What's the dumbest thing you've ever heard at a vintage Ferrari show?

This could be fun, if you guys choose to play along. My two favorites:

(looking at an old Ferrari speedo in KPH): "WOW! This car does THREE HUNDRED MILES AN HOUR!!!"

*and*

"24 spark plugs...Sheesh! The pistons must be the size of shot glasses!"

Ha Ha Ha!

Others?

 

Why isn't that Ferrari painted red?

 

This thread MAY be placed in the wrong forum. Sorry about that. Moderator, feel free to move if you deem appropriate.

 

it was not a vintage car show, but a ferrari factory visit.
the guide presented us the 166 MM Vignale Berlinetta 0244M and told, this is the mille miglia winner 1952 - the famous 250 S, first of all 250.
the car had the "611" attached, what was incorrect for that car.
i replied that this is NOT the 250 S, but a 166 MM Vignale, that maybe look a little similar.
the guide was very surprised and asked the lady, that´s responsible for the guided tours, for assistance.
she was really angry and told me - if ferrari says that´s the 250 S, it has to be right !
how could a guest like me tell ferrari to be wrong.
i knew for sure that i was right.
some months later i was told by a friend that had a recent factory visit, that surprisingly the 166 MM does not wear the wrong number 611 any longer.
even ferrari is able to learn !

 

At a recent concours event, there was a replica 250 TR that had a 5 or 6 digit serial number on the display card. One of the judges told me it was an authentic TR from 1957. Now I know that not all judges know everything about Ferraris, but this car wouldn't have fooled a novice Ferrari fan.

 

.....I showed a picture of a 250 TR at Meadowbrook to a friend. He looked for 45 seconds and said... " I`ve always liked those Listers....They look like fun"

 

1. Two gentlemen are looking at my motor (365GT2+2) at a show and one says to the other "hmmm, this thing has the wrong motor. It says '245' when it should say '365'; that's a big deduction." Of course motor tipo 245 is exactly correct for the queen mother. The real problem was that these two gents were judges!

2. I am watching judging of a 330GTC a few years ago. The owner starts the engine and a steady drip-drip of gas begins from the banjo attachment of the fuel gallery to the carbs. One judge sees it and has the owner shut it down. The owner is ticked and finally locates his mechanic who was somewhere else on the field during judging. The mechanic said words to the effect "well, all old Ferraris leak."

3. There is a great story somewhere on TomYang.net where (former Ferrari employee) Francois Sicard, after listening to a discussion between judges re: the correct shade of yellow paint on the suspension nuts, goes ballistic - the approximate message was "at the factory we used whatever was lying around, you idiot." Someone can correct me if I got this wrong; I wasn't there.

 

At a car event a pretty Italian Woman asked her new husband why his company never raced at Le Mans. Before he answered she added: no Ford could ever beat Ferrari at Le Mans...

 

And the guy was John Z. Delorean, right? (she being of course Christina Ferrari???)

 

Hi

Henry and Cristina Austin Ford.

 

Well, now - why didn't I just know that already? I will just pretend I was making a little joke.

But I could imagine supermodel C.Ferrari saying to John Z...YOUR car cannot win an F1 race because it has a RENAULT engine and everybody knows THEY cannot win anything...

 

A fellow saw my GTC from a distance and asked if it was the new Mustang.

I asked why he would ask that and he said "I saw the prancing horse on the grille".

Wasn't it Ron White who said "You can't fix stupid"?

Bob Z.

 

Bob,

I've gotten the Mustang comment several times - the last time was while my car was at the NJ inspection station. Someone asked the guy testing the car what it was - he responded "Mustang". I found that very funny but, unfortunately, the guy failed me...

Regards,

Art S.

 

I will soon retire to South Carolina ------------------NO STATE INSPECTION!!!!!

Bob Z.

 

Bob,

I can get around it but this is the first time the car has failed as far as I can remember - and I've owned it for a relatively long time.

Regards,

Art S.

 

Several years ago the Best Of The West road rally came thru here. A local car dealership made arangements to provide indoor as well as out door parking for two days at their showroom. I stopped by to look at the cars. There were somewhere around 50 vintage cars including a lot of Ferrari's. One blow hard salesman I kinda knew from around town was blowing hot air to some locals about the Ferrari's. He was telling these guy's that the F40 they were looking at is really incredible. The whole thing is completey computerized. He went on to say that if you were on the road and the car started running funny, all you have to do is pull up to a phone booth. There is a modem cable in the engine compartment that you hook up to the phone line and the main frame computer at Ferrari Headquarters will tune up the car for you on the spot. He went on to say that if two cars were traveling together, or you knew someone with the same car you could "patch" them together over the internet, and the healthy car would tune the sick car. As I walked by I just said that's absurd.
I had driven my 250 over so it could be with some brothers in the parking lot. The guy was escorting me out of the building, and I stopped and opened the door to my car. He started yelling security security, then he about crapped when I pulled the keys out of my pocket and started the car.

 

Here's a couple more I remember hearing at the shows:

(about the 275 GTB)

"That's a Ferrari? I thought it was a JAGUAR."

**and**

"That's the same car they made the GOLDFINGER car out of, right?"

Ha Ha Ha

 

I watched a guy lead his 2 buddies all around my car at a local show once, clearly oblivious to the fact that I was the owner. The pointed to the plexiglass nose on my Daytona and loudly proclaimed that this was a clear indicator that the car was in fact a replica.

So I opened the hood.

I reckon he figured it was a very accurate replica to have an actual 6 carb V12....



Terry

 

That's pretty funny. It makes you wonder where people first hear this "information." Can you pay for the phone call using some of Al Gore's "Carbon Credits?"

As far as "patching" the two cars together over the internet, doesn't the healthy car get sicker as the sicker car gets healthier? I saw something similar in an old Star Trek episode called "The Empath," so it must be true. I mean, heck. Dr. McCoy almost died in that one...

Why not just have a GPS transponder that constantly maintains communications with the mainframe at "Ferrari Headquarters?"

You should go back there, and give the guy a foil hat.

Ha Ha Ha

 

Quote: "That's pretty funny. It makes you wonder where people first hear this "information." Can you pay for the phone call using some of Al Gore's "Carbon Credits?"

No but maybe you can get Dubya or Cheney Haliburton points...

The single worst line that I got to hear many many times at concours and in the showroom where I worked in the US is "It needs a complete restoration" usually from crass gold chained aggresive ignorant "Noe York" types who would never drive the car they were looking at in the first place: very very annoying: people no have no sense whatsoever of not talking when they don't know...try explaining original condition to them.....yes not as chance.

 

or what a shame the owner in the yellow Ferrari polo shirt,has restored this time warp car.

 

Just say "buy it from me and do what you like with it" (at triple the value, of course)....

 

At the Nationals two years ago I watched a judge get into a spirited discussion with a Vintage Ferari owner over a particular hose in his car. The judge insisted it was not a "proper reproduction". The owner silenced the judge with , "...but that is the hose you sold me for this car..."

 

Not actually at a vintage Ferrari show, but on the way back from one. We pulled into a petrol station to refuel my friend's Boxer. The attendant looked at the Prancing Horse badge and asked " Is that the new Peugeot?"
Nathan