I think I'm done with Ferrari

Dear Mayor,
I also think that if your next F car were silver or black, not red or yellow, the experience might be a little better since the "crazy circus come to town" effect it has on people is mitigated a bit.

I can see this with my Black 458 spider. In my red 360 I had weird photobomb and creepers and stalkers and people cutting me off just to get me mad. Folks are weird when they see a red Ferrari and they will sometimes ding your door for the hell of it too.

 

This does not reconcile. The new Corvette your purchasing doesn't have these problems?

Please!

 

I actually grew tired of a red Ferrari. I love my Daytona Black.

But I do see your point about getting her just the way you want.

 

what an amazing thread. mayor i am on your frequency. sold my 458 spider and kept my 355 spider stick. my newest ferrari right now is my cs. for first time in 10 years no new car on order except LaF. just taking a rest. what bugs me the most in hk is that ferrari is the only brand i can think of that does not bother to enable gps

 

Use your smartphone google maps app for GPS.

That by the way is also the future of how Ferrari is going to handle Nav and other internet connectivity. They will install software to bridge your smartphone to the TFT displays. This is a much better approach than installing antiquated hardware which has legacy issues.

I intentionally omitted the sat antennae and Nav on my spider because first I didn't want a hole drilled into the bodywork, second I didn't like the stupid plastic bubble, and third I don't want to be saddled with a weird third party NAV which doesn't have a touch screen, doesn't have smart search like google and will be obsolete in 30 days.

 

Hmmm do you think that Obama and other media have unfairly villianized the 1% and created a backlash against the most successful people in our country?

Of course, this assumes that the 99% are truly a homogeneous group. No of course not. But feeling like you are a great leader means that you need to make epic speeches against injustice The only problem is that the 1% are an easy target and the 99% will easily perceive them as the scapegoat.

Too bad our leaders are afraid to go after government corruption, syndicated drug dealers, the real crime problem in our cities, corporate corruption, etc.

 

They can't go after themselves,can they?

 

Duh.................... ya think?

Actually, I left the country specifically to escape this kind of madness and other similar chaos. So "our country" doesn't really apply to me anymore now that I have established myself permanently in a different country.

Of course I retain the privilege of paying U.S. taxes and my American heart still aches when I tune into the news.

 

That's the ticket. Don't bash the marque and move to the country where Ferrari is iconic.
Smooth move.

 

My apologies. You deserve better more respectful response. I could never in my life contribute to this forum what you already have done. Kudos again.

As an FYI. It seemed unfair on one hand to complain about speed limits and modern car capabilities (you can no longer enjoy them?) as a reason not to want a modern Ferrari and then to go buy a new vette which has these same problems.

I do not mean to attack you. I do mean to point out what are apparent inconsistencies in your (or anyone else's) posts regarding Ferrari.

Like Arguing: guilty as charged.

All the best. Buy what you like.

 

I was at Ferrari of Tampa Bay yesterday. The service manager Anthony spent hours with me going over all the cars on the premises as well as my new 458. He was fantastic and full of information. The condition of my 458 was incredible. I used a flash light and went over the paint carefully. I was impressed with one exception (orange peel). I'm not going to defend the orange peel but comparing my paint quality to recent vintages and older ones was eye opening. My new Ferrari was noticeably better in many ways. Additionally, the fit and finish of the entire car was also worlds better then the other cars and the vintage cars were a comparative joke in quality with numerous cheap parts used. I understand the vintage cars are history and therefore are special in their own right.

I really do not understand how anyone who has purchased Ferraris in the past and present cannot see how today's cars are superior in fit and finish by a wide margin.

They may not be as reliable as a Porsche (Ferrari interiors are prettier and more luxurious) but they are more reliable than ever.

New Ferraris come with 7 years free maintenance. According to the service manager a Testarossa's reoccurring major service typically cost almost $10,000. I owned a 1991 model in the early 90's. It was only fun to drive on the highway. This was a car from the mid 80's and it had the problems that the Mayor has sighted regarding today's high performance cars and speed limits.

Ferrari has not changed. Unless getting better is considered changing.

 

...but the world is changing.

Abstract viewed: super sports cars fits less and less into today's world, the tolerance for these kind of cars is decreasing more and more. The social, media and political pressure is growing.

Under this perspective I guess it's possible, at the present time you can lose a part of your happiness. The car is better than ever but it doesn't make so much pleasure than earlier.

 

Stranded is the worst case. But at are you saying there weren't any times you had to leave one in your garage waiting for the dealer to come it it up? Or drive somewhere and have to limp home where it waits for the dealer to pick it up? You'd be the luckiest Ferrari driver ever if you drove pre-2000s Ferraris and didn't experience this sort of thing every now and then.

 

Yes.

There is good and bad with progress. I'm in the camp that the good far out weighs the bad.

I find that those that prefer the good old days don't actually remember how comparatively bad they were. The human mind suppresses bad memories and glorifies the good ones.

 

Two reasons:
1. I like classic movies.
2. I am passionate about sports cars. Movies... Not so much.

Therefore I cannot argue with you about movies.

Have a great day sir!

 

The Mayor needs to buy an F50 and end this ongoing thread.

 

Actually not, I never had to have the dealer pick up a car. I could always bring the car to the dealer under its own power. Sometimes more limping than other times

That doesn't mean that there was never anything wrong, but if you'd be stranded often, it would get old pretty quickly....

 

however much you feel that in vegas it is much more so for me in hk. the new models are too big and too fast to enjoy as much on the road. i love the ff and the f12 but for peak road in hk that i drive on every day, no fun. even the 458 spider had an incredibly annoying exhaust note going up and down the mountain - either full on or quiet. whereas 355 spider is mechanical and progressive. i know it is a function of compliance with noise regs but i don't like it.

please spare me the captain obvious comments. i am aware that i can have gps in my cell phone but that is absolutely missing the point i was making. i am aware that i could have manually controlled the valve on my 458 spider or changed the exhaust. i am aware what it was like to own older cars in the day - for example my current 355 is my 4th 355.

largely because of the real world conditions that i face in Hong Kong and the roads that i actually drive on i have gravitated towards air-cooled porsche. they are smaller, more nimble and give me all the sensations i find desirable. modern classics appeal to me and the ferrari offerings in the 964 era are not my cup of tea.

the newest sports car i have right now is a modified 997.2 turbo stick that i like a lot. the 4wd is great on the wet and greasy roads that we have over the summer. i have it over a ferrari because it is manual and it has back seats. i much prefer it over a cali.

like mayor i am simply sharing my frame of mind

 

pm me next time you are coming and i take you for drive. there are some good roads