How Do You Feel When Driving a Ferrari?

Me,I couldnt give a stuff about jealous and ignorant wankers if you are unfortunate enough to come across them.(here in OZ anyway)
I bought a cheap 308 GT4 because it was a challenge and the technology intrigues me,nothing to do with pretentious behaviour.
I have a modest collection of '70's Alfa's and a Porsche 914 so the move to a V8 was a big step as I do most of my own work.
Classic cars of the '70's are most rewarding because they are cool looking and relatively high performance.(not to mention that their value goes up!)
I must admit I find it amusing that people spend mega bucks on modern cars which have only one way to go in value,therefore any negative opinions expressed are to be profoundly ignored!
Generally,it must be said that, in OZ people are interested and complimentary in the styling of these European cars rather than chucking tantrums so...................?

 

She had a head like a smashed crab?????? Now I have to clean up all this soda from my keyboard. D$#@ it.

 

In the past few years I have always taken my 328 out on a nice weekend day or during the week for a nice evening drive. However, this year the car has stayed in the garage. I am concerned about what others think and it has affected my driving frequency. If I am going to hook up with a car group, no problem, but my simple little drives have been put on hold.

 

Yep, I have never had any negative response. However, my silver GT4 is very discrete and many people have no idea what it is anyway!

Possibly, its how you drive too?

 

Try driving faster! lol

 

Hi all,

We've been having some great weather here lately so I *had* to go out in my GT4 yesterday evening. Lots of people out in the bars but I always tone it down when driving past so not to attract the "wanker" comments. Having said that I've only have one negative comment in 3.5 years and mostly get camera phone shooters and "great car mate". Surprisingly the negative comment came from a good friend and it did really surprise me - it wasn't about me but simply a general statement about Ferrari drivers being wankers etc.

As others have said I bought the car for me and not for what a passer-by thought of it. If they ever bothered talking to real owners about their cars they would of course discover that we are very real people who love to ups and downs of owning an affordable Ferrari. If they did the Math then they'd realise how much money they lost on buying average cars.

Needless to say that I think the perception (and reality) of ownership of more modern cars like the 360 is marred by some of the people who can afford to buy them straight out (e.g. footballers is the classic one).

I bought a 911 (993) last year which is my daily driver although I don't drive daily. They seems to disappear in modern traffic and I don't feel half as conspicuous in it, but when it's clean and shiney and the right person sees it I do get positive comments.

Lee
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Bob:

Your friend is the one with the problem. Perhaps he isn't used to the attention. Perhaps he is worried what everyone else will think because he treated himself to an expensive present.

Whatever it is, its his problem... unless because OZ's confiscatory tax structure that makes Ferrari's so expensive, pisses everyone else off, I can't see a problem. Is there allot of envy in OZ?

 

Me? I'd feel like ****** in a Prius or Insight... talk about pompous "look at me and
how much I care more than you" statement car.

Ferrari? F-ya'll - all y'all. I earned it - I own it - I drive it - get over it.


Jedi

 

+1

I took the car out the other night and a group of guys outside my usual watering hole were cracking jokes about the "magnum Ferrari". I turned to them and joked that I can't fully grow a magnum stache. After that they were all saying its a pretty cool car.

 

People who call me ****** get a kick in the nads. I want them to be accurate and correct. Its the least I can do.

 

i'd rather be ****** in a ferrari than ****** in a vette, jeep, hummer, lambo, porsche, jacked up pick up, ricer with a soupcan exhaust, etc.

 

Interesting thing I noticed back in the early '90s, when I was a partner in an offshore powerboat venture:
When you have a $60K Ferrari, or any Ferrari really, you're a "rich prick"
When you have a $250K boat, you're "just one of the guys, and nice, too"

Never understood that idiocy.

 

Well, I drive a Maserati, not a Ferrari - but I guess it's kind of the same thing, in a way. In fact, I'll venture to say that in the eyes of the general public/non-car-enthusiasts, Maserati's have even a bit more mystique about them than do Ferrari's, since there are less of them on the road... partly due to Masi's chequered past, no doubt; but still, the point is: you see less of them on the whole, so people who recognize the marque are more likely to go "HOLY SH*T!". Anyway, I can say that I have NEVER had an encounter with anyone with regard to driving this car that has resulted in me going away with the impression that they thought I was ******. Now - I can't say that someone pulling up next to me at a light hasn't thought: "What ******, this guy driving a Maserati", because I can't read minds, but I do get a decent amount of windows pulled down, followed by: "Cool car, man!" and thumbs-up - stuff like that.

Was washing the car on Saturday morning and the sky was kinda cloudy, and as I was getting finished drying it, a guy pulls up in the bay next to me in his SUV and as he gets out & comes around to my side, I say something like: "We'll probably both get rained on later, but I guess you're like me & we both figure it needs a wash now, so what the hell, right?" and he agrees, and he asks me about my car & we start talking cars as we dry our cars off - he tells me about an Audi he had awhile back that he really liked, and then he asks can he look inside, and asks me about the year, the engine, etc, etc,. So we end up talking cars & stuff, and as I'm done & getting ready to leave, he tells me if he sees my car around town, he'll give me a wave & say hi.

Anyone think that guy thought I was ******?

Another one...
Waiting in line to get some cash at the ATM machine a few weeks ago, and the car in the lane to the left of me rolls down their window & it's a guy and (I assume) his two sons... one in his mid-to-late-teens, and the one in the back seat a few years younger, I would guess. The conversation went like this:

Him: "Hey, do you mind if I ask... what's the horsepower on that thing?"
Me: "385-390... right in that range."
Him: "Oh, yeah, ok - that's what my son said... I thought it would be more."
Me: "Well, some versions in this series had more; and the newer ones DEFINITELY have more, but this one's pretty much stock; so yeah, he nailed it."
Him: "Oh, that's not new? What year is it?"
Me: "It's an '02"
Him: "WOW! it looks brand-new!"
Me: "Thanks!"
Him: "Cool Car!" (Rolls up window, pulls up to the ATM, big thumbs-up from him & his obviously Italicar-enthusiast & possible future Maserati/Ferrari-owning son lol).

Anyone here think those guys thought I was ******?

So, it's all about you.... or more properly: You AND the car... you & the car are one organic unit... Yep. It's true. Doesn't matter what you drive - whether it's a Ferrari or an F-150... you and your car are perceived as one organic unit by the general public.

So, MB, like someone else said - maybe his personality just didn't mesh with the car... if so, that's a shame, but what can you do in that regard? If it doesn't fit him, it's no different than if he had bought a Honda Civic & that didn't mesh with him, either, you know?

 

I have a theory on that that I actually wrote about in a blurb back in college: people are nicer about boats than cars because they think that you will let them use their boat or take them out on the boat. A 2 seat sportscar is inherently viewed as more "selfish."

 

I purchased my car 27 years ago to satisfy my own internal/ selfish desire for the visceral sounds, sights and smells that my car has always delivered.
Though I am as vain as the next person, my choice of conveyance does not define me to others in a way that I concern myself with. If I were the last man standing in some sort of Sci-Fi post apocalyptic nightmare, I would drive a Ferrari or Lamborghini till the resources ran out.
Rick.
PS Perhaps a new thread idea...what would you drive if the end of the world was nigh?

 

I think there's the view "they" should own it. I've had those comments thrown out there "daddy buy it for you". I busted my ass to buy this thing and put in a ton of sweat equity to sort it and make it reliable. I hate the bad interactions, but I bought it because I've always loved them. I think they are techno-wise, very cool, and aesthetically, rolling sculptures. If someone thinks I'm a jerk - whatever.

I actually did have someone tell me how much smarter it was to buy their truck which cost more than my ferrari because of its practicality. This was unsolicited of course. When I had a construction project that I needed a truck for, I went to U-haul and rented a sweet-ride

 

I was thinking about this the other day, in a different context. I live in San Francisco, CA and ride my motorcycle 5 days a week and drive the F355 Spider to work on Saturdays. On the bike, I've got my helmet on, I'm wearing all black, and if a car or a pedestrian does something stupid and/or dangerous, I've gotten used to reminding them to be safe, in as friendly a manner as possible (gets to them way more than flipping them off).

On the other hand, when I'm in the F355, I'll catch myself getting ready to say something, and think... nah, I'll look like ****** if I say that. But then, there's not a lot of car culture here.

Hmmmm. So, maybe the only time I *don't* look/act like ******, is when I'm in the 355.

 

It's funny really I get a lot more people starring, pointing, admiring and laughing when I drive my 57 vw bus through town. Few people look at me in my 911 (let's face it there are lots about) and an average number - usually male 30-50 notice the GT4 and admire. I kind of feel the most conspicuous in the bus as a result - I guess because it sticks out so much in modern traffic. Maybe the guy needs to get over this and get used to being seen in the F-car.

Lee
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Lee,

Your split screen 57 is awesome !!

Neil

 

I love that bus too.

I was a bit worried about the reaction I would get driving my Mondial, but it's been pretty much all good so far.
People even give way and let me out of side roads! Mainly girls, which is even better!
Some people pretend not to look at the car, but I've not had a single bad reaction yet apart from that. The Ferrari is red with cream leather interior, so is about as conspicuous as you could get.

 

I spent my sunday morning with a dozen others giving charity rides in our cars (mainly Ferrari) at a local school, it was meant to be for the kids but the parents wanted a go too. Now to get out of the school car park you hit a 'T' Junction on a busy road, every grown up i took out said....."you'll struggle to get out of here, its always busy" but every time one of the Ferraris came to the junction, the next person stopped to let us out!!
The police were also called due to the apparent 'noise' Daaammmm you Scuds and Strads for sounding so good!! Police were more interested in the cars and seeing a community enjoying themselves

 

How funny, I get the below, together with the niggle someone might hit me in my baby:-

Quote

" I ALWAYS get an anxiety attack just before starting mine up but that's more to do with the fear of some mechanical issue giving me grief "

I personally just drive along paying only attention to the road conditions. Now and again I get the odd car who you sense sitting alongside you. I alway think shall I, or shall I not look for the fear of abuse, when I do look though it has always been someone with a big cheesey grin and the thumbs up sign. LOL

Neil.

 

if nothing else, this thread has been great for my vocabulary...I intend to use the "smashed Crab" similie as soon as I can, Thanks, Mates!