I think I'm done with Ferrari

are you certain, Jacques? my first reaction after looking was Vignale, but I could be wrong. It is gorgeous. As is the blu TdF Maranello, a flawless, timeless design and as fine a road car as Ferrari has made.

Most of the rest of the palaver on the thread is........palaver[/QUOTE]

You are quite correct is a Vignale, not sure what made me think it was Drogo!

 

are you certain, Jacques? my first reaction after looking was Vignale, but I could be wrong. It is gorgeous. As is the blu TdF Maranello, a flawless, timeless design and as fine a road car as Ferrari has made.

Most of the rest of the palaver on the thread is........palaver[/QUOTE]

Nope, 250 Bertone. 3269 gt

 

Nope, 250 Bertone. 3269 gt[/QUOTE]

Yup, Bertone is correct (I thought everybody knew that )
Should have put that in.

cheers,

bill

 

Yup, Bertone is correct (I thought everybody knew that )
Should have put that in.

cheers,

bill[/QUOTE]

The car looks the same today bill as in the photo you posted.

 

TDF (blue, in case theres another kind) can look almost electric in bright sunlight and then dark purple on a dark overcast day. It is not truly a light blue color though- its more medium/ medium-dark. However, it is extremely light sensitive. And I would like to add, its a fantastic color!

 

+1.

 

The car looks the same today bill as in the photo you posted.[/QUOTE]

Yes, I know Craig, To me its pretty sad that it just sits around, it was such a great driver !

That really bothers me ):


cheers,

Bill

 

I don't think the 550 is TdF. It looks a little light.

Here is a 575 in TdF[/QUOTE]

no, blu Pozzi as is the following 250GT; much too dark to be Tdf

 

Bill my 412 is blu chiaro, 575M is TdF blu - see below
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Here are two better images showing color
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no, blu Pozzi as is the following 250GT; much too dark to be Tdf[/QUOTE]

The 575 does look a little dark. I remember a couple of cars in Pozzi passing through my place. It looked almost black in low light.

There are so many Blues listed in Ferrari's available colors over the years, and also many custom colors. I once had an F50 that was red from the Factory and then painted in a color similar to Azzuro, which was a light metallic blue.Thankfully it was repainted back to the original Rosso Corsa, but the headlight surrounds remained black which made it rather unique
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Here is the Blue F50
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The Real Reason the Mayor is leaving. He does not want to be identified with this character:


[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Pj8QKTvRTQ[/ame]

 

I know you were considering a Boxer but may think they are speculative now but if you want to experience a true Ferrari with a 12 cylinder that feels special and give a race car experience this is the car. They are not making anymore of them and never will again since Enzo is gone it has his DNA in the car. The only other mid engine Ferrari that can give a raw race car experience would be a F40 IMO but you rattle your teeth over bumps and experience turbo lag a hassle in traffic. That leaves for me a 250LM for my wish list with its crash gearbox.

I live in Vegas also with the Boxer you dont get the crazies as with newer models but you get more car enthusiests who really appreciate seeing one or marvel at its motor when the rear clamshell is open, its more positive reactions driving it than jealousy which makes a difference.

The newer cars are an appliance or tool a Boxer is more of a hobby or special experience, go to the Dealer and mention some guy owns a 458 hey will have no idea who he is could be one of many but say so and so has a Boxer they know who they are.

 

Well, if I had $300,000.00 to waste on a car, as much as I like the heritage, mystique, and brand, I sure wouldn't have invested in a modern (after the ole man died) Ferrari. For $300,000.00 - Daytona! Ghibli (one of the true 125 made) convertible. Miura!
And for a lot less - My 95 Esprit.

 

Looking back at this original post by Mayor, I wonder if his observations apply much more broadly than Ferrari to the entire high-end sports car world with the possible exception of the initial comments regarding dealer/purchase experience.

Perhaps the title of the thread should have been "I'm done with modern high-end brands"?

 

I mean no disrespect but wonder what the alternative path for Ferrari could have been? Without investment from Fiat, would there be a viable Ferrari today? The FF may be more "mainstream" than previous cars, but how much different are they in intent than the 400i or earlier four seat GT's?

On design, I certainly agree that (not unique to Ferrari) there is less emphasis on beautiful design. I would say not that it's "techno" design but that aerodynamics and science have replaced much of the art of design. Today, it's not good enough to look aerodynamic, it must be aerodynamic, with all the little scoops and flares,and splitters, and such that go along with that.

There is often talk of the lost soul of modern machines (again, not specific to Ferrari). Certainly I think is true. Any modern car will outperform the old classics, but it will do that so quietly and efficiently that it feels soulless in comparison to the drama of the older cars. But this simply the pursuit of better performance and is that so different from the goals of the older cars? I suspect they were engineered simply to be the best performing cars they could be, the "soul" was simply an inherent quality of the technology of the time.

Today the question seems to be: Just because a 200+ mph car with flawless performance and lightning quick shifts can be produce, should it? Or should cars be designed to today with some "soul" built-in? Of course, if Ferrari did that, they would be accused by some of not pursuing the proper Ferrari goal of ultimate performance.

Lastly, regarding "posers" Of course, that's right, they are purchased by those who simply want to show off. I wasn't around to know, but I suspect there were a few of those back in the day as well. Maybe not as many as production was lower, but I'll bet they were there. Speaking of production and exclusivity- Ferrari remains a limited production company, certainly more are made each year than the past, but could Ferrari survive as a 2,000 car/year company? Could it thrive?

Anyway, I'm not pretending to be an expert but these are the questions that occur to me.

 

Agree 100%

I will likely stop at my 16M and not jump on the Ferrari train....maybe go backwards.

I would love a CS.
I also need to drive a gated 430.

How about a CGT or FGT?

 

The CGT for me was like an updated F50. Very similar architecture but better brakes, breathing and ergonomics. I liked them both, tracked them both and would take the F50 all day long if there had to be a choice. It just had something alive about it.
For similar money (at the time though) we also had a Daytona in the fleet and it was literally a mystical experience that has simply not been there in any modern Ferrari, with the exception of the Challenge Stradale. The Daytona however was temperamental and finicky and needed care and patience to drive for anything other than short hops. Would it get the nod over any modern Ferrari? Hell yeah!

 

Buy a challenge car
Won't have to worry about door dings, cops or people running up at stop lights cause you'll be at the track " feeling like a race car driver"

 

The original post and some of these comments are hilarious and some of the so called observations seem wildly inaccurate. Perhaps a move to a more affluent state and local is in order. Around LA where Porsche 991's are a dime a dozen, no one begrudges you driving a nice car. No one is pan handling Ferrari's at lights, though in Lamborghini's I've noticed a lot of chatty Charlie's that want to talk at a light. Prius drivers do not look over, they are too busy trying to watch their fuel economy while blocking the left lane. Tesla sedan drivers however, are the new a$$hats. We get it, you're not buying gas. Here's the thing. You have no real range. I see you on my long roadtrips between LA and San Fran, crawling at 60mph because, the look of constipation on your face because you are afraid your car won't make it and it takes too damn long to charge. My gas guzzling, modified E55 with 600hp goes 400 and change on a tank as long as I cruise no faster than 90mph, mostly staying around 80mph, takes a few minutes to fill up. I'm O.K. with that. They must believe a lot of salesman hype over at Tesla too because every now and again one of these guys will line up with me high on electric engine torque. Here's the thing. I still have more hp and torque than you. I enjoy crushing them while they console themselves that I'm still buying fuel.

Anyway, I digress, I totally understand the frustrations of dealing with the entitled mentality of Ferrari where they think they owe you just about zero customer service for the privilege of buying their over priced machinery. I understand being nervous about door dings and other careless motorists in parking lots and such. But the rest of this fantasy, "everyone is jealous of me stuff', I don't know man, stop driving through the ghetto or rednecksville.

 

I don't know that I'd go from a 16M to a 360 or another F430. The 512BBi is a relative deal right now, and the 246 ... isn't a deal but would still be everything I'd want in a Ferrari. Those are "magical" cars.

 

Vegas has a lot of pan handlers every where you go, stoplights, 7-11s you cant get away from them I get hassled in my Ford Pickup daily, I usually say sorry dont have any cash but in a new Ferrari dont think that would work and some of these bums are a holes after you tell them no.

 

I agree with this (tech should be enhancing the experience) 100%. The gains in performance are of little use off a track and most of the cars rarely see one.

I wonder though what would happen if Ferrari adopted this approach. What if the 458's successor had great road and steering feel, no driving mode options, no paddle shifts, had "only" 400hp, and did 0-60 in 4.5 seconds? What if it was styled with an eye toward beauty, even it it meant a loss of aerodynamics? What if all the tech was put toward creating that had to quantify mix that makes for a great road car on back roads?

No doubt many would cheer and get in line, but could it really compete against it's rivals. Would buyers recognize the greater good or buy whatever was the latest winner in the horsepower wars?

 

Think of it as an additional model, utilising a lot of off the shelf ferrari pieces, a halo car for 150k if you will.