I think I'm done with Ferrari

No offense to anyone, but I wish I were a mod here so I could sh*tcan this thread.

 

Proper spelling is "****can" . . .


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You mean move it to a private forum and let it sink to the bottom?

 

Well said

 

Seems lots of people dig what is being said here. Giving credence to the theory that Ferrrai might have a possible customer base they are alienating between product and experience.

 

Some day (soon) we will all thank the Mayor for getting Ferrari to return to its roots

 

+ 100

 

No Daytona or Miura for 300k.

 

Ferrari has masterfully planned and executed all the odds in their favor. From the product they sell to the franchise holder rights. You and I are just the victims. All be said, IF you could buy a Ferrari where you could get a much better experience in buying a new car anywhere in the USA, I would highly recommend ALGAR Ferrari of Rosemont Pa. Step away, regroup and come back later. There is nothing in the world like a Ferrari to stir one's heart. You know it better than most, you've had many. Good Luck and keep us posted on what the replacement will be.

 

I have had 5 in my life starting with my first in 1972 a 246 GTB Dino which I long for today. Went through the withdrawl and vowed never to have another. The car that was responsible for my change in attitude toward Ferrari was my new at the time troublesome 88 Test. I abstained from the breed till I purchased my current 360 Modena as a gift to myself after sustaining a terrible accident in Co. losing my leg and learning about death first hand. I cherish this car and it brings me joy driving it and just looking at it. Speed no longer interests me nor the latest tech. Love the sound,the looks and the fact that I am capable of enjoyment.

 

Another fog of time story.

How do you define "the best?" The 3x8 could have been much faster than they were, but the 12 cylinder cars were the halo cars, this is the same place the Cayman/Boxster is in today.

So what if the California had these options: hard top, standard transmission, delete option for everything you don't want? Would it sell?

 

Dupe...............

 

Boxsters are not the flagship car for Porsche. The 928 was, and it was almost identical in performance and price to a 308, which was considered it's competition. The late 70's and early 80's with all the regulations to meet it was a tough time for manufactures. I don't buy it that the 308 could have been faster as you say. Your internet crystal ball does you no good in trying to interpret the past. I take it your quite young. I lived through the 80's and consider a 308 to be by far one of the best cars of the period. When you look back and compare what Ferrari and Lamborghini were doing to what other car makers were serving up, you realise they were in a league of their own and at their prime. The same can not be said today.

A California with a hard top, paddle shift and void of various options would just be a large awkward car that real estate women and men 55+ would not want to buy. So... No, It would be a sales disaster. The horsepower wars and performance data games of today are really all Ferrari has keeping it from becoming completely irrelevant to other manufactures. So I say again that Ferrari must continue to strive to be the best. Today, best is determined by a table in a magazine.

 

I'm (very!) late to this thread and don't have the time to read through the whole thing, except to say that for every new Ferrari price point there is an old(er) Ferrari that I would rather have.

 

I was in LA on the weekend on Beverly near Fairfax and there was a new Maserati Convertible parked next to a California. The Mas (in a dark blue with tan interior) looked a lot more "balanced" for want of a better description and I kinda wanted one instinctively. The Cali, in white with black interior), which was originally conceived as a Mas, stirred nothing in me. A sign of where Ferrari has gone for me I guess

 

Try a Lambo for a change, I went from 360 Spider F1 to a Gallardo and that was so much better for the time, today I am happy with a California again. I somehow got back to Ferrari must be the chicks.

 

So funny!
It was my rental California (my weekend getaway with wife from cold Chicago).
Btw,my wife had the same observation as you.......

 

410, I share your reaction to the California; drove one at a dealer shortly after the model's introduction and found myself relatively unmoved. However I don't believe this car is any indication of Ferrari's direction, to the contrary: their focus is laser-like on buyers who want either a true sports car - the mid-engine 8's - or an ultimate gran turismo - the 12s. The Califonia came to Ferrari, as you correctly mention, almost by accident when FIAT discovered that the car, designed to be a Maserati, cost too much to manufacture, market and sell as a Maserati. Finding itself with the California, I rather think Ferrari has done a remarkable job marketing the car, principally in California and other warm weather/sunshine areas of the United States.

That said, I have wondered for some time just how Ferrari will continue to find 7,000 buyers every year for their new cars, implying that there will be at least that many buyers each year or two for the year-old or two-year-old 'pre-owned' Ferraris that the new-car buyers are trading or selling. Even with a potentially huge China market, I would not bet on this three-card monte game continuing indefinitely.

 

The primary problem that Ferrari faces is the dramatic advances in technology that have come into car making in the past 25 years, that has given literally any manufacturer the ability to produce very high performance vehicles that, in the real street world, match Ferrari performance at every step, while providing greater creature comforts and impeccable finished products. All that is left for Ferrari is their aura and their limited availability, and they are dangerously close to eliminating both of those advantages - firstly by licensing their brand to literally everything possible and by increasing their production to 40% more than they used to do 15 short years ago.

I have been a Ferrari fan since I was little kid and I've been lucky to have had them in my life in a big way, but I literally have no desire to purchase a new Ferrari anymore because the things that drew m to the marque initially are now gone.

I know that there are many who will disagree with me but c'est la vie or more appropriately, che sara sara

 

Don't disagree with a single point; I've also been a Ferrari nut since I was a kid, have never bought a new one as I couldn't afford one and now that I can, like you, don't want to spend that kind of money on an asset so immediately and so monstrously depreciating. I have bought a good number of pre-owned Ferraris because I believe they are splendid 'buys' - see those listed below - and because the first, my 1967 prototype 365GTC, bought in 1978 for the then-lordly sum of US$25,000. and enjoyed for almost thirty years, when sold in 2007 produced the funds with which I bought all my present Ferraris, a 355 berlinetta, 412 5-speed and 575M Maranello, and a Maserati Spyder.

 

The zeitgeist here seems to center the concept of an "anti-Ferrari Ferrari". The Dino idea is valid but you'd still end up with modern car with all the inherent compromises. The real way to stick it to the man (Maranello) might be to resto mod and/or hot rod the old stuff ala Singer 911s ("A love letter to a car" to quote James May.)

A debadged, gnarly, ripping fast 308 might be an example. Or ?

Let the Chinese and Russian new money fund the Scuderia for a while.

Meantime let's build some rat rods!

"I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!"(Network - 1976) - YouTube

 

I would agree Algar (I bought 11 cars from them over the years) is a great place to buy a car. From time to time I still miss my 430 gearshift coupe and who knows maybe I will have another some day. Though the joy of cars for me was taking them apart and making them better (at least for my needs) and after doing that for 30+ years I just lost the desire and for the way I drive and my uses for a car today I just cant justify owning another one. I recently picked up a 14 Jeep GC Summit and I like the car better than what it replaced and it cost half as much. I guess you can say I've been there done that and now I am doing something different. I still enjoy hearing other posters passion about their cars and the brands they admire. It brings back memories when I had those feelings too. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone

 

Actually, Jeremy Clarkson of Top Gear, said the Lexus LFA was the best car ever, yet he bought a 458 for himself.

 

As people age (myself included) , Things that stirred the passion of your soul don't feel the same.


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