I think I'm done with Ferrari

I understand perfectly just how the Mayor feels. Here is my story.

I recently purchased a home in North Florida (St Augustine). It is a great little town (my hometown) and it was after I had looked at buying a home in Palm Beach but decided that spending 2.5-3 million for a home I may use 3 months of the year was ridiculous. Also I found that the crowds and such were a big turn off as there is never a tranquil moment in South Florida as it is so developed. Hence my purchased of a historic waterfront home in St Aug for less than half of the PB cottages!
Well I had my Carrera GT shipped there and used it for a few months in the spring and that turned out to not be a good idea. It is just to high a profile car for the area and made me feel very uncomfortable. I realize that it is much different than Vegas where anything goes and an orange or green Lambo is as common as a Chevy Malibu rental car. I sent the car back up to NY and purchased a white Audi R8 V-8 six speed manual. The ultimate discreet supercar! It gets some attention but it seems even the greenies like it as Audi is considered a forward thinking tech brand. NOW...let me say this...its has nowhere near the excitement of the CGT or my Stradale had and I do not pine to drive it like I did my Stradale or do my Porsche.
Moral of the story..
The Mayor will be back!

 

I was complimenting you, but I am at work, so I have brain fade. I did read what you wrote and I wanted to add to it.

 

No worries, understood.

 

Either you never drive a Ferrari in public,never driven it at all or you are lying,which is it?
At least one of the things you just mentioned happen or happened to every guy(or gal) who uses his(hers) car.

 

He was agreeing with you

One more open spot on the W/P waiting lists.

 

Funny the Greenies & the NAZIs agree re Audi LOL
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

LOL...if they only knew...

 

Thank you but Rob and I are fine, I went back and fixed my original post.

 

Oh Gawd

 

I'm going to disagree. I own a boat and a Ferrari and the Ferrari ownership experience is very comparable to owning a boat. And I think probably worse with the Ferrari. The old joke that boat stands for 'bring on another thousand' easily applies to Ferrari. And most reputable boats these days are much more reliable than a Ferrari. They are hand made and in low volume too, and they don't have headers falling off their engines.

 

The wife and I would agree with this completely. Bob's a great guy.


Mark

 

Well there are boats and there are boats. we were fortunate to have a covered private dock to keep the sun, rain, etc off our 19' I/O deck boat. no problems. but sun and weather really take their toll. hard to keep a sloop in a covered dock!

Other than regualr maintenance I had no problem with the boat as is the case with the 458 Spider.

 

^^^^^^ or a nice 308 or Alfa...

Driving a new Ferrari isn't what it used to be.

 

Bob, FWIW my wife told me, at 46, that overweight and middle aged looks better in a front engine v12 rather than a giant matchbox. Also, the way you've been flipping lately doesn't really seem to fit you when you say that you're just now replacing your beloved 10yr old Maser. And then there's the town. Whether you're still loving Vegas and want to stay the rest of your life, or you can take it or leave it, you have to admit it's probably the worst place to create a spectacle and expect people to not react. Sounds to me like what you really need is to stop buying new cars from Wynn and go find yourself a Barchetta or a Superamerica and give your business to a local independent...oh, and move to Tahoe.

 

I think owning and driving a Ferrari is a bit like experiencing life with a hot girlfriend.

There are going to be hiccups, jealousy and maintenance issues. It works much better if other aspects of your life are already in order so when the s**t eventually hits the fan you can still smile at the silliness of it all and forgive her when she drives you crazy.

I think many of the issues you currently experience have to do with where you live and how you have to live. I went through midlife. Made a ton of changes to reduce the clutter in my life. I also moved. The place was a big part of my problems. Well, maybe Ferraris really are part of the clutter in your life and then maybe not.

I always enjoy reading and learning from your posts even when I may not have agreed. I hope you can reduce the clutter in your life and focus on the things that matter. Hope you'll stick around too, just for the laughs!
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Maybe it's time to try a different exotic like Lamborghini. At least the seats will look like new ten years down the road! Audi leather is indestructible you know.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Bob, sorry to see you go but the latest offerings from Ferrari strike me as made with too many plastic parts for my tastes.

Why not consider upgrading from Ferrari and getting a Dino?

One of the 401 Euro version GTS, currently getting de-federalized with bare metalwork then re-spay.
Drives nicely!
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCLl8pAhmdI]Ferrari Dino on Hwy 25 South from Hollister, CA - YouTube[/ame]
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Some new Asian SUV drove by today while I was riding my bicycle. Girl driving it jumped on the gas right next to me and I thought it was an exotic V8 car. Some fabricated noise that sounded so fake and stupid because of what it was coming out of.

Point is...none of these new cars mean anything. The old classics just keep getting cooler all the time. Especially around here in CDM/Newport Beach where everyone has a new this or that.

Even the young girls are catching on. I saw a 20ish hottie driving a 60's Pontiac the other day and about drove off the road with about 10 other people. It gives us all hope.

I bet her Dad is a very cool dude.

 

I'm 62, which is well past my mid-life crisis years. I've owned lots of sports cars, but my 2013 Italia is my first Ferrari. I am now kicking myself for not getting a Ferrari earlier. I have put more than 3,700 miles on the car in 7 months and still look forward to every opportunity to drive it. Yes, it is easy to drive (I owned a 930 for years that could be a veritable wrestling match). But the Ferrar is amazingly capable, and most of all it is precise. It invites you to explore its limits, and is still a joy just to drive normally on a hilly, twisty road (if I was limited to freeway or city driving, it would be frustrating). Even though this is my first Fcar, the dealer was quite easy to deal with. The car had one problem, and the dealer fixed it painlessly.

Every time I leave in the morning and arrive home from work, I walk around the car in the garage. I expect that my next sports car will be another Ferrari.

 

Girls don't jump into the passenger seat of this -- guys do --- but aside
from that -- want to trade?
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Buy a Honda

 

Let me tell you about a 550 Maranello...Cheap under $90k for the best example and 60k for a driver. At 60k you get a door ding and you don't even think about it. Someone do a fender bender the 30K bill for a 60k car will total it and you are done and off to another one quick and painless. 6 speed gearbox engages you. No e-diff, no F1 gearbox, A/C that works, comfort of a GT that wakes up when you get on it. Good noises but not obtrusive. In silver everyone thinks it is a toyota. You never get bothered in a 550 people don't know what they are. It is a simple manual car with some modern electronics that is so basic a diy'er like me never needs a Ferrari dealer or an SD2. They are so depreciated out that if you don't like it in 6 months you will probably get your money back. You don't scrape on every speed bump. you don't hop over every bump on the freeway. You can hold a conversation on your cell without yelling. On a track it will surprise you how good the car is for a big tank. 12 cylinders of Ferrari muscle. Once you try it, it is hard to go back to V8's.

 

Great post

 

So the 575 is chopped liver?

 

I wish I could be in your situation. Getting tired of Ferrari ownership seems something I could never say.

I had a gentleman come into our dealership wanting to buy a GT-R. He has owned quite a stable of exotics including a TT Lamborghini that he tracks quite a bit. So really nothing I could say or do could really wow him or win him over.

You're at a point where ownership of something so special to others has become a normal. It will take something very special for you to find that gives you that wow factor