, the throttle is trigger quick and the brakes shrug off speed. Those characteristics were the most impressive in deserted country roads where I was able to
take full advantage of them.
There�s no relaxation in this office, the voltage is nonstop, and this car stays glued to the
road at any speed (eventhough I was unable to check the 180 mph top speed).
Even backing up, which is not a maneuver that usually promises much until the first time
you look back through the glass wall at the rear of the cockpit and see the engine, naked and quivering just beyond your shoulder blades.
And only Ferrari could make sure that this same
beautiful engine (the heart and soul of the beast) is not concealed behind a hood either, it�s
being display under a glass cover, showing off its red aluminum casts.
The one thing I cannot tell you about is the audio
system, I never turned it on. A Ferrari is a musical instrument itself, the only audio controls I played with were the stick shift and
throttle, both conducting a symphony of pistons right behind me.
To sum it all, this was the best 48 hours I ever had, and definitely worth the wait...
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