Would Enzo Love Us?

I know I love my 308. It took me 30 years before I could make it a reality! Now that I have one, I love it and everywhere I drive people compliment me on it. But when I get around newer models and older more "classic" models I feel like a second-class citizen in the Ferrari world. And then I start to wonder sometimes what Enzo thought of us 308 owners. In the end though Iit does not matter because I know in my heart that 308 owners are some of the best representatives of Ferrari. If I were Enzo, I would think 308 owners embody what is best in Ferrari ownership.

 

I think so too!

 

hey man,,,good post...im not sure what Enzo would think about 308 / 328 owners,,,,but i know what he would think of those jerk offs with Ferraris that never ..ever drive them,,,except to get them from the trailer to the show their parking them in,,,or the other idiots who just buy and sell them like they are an item on the NYSE...he would be spinning in his grave,,,,how come i never ,,,ever ,see a 275 GTB 4 cam on the street,,,or 250 LM...you get the picture,,,because those owners are to affraid to get a stone chip on their car,,or for them even to get a little dirty...funny,,,these guys have all the money in the world,,to get their cars re painted whenever they want,,,i once listoned to a guy at a Ferrari show,,ask a judge if he was going to get any points taken away because he had an intermitant blinker,,,he seemed really worried,,,i wanted to slap that prick right in the back of his head..this guy had a 275 GTB 4 cam..looked like it never had been driven,,,Enzo would have said "che diavolo e sbagliato con te...voi succhiazzi muto"...lol,,,,,ps...my 328 has 88,000 miles,,,and i keep it up really well,,,and when the front end gets to many stone chips,,,i have a guy take care of it,,,Ferraris are driving machines,....not intended to be parked on some chicken **** golf course...

 

What could possibly be second class about one of the most beautiful car designs E V E R !!

Years ago, after a track day, we were taking a group picture, and the drivers came up to the start/finish, and it was a great group of cars. Someone had the bright idea of "arranging" all the cars. It was done by price at the time of the shoot. Oh brother!

 

He loves me! and I only have a GT4!!
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Very very cool!

 

Keep in mind that at the time the 308 held the same place that a 458 holds now.

I dont think that he would think much of us now since we are considered the "secondary" market since our cars are virtually all used at this point. He would not be making much, if any, money from our cars directly. Very few, if any, of us bought our cars new from him which would provide him the money he wanted or needed to continue his own racing interests.

How much support did he offer the 250 or 330 series cars in the 1970s or 1980s when he was alive? Whatever that answer is should tell you what he would think of us now. I honestly dont know but from what I gather of his personality it would be what I posted above, but i could easily be wrong.




PDG

 

I'm not an owner yet, but I've been reading copiously, some of it biographical about the man himself. My opinion is that your warm-hearted appraisal is probably a bit hopeful with regards to the nature of the man himself. This man was driven to win within all possible manipulable parameters. His indifference to his customers, especially during the 'classic' period, is legendary. I mean, how else do you think we got Lamborghini? Never would have happened if Mr. Ferrari had fallen all over himself to fix the man's clutch instead of throwing him out of his office after belittling him to the role of a tractor-man. Ferrucio would have been the Italian equivelant of a Bill Gates (except he was a mechanical genius) waltzing in there to complain about clutches, only to be rather rudely rebuffed by "the man." His willingness to put the lives of the scions of the European aristocracy on the line with reckless abandon is likewise fodder for calls of "abject neglect for life."

There seems to have been two Enzos. One that spoke to the press and one that ruthlessly piloted the company. Since we are all relegated to the role of "unlikely biographers," I'll just say that any of this could be a likely story. But....those historical perspectives don't come out of thin air, they are based on some or other general perceptions and definite indicators. It would stand to reason that this man may have looked indifferent by the sheer laser-focus on winning that he maintained, instead of anything intentional. That doesn't diminish it though, as much as explains it.

 

Enzo widely stated that he didn't care at all about the road cars. Selling them to people who wanted to pretend to be race car drivers and pay for the privilege of owning one of his engines (his words), was simply the way he paid for racing.

I doubt that his time in the grave has mellowed his view!

 

Yeah, I hate to say it but I agree with Mike! Enzo only cared about race cars. He would probably think we are all a bunch of wankers. But who cares! We know we're not wankers. Right?

 

A few anecdotes, on the GT4 at least he had a mock-up built of the interior so he could preview and or adjust seating position to his liking. One of his favorite drivers , some said that he had some of his fondest feelings of, was Gilles Villenueve, for a present he gave him a 308GTB.

There his quote,

"The Ferrari is a dream - people dream of owning this special vehicle and for most people it will remain a dream apart from for those lucky few". Enzo Ferrari

but I guess what really matter is how much we love him.......
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Enzo would have patronized us just as long as we were contributing strongly to his bottom line.