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#1
10-26-2005, 11:55 AM
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So...whats it like to own a Ferrari?
NY Times take on it. Interesting bit on how the garage queen habit got started.
October 26, 2005 They Love Their Ferraris, but Can Do Without the Stares By JACK SMITH SCOTT HILL of Reading, Pa., had stopped for gas when a young lady approached to ask if she could look at his car. He said sure, and allowed her to sit in the passenger seat, a pleasant interlude. A few days later, though, a truck pulled up next to him at a light. As the light changed and the two vehicles moved, the driver stuck his hand out the window and gestured to Mr. Hill with an upraised middle finger. His friends at the Uptown Espresso Bar in Kutztown, Pa., nod sympathetically. The story is all too familiar to Ferrari owners like Pietro Castiglioni, director of the Penn-Jersey region of the Ferrari Club of America, who organizes a group that meets every three months at the cafe. Among peers, they find camaraderie and understanding. "You're always worried about getting your car keyed," said Dennis Hedlund, a film distributor from West Long Branch, N.J., who drives a 1999 Ferrari F355 Fiorano F1 Spyder convertible. Mitzi Brettler, from Newton, N.J., was entertaining neighbors when her husband's 1989 Ferrari 328 GTS was delivered. "It was so embarrassing," she said. "I could just imagine what they were thinking." Mr. Hill, a social worker who owns a 1978 Ferrari Dino 308 GT4, concurred. "People always get the wrong idea," he said. In the world outside, a Ferrari driver gets little respect. "Sometimes I'll go to a party in one of my Ferraris and people will say, 'Oh, you had to bring that?' or 'Who are you trying to impress?' " said Craig Rosenfeld, the owner of Vision Auto Group, a Porsche-Audi-Volkswagen dealership in Reading. Undaunted, Mr. Rosenfeld owns 11 Ferraris, most of which he keeps in garages at his dealership, including a bright red racer built for Paul Newman in 1990; a black 2002 360 Modena Berlinetta; and a sky blue 1966 275 GT Spyder convertible. For this afternoon's ride he chose the Spyder. "I especially like the older cars," he said, accelerating onto the highway. "You get the gold chain and Rolex crowd more with the newer cars." To illustrate, Mr. Rosenfeld displayed his own watch. "It's a Ulysse Nardin," he said. "It's far more understated than a Rolex, even though it cost $15,000." Actually, said Robert Thompson, a professor of media and popular culture at Syracuse University, it doesn't matter if a Ferrari driver wears a gold chain or not. "A Ferrari itself is a gold chain," he said. "There's nothing subtle about it." Not that there's anything wrong with that. "Cadillac is currently running commercials that say people will look at you if you buy a Cadillac," Professor Thompson said. "Nobody has to tell you that about a Ferrari. But there's a kind of pathos to wanting attention so much that you're willing to carry around all that cultural baggage." Even some sports car fans wonder about Ferrari drivers. "There's something almost illicit about Ferraris," said Joseph P. Johnston of Troy, Mich., who shows Porsches and Corvettes. "It's like, a Porsche or Corvette is a girlfriend. A Ferrari is a mistress." James Hartman of Wayne, Pa., a Porsche racer, admitted that Ferraris have a mystique lacking in Porsches. Even so, he said, "If you ask a Porsche owner, 'What's your favorite Porsche from the 1980's?' he'll know the marque's whole tradition and history. New Ferrari owners, if you ask them about their favorite Ferrari from the 1980's, they can't give you an answer." It wasn't always this way, said Ralph Palcho, also of Wayne and a Ferrari buff. "In the 1960's and 1970's, Ferrari owners were car enthusiasts like me. You'd buy a Ferrari, drive it a couple years, then take your lumps when you traded it in for a new one." It changed in the 80's. "Magnum, P.I." was on television in a Ferrari 308 GTS. In 1985, Ralph Lauren paid $650,000 for a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO. The Reagan era was on, and everybody wanted a Ferrari. By the late 80's, the cars were appreciating so much it was possible to lease a new one, keep it two or three years, then turn it back in and earn a profit - as long as the mileage was low. "So you got a new kind of owner," Mr. Palcho said, "the guy who owned a Ferrari, but hardly ever drove it." He recently attended a Ferrari event where he met an owner who had bought his car a few months earlier. "I asked him, did he ever drive his Ferrari? He said, 'Once to the Shore.' I thought: 'To the Shore?' That's 50 miles away.' " David E. Davis Jr., the founder of Automobile magazine and a former Ferrari owner, actually has a kind word for Ferrari owners. "There are people who are not superficial, who aren't phony, who don't wear gold chains, who drive Ferraris," he said. "They just want to find out what owning a Ferrari is all about." The people to worry about, Mr. Davis said, are Lamborghini owners. "You don't know where those people are coming from." 
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#3
10-26-2005, 12:05 PM
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Very funny! A lot of truth in there too. I started out with getting the best F-Car I could afford outright, thinking I would eventually move into newer models one by one, but have learned to love the marque so much more than I thought that I now find myself adding an older F-Car to the stable and being unwilling to let go of the one I already have. I think now that I will continue to add older cars, one for each decade maybe! The newer owners I meet, GENERALLY, have less interest in the cars and their history but have primary interest in the performance and cache'. I don't see anything wrong with that, as long as they drive them!
DMAX
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#5
10-26-2005, 12:10 PM
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I think it is a pretty good article really. I do think there are "look at me" owners and "enthusiast" owners who would rather no one noticed them at all.
Recently a small group of us convened at a track at Roland Linder's invitation to help him with a TV shoot where he was (of course) the star. The rest of us looked like we should be driving old pickups with faded jeans, ragged tee shirts and sneakers. No bling could be found anywhere. Made me kind of proud. Dave
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#6
10-26-2005, 12:24 PM
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There's no typical Ferrari owner. Some are posers, some are collectors, some are huge car guys, some like to race, some like to tinker...
Most I've met are guys just like me. They love cool cars and don't care what people think. They love Lambos, Aston Martins, and even Lotus' as well. Ken
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#7
10-26-2005, 12:25 PM
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"What would be valid by your standards?"
The article reeks of class envy, and some humor at the expense of the owners. Let's take a look: _______________ "You get the gold chain and Rolex crowd more with the newer cars." To illustrate, Mr. Rosenfeld displayed his own watch. "It's a Ulysse Nardin," he said. "It's far more understated than a Rolex, even though it cost $15,000." You think that's intended as anything other than satire? _______________ "But there's a kind of pathos to wanting attention so much that you're willing to carry around all that cultural baggage." Oh, come on. A kind of pathos? With all the very funny and intelligent social critics around, this is the best expert quote to be found? _______________ "David E. Davis Jr., the founder of Automobile magazine and a former Ferrari owner, actually has a kind word for Ferrari owners." This Davis chap actually has a kind word for Ferrari owners. "Actually," as if who could believe it? ________________ "If you ask a Porsche owner, 'What's your favorite Porsche from the 1980's?' he'll know the marque's whole tradition and history. New Ferrari owners, if you ask them about their favorite Ferrari from the 1980's, they can't give you an answer." This, from a "Porsche racer." Does he really race anything, or is he a track day weenie? I haven't checked. Maybe this guy needs to meet a few "Ferrari racers" who can remember all the way back to the 1980s. _________________ "The Reagan era was on, and everybody wanted a Ferrari." Ah, yes, the Reagan area, which we all remember only for its universal materialism - as opposed to, say, the Clinton era. As I said, a load of crap.
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#8
10-26-2005, 12:30 PM
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LOL! You have to have different colors, IMO...
Fly yellow = lots of attention Light Blue = almost invisible. Although I've noticed it's along gender lines. I had a stranger (female) roll down the window at a light to compliment the blue car, after asking what it was!
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#9
10-26-2005, 12:33 PM
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Quote:
 Ken, I am with you, all sorts of owners, but mostly very cool. In fact, we have discussed often how ironic it is that the Ferrari owners we know and hang with are all much more real, fun and unassuming than members of other margue car clubs we have belonged to.
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#10
10-26-2005, 12:36 PM
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The people to worry about, Mr. Davis said, are Lamborghini owners. "You
don't know where those people are coming from." Ha.Ha.
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#12
10-26-2005, 12:45 PM
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Quote:
 I recall a couple of articles he wrote in Automobile magazine many years ago about the Ferrari purchase and the subsequent eating of the interior leather by some racoons.
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#13
10-26-2005, 12:48 PM
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Quote:
Response from Lambo group member-- "Haha! Good article -- but Mr Davis should know better. Even he knows that a Lamborghini is an engineer's Ferrari." Gotta love the italian "brotherhood"!
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#14
10-26-2005, 12:53 PM
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Quote:
wait until i send u a pix of me next to da yellow diablo (yes, the parrot will be included as a prosperity measure )on a serious note, you are correct that yellow does bring on lots of attention.....but mr davis' statement about the unknown origins of lambo's owners are just outright "hurtful and unsportman like conduct"....
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#15
10-26-2005, 01:10 PM
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wch, thanks for the claification, now if you just said that the first time....
 I agree there is some slant in the article, but frankly the comments are no different than what I read on here every day. Not to say that some of that isn't crap as well, but people are entitled to their opinions, no matter how smelly.
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#16
10-26-2005, 01:25 PM
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Quote:
I agree with Will to some degree but as you said, people are entitled, and in the case of Ferrari's they most likey will, to express their opinions. I thought the bit about the lady being embarrassed that her husbands Ferrari came during their party was total hogwash. Any party I have ever been to, most would be excited and you can bet most of the men at least would have been out in the driveway sharing his excitement.
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#18
10-26-2005, 02:10 PM
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Slightly OT, but David E. Davis' book of collected columns has some great Ferrari stuff. The column about driving to lunch with the test drivers in the 80s is worth the book alone.
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#19
10-26-2005, 03:27 PM
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Quote:
-steve
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#20
10-26-2005, 06:15 PM
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car enthusiasts
I guess I can only speak for myself. I am a car enthusiast who likes to go fast. I do downplay that I own a Ferrari and do not talk about it at all. I avoid letting the information get out to my patients that I own a Ferrari, as I get tired of hearing form patients that their high cost of health care is providing me with Ferraris and homes and vacations. I do get tired of the high maintenance that Ferraris seems to have. It seems that every time something breaks it is a major deal to get parts from italy or fix it right the first time. Other than that, I do enjoy driving my car and it beautiful to look at when polished in the driveway.
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