Ferrari too ostentatious for work?

There have been threads on this before if you do a search.... but mostly, it depends on where you work and the types of people you work with.

 

I'd drive mine to work every day if I could just figure out how to fit my tool box, a hammer drill, and a six foot step ladder into it.

 

Roof rack my friend!

If you have it, drive it.

 

I know, I know, I have absolutely no excuse.

 

It depends on what you do, if you're the boss and who else drives what.

If you own a small business with employees making 8 bucks and hour it's a no no.

If you run with jet set types who buy and sell people for other rich people make it an Enzo.

If you're in real estate and your clients are scraping the bottom of the barrel to make the 5-10% down payment, it's a no no.

If you're in real estate in a rich environment and 80% drive the latest exotics, make it a McLaren F1.

Try not to shoot yourself in the foot like losing clients, rubbing your co-workers the wrong way, rubbing your bosses the wrong way etc.

Take a look at your environment and that will guide you fully.

 

A metaphor I've used is "a ferrari is like a tuxedo". Would you wear a tuxedo to work every day? Imagine wearing a tuxedo that gets crumpled fabric, wet from the rain, dirty, torn, stained by coffee, and that looks "out of sorts" in various contexts, like buying groceries, gasing up, etc. For these reasons, most tuxedo owners keep them in the closet, pristine for a special occasion. Considering that 95% of ferrari owners put less than 3K miles on their cars a year, maybe the tuxedo metaphor isn't all that bizarre. Add to this, a lot (not all of course) daily driving to work encounters back-to-back traffic, rainy, slippery conditions, road construction, and door dingers (especially in high turnover parking lots). My take is: its just no fun to use a ferrari as a daily driver.

 

One of my Ferrari's is like a very well worn tuxedo, with holes in it. I still wouldn't drive it every day.

 

I try to, I was even caught in the rain with the 308 today...

 

I drive it to work quite a bit and have had nothing but positive feedback. I feel it's actually been good for business.

 

You clearly don't have the right Ferrari in mind. A 333SP, F50, F40, Comp. Daytona, Alloy SWB - these are difficult to drive every day. A 599 on the other hand is the most sublime daily driver you could wish for. 575's and 550 ditto. 612 Scaglietti - why buy it if you don't intend to use it as much as possible. Modern cars with F1 and an auto button are a piece of cake to drive in daily traffic.
Newsflash!! Ferraris are cars - beautiful, capable, ridiculously fast- but cars nonetheless. It is a travesty of their creation for them to be kept in dark garages under wraps, only brought into the sunlight for short terrified runs in case they get a piece of mud splattered onto them. If you have a Ferrari, especially a modern, excellently engineered and built Ferrari, please use it often and bring a smile to the faces of the little people who hardly ever get to see something so beautiful in their midst.

 

Depending on where you work, you may get different reactions as I do. Some are car guys and understand the obsession and are in awe of the prancing horse, others just see it as me making too much $$$ (soooo not true!!!) Bottom line, I bought it for me to drive and enjoy (which I did tonight, was welcomed into two classic car cruises). And with time it will wear off...after a few years you'll just be known as 'that' guy who drives the Ferrari. No big deal really after a few years.

 

definitately agree! but does depend in your line of business. It's opened doors and eased introductions that would of been tougher showing up in my beater

a few clients will never see it.

 

I unfortunately have nothing but problems driving my Ferrari to work. I don't get direct comments, but it seems to bring down the moral. Everyone seems to want raises closely after seeing it. I wish employees saw the bigger picture, (with great risk comes great reward) but I supposed if they understood this, they wouldn't be employees.

 

I used my 328 as my summer daily driver, rain or shine, for a few years. Now I let the EVO handle the wet weather -- because local traffic comes to a halt when it rains. But I still drive the 328 to work in the summer.

But I have to carry a polishing cloth for all the fingerprints it collects in the parking lot.

Now that I'm out of the snow belt, I could drive it year round (the heater works a lot better than the aircon), but the S03s are useless below 40F. Any all season tires with near equivalent handling?

 

There really are to MO's involved that depend on the work environment. As said above if there are employees that are making near minimum wage it would obviously be discouraging to see managment tooling around in F-cars. On the other had an empowered work force that stands next to you may see it as motivation. You must win the hearts and minds of your co-workers with positive leadership and guidance. Respect in the workplace for what you bring to the table, and their jobs is paramount. One aspect that a lot of people don't "get" is the importance of how your co-workers view you regardless of what you drive. There is something to be said about spending time in the trenches. Work hard, win your people, and drive what you want where you want!

 

Interesting topic! A previous boss of mine received a lot of negative feedback from clients after he bought a Lotus Esprit and used it for business travel. The fact that the BMW he'd owned prior to the Esprit actually cost a lot more was lost on them. One client who complained about the Esprit had already boasted of spending a sum well in excess of the price of an Esprit on sending his children to an expensive school! It seems one expensive lifestyle choice is socially acceptable while another isn't. I think a supercar is preceived in a certain way, regardless of its value, and can prompt strong reactions, good and bad, depending upon who sees it. If I bought a new top end Volvo noone would notice, but if I spent less and bought a 20 year old Ferrari I would find myself on the receiving end of all manner of strong comments, good and bad.

 

What in the hell happened to this wonderful country that gave people such low opinions of wealth? My Dad grew up around the truly wealthy out in the Lake Minnetonka area in the late 20's and early 30's. Everyone had mansions, a Rolls Royce with a cheufer, a gardener, a butler, etc., yet all were highly respected. They could park downtown and walk into thier offices or buildings, and even the wash women and elevator operators smiled and waved, even as desperate as times were in those days. The kids would walk around the cars and marvel at them. It truly was a life to strive for. Yet today, there is an even higher percentage who have achieved some semblence of wealth, and there are greater opportunities to achieve it today than ever existed before. Now you cant drive your car to your work because the employees wont like it?

 

I drive my BB512i to the office about once a month or so...I am an attorney and my clients and employees have always had a positive reaction and asked questions about at...at least to my face...

 

You make a good point.
Today unfortunately the news are full of everyday examples of greed and white collar theft that are inevitably linked with expensive homes, lifestyles and vehicles, so we become guilty by association I suppose.
When I was a kid, growing up in a Northern Italian town, I was taught to admire rich people because they created opportunities for the others and for the most part, it was all true.
Today the reality is, more often than not, quite different, as we all know.

 

I would say in general that it is not a good thing to do if you are a boss. I have worked in places where the boss did and seen it caused lots of resentment and loss in productivity. Boss has a new 911 and bought one for his wife, I do not have any health insurance and no raise in 6 months screw it time to surf the web.

With wealth clients maybe not such a good idea either. When working as a fine art appraiser and estate planner for art collections I drove a VW New Beetle which gave an appearance of style and thrift. Driving my TVR or Lotus to sell auto test equipment to auto service centers not a good idea. Even though they were car guys it intimidated them and I did not get as many sales as I did with my beat up van. The car you drive does make a statement.

I will contradict my self here as an aside. Some times it is OK but it depends on the company. I used to work for a company in NJ and the owner had a Shelby Daytona Coupe ( one of the six real ones) and he drove it to work. But we were all gear heads at that company selling automotive testing equipment. Fridays we drove our fun cars to work. The lot was full of Cobras, Vettes,Lotus's,TVR's, Alfas and my OSCA.

 

Conspicuous consumption and the "hey, I've got money, I can act like a prick" attitude that came with it.

The cars aren't the issue in this thread, my guess is that 90% of issues are from the way the owners act...

 

Interesting thread this one.

In the UK until very recently i have been an estate agent doing property valuations, and have always had small cars like peugeots. A year ago i got a new BMW 3 series which cost nearly £30k and have never really got a mention from any of my potential customers i visit, other than a couple of remarks about the alpina wheels, it does not affect business either way as it is fairly inconspicuous.

Before the BMW i had an 7/8 year old blue SLK, with blue/black leather interior and amg wheels for a bit. As soon as i started using this car my 'hit rate' went straight down. It was almost as if it was too 'flash' (or percieved to be) even though when it sold it only went for about £8k.

If i drove a ferrari to my appointments i dread to think how i would have got on!! If you are doing a job where people often already think you charge too much before you walk through the door i think cars should be chosen carefully.

Ill hopefully be getting my first in the next few years, i will never be using it for work though.

 

A friend of mine is a consultant, highly paid and in great demand in his field.

He owned a 1975 Aston Martin V8 coupe for a number of years. He discovered that when he drove the car to a jobsite it was the "kiss of death" for future business from that client.

When he completed his Doctorate and added PhD to his business card his business fell off for a time (he must have looked too expensive) until he removed the initials.

It's interesting how people perceive things differently.

 

Commission sales people like me (telephone sales) could drive an exotic to work, although working in Chicago means nobody drives at all. But I feel it's a good incentive to the rest to work harder, since our earnings are directly related to our efforts. I wouldn't call on customers in an exotic however because they will think you're not giving them as good a deal if you can afford one.

There's a difference with vintage cars however. No one is jealous of my 1972 Lotus even if they think it's actually an expensive car. They know old cars are high maintenence and they themselves would not want one, so they realize anyone who owns one is a car guy. A new Ferrari has the perception of being easy to own except for the purchase price so they think it's a car they could own too if they could afford it. That's where the jealousy comes in.

Ken