...or I use to be undecided about Ferrari, but now I'm not sure. I grew up on the 80's Ferraris, quickly learned to appreciate the vintage Ferraris and for the most part have liked what Ferrari has developed since. I said early on though if Ferrari ever did anything I didn't like and I didn't want to support them, that everything prior would be grandfathered in. You can never take away what Ferrari has done in the past. Ferrari hasn't ticked me off, but I'm not in the new Ferrari market and have only driven late models for short periods.
"Most Powerful of ANY company", in what context?!...The MOST expensive OVERPRICED parts?!, your assertion about Ferrari being the "Most Powerful of ANY company" is so FALSE on Soooooooo many levels, it renders any further comments of yours as being void of any creditable substance. bye, Bye!...Alex
absolutely, the next wave will coming soon. With a V8 Turbo? More power? More torque? Better performance? Even more aerodynamic features? Still better looking? Lighter, stiffer, faster? How ever... It is a never ending game, completely controlled by Ferrari. Mayor, I wonder if you can really resist when the successor comes?! I think so, and this is good so. For myself I hate it to be pushed by the industry, it's a ****ty game! But of course, Ferrari isn't the only one. I also struggling with Apple, Mizuno, Ping, Titleist, Correct-Craft, Head, Salomon, B&O…
The OP title was Something along the lines of I'm not done with Ferrari. I agree. I'm not done. I, like many others here cannot qualify for, cannot afford, nor cannot justify a brand new Ferrari. I agree with Bob that I would rather have two or more cars than the latest and greatest F machine. I will keep my MT 430 spider, until it falls apart. I plan on adding a GT2 within a year or so. Forgive me but I skipped to the end and missed most of the excitement of the last thread. I get the gist though and see where the Mayor is coming from. I'm not here to change minds just adding that I still enjoy ownership and don't see that changing anytime soon.
I have spent time in a 456 on track, and also a 10 hour day behind the wheel on the road, Firstly put modern wheels on a boxer as many of us do and it will clean the clock of a 456 on track, that is if you can drive. But that is not the point. What I am saying, as I belive many here are is we have no problem with modern power grip etc, the issue is with the way it is executed, essentialy blanding out and numbing the driving experience all for nth degree paper speed. A lotus elise has modern grip and braking, its certainly not bland or antique, and an exige V6 has the power to go with it. What we are asking for is the ferrari verison of the exige V6. I get you want refinement and comfort, fine, ferrari builds various models including the FF that des that. Some of us want a viceral raw feeling car, somehting exiting and exhilirating to drive at all speeds on roads and track, it can sacrifice creature comforts and the last nth degree of paper performance to do this. As a modern car it would still be way way more accomplishged and faster than an old ferrari. It will also get your pulse going just stating it up, not because of some stats as to what it might do, but because of what it does and feels like from the moment you pull out the garage. I dont want a new build old ferrari, I want a new ferrari executed with some of the intagibles feel and viceral experience that made the older cars so attractive and appealing. Hey porche did it with the 997 gt3 I am sure ferrari can do it too, even lotus does it. The aventaddor and zonda come closest to this ideal. The aventador has a way long waiting list, the zonda pagani just cant kill even though the huraysa is faster more comfortable etc. There is a market for such a machine, Ferrari is content to make useable paper fast cars for anyone to drive, we ask for more and better. It reminds me of the quote by walter Rhorl, he said his favorite car is his 73 careera RS because when he goes fast in it, he thinks and knows, "how good am I driving" in the new GT3 he goes faster and thinks "how good is this car", that is the difference. I want a modern that is all about how good am I driving, that dosent mean slower, maybe a little insy bit slower, but it does mean much better to drive.
So you call someone an idiot and then post these completely idiotic numbers? There are approximately 7,000,000,000 people on the planet and Ferrari is currently selling 7,000 new Ferraris a year. So simple math would mean at least .0001% can afford a Ferrari. In fact the number is likely at least 500x that number (i.e. .5%) because not everyone who can afford a Ferrari buys one and certainly doesn't buy one every year. Heck if you just count the 14 million millionaires (you don't need to be a millionaire to afford a Ferrari) on the planet the number would be at least .2% which seems low to me. Your Coca Cola number seems suspect as well. If you're going to try to make a point with math, especially after calling someone an idiot, then you should at least try not to use idiot-level math to make your argument. So maybe you should refrain from calling people idiots for a while? Serious my point is that we shouldn't call each other idiots.
I put 2,815 miles on my 456M during a six day trip through some of the best roads in the southwest. That's why I bought it: To take adventures, like I do with my BMW bikes. Now I want to take a 612 up the PCH and keep going all the way to Washington (Like I did in my X1/9 the summer between high school and college). The 456M is great, but not quite comfortable enough. I was dying to get home by the end of the fifth day. And I don't care what wheels and tires you put on a 512BB, if I get to set the parameters of the race, I'd make it 24 hours. The 512BB driver would be a cripple before the end. lol. Exactly the point: You perceive the cars now as bland, I experience them as refined. Here we agree! I've wanted Ferrari to resurrect the Dino or make a small mid-rear V6 for. ever. Now that F1 is six cylinder, who knows. BUT, I'd want all the modern amenities such as fuel injection (a given), ABS (another given), and adjustable suspension. On a car that small, I think you could ditch the power steering, though. It would be fantastic (I'm interested in the Alpha 4C for exactly this reason). In the mean time, why not buy the Lotus? As my previous post should have indicated, I get that. This is exactly why I'd rather have a discontinued MESA/Boogie Formula Preamp from the 80's instead of a modern Mk 5, which is easier to get along with in almost every way, but it doesn't tickle my testes like the old preamps did. Well, you lost me here. I had a Countach poster when I was young, but the first time I sat in one, the dream was over. I don't get the Lambo thing at. all. Just the weird pedal offset ruins it for me, and the rest of the ergos are not designed for my 6'2"/240 frame. It sounds like you want less and better, but still, "better" is a subjective thing. That's why these discussions are so much fun. I love your perspective - I respect and admire your perspective - but it's not my perspective. I think the 456M is more and better than my pervious favorite Ferraris, just as I think the 612 and FF - despite the controversial configuration and styling - will be more and better still. I hope you get the car you want! When I was faced with clear road on US60 through the Apache reservations in New Mexico - a famous road with mile after mile of sweepers, switchbacks, and gnarly decreasing radius turns - in the 456M, I was aware that the car was better than I am (And that I was on public roads, and not a track), but I was grinning until it hurt because the car was so poised and forgiving (But it is a 4,400 pound behemoth, so you have to be smooth with it, something I learned with BMW touring bikes). I'm sure the 612 and FF will be incrementally, "better" than the 456M from my perspective, and I look forward to that, and the adventures. Cheers, George
Please don't ever compare a 512BB to a 456 or an FF. Just don't. It is comparing one of the prettiest to the ugliest. If winning a race is the goal there are many better options than any of the mentioned. If I could only sit and stare at the rear of a 512BB and could never drive it I would still rather have a 512BB.
Good for you. I loved the 512BB when I had a poster of it as a kid. Now I think it looks primitive compared to my 456M, which I consider to be the most beautiful front engine V12 Ferrari of... all... time. The FF? Yes, it's fugly, but technologically it's the coolest car Ferrari currently makes. Can't hardly wait to own one (But not until after I have a 612). Any 512BB would choke to death on it's brake dust. Cheers, George Image Unavailable, Please Login
You can fault my over exaggerated math percentiles, you CANNOT fault the logic behind the statement. People ALL OVER the WORLD will on a percentile basis, recognize a Coca-Cola icon FAR GREATER than a Ferrari emblem. Do you wish to ARGUE that FACT???!!...Alex
If in you mind an antiqued Boxer can out preform a 456 on a track, then you have just demonstrated by your readily apparent ignorance, you know NOTHING about the performance capabilities of either car. A 456 would out accelerate a Boxer from the start of the track session & NEVER LOOK BACK. I wish there was a credibility test here on FC, it would alleviate the FACT from the BULLSH*T!!!...Alex
Proof that even Coca Cola thinks of Ferrari to help enhance their business model. These dispensing machines have started to show up across the USA. ON their website, Coca Cola notes these are "Ferrari-designed" with a direct reference that Pininfarina designed them, and that the same folks design Ferraris. Even the biggest companies seem to find they might do better if they copy what may be the most iconic brand (and one that has not changed, unlike Coke and others...). There are a ton of metrics one might use to discern who is the "best" or the most identifiable. To have a dinky specialty car company in Italy that produces only 7,000 units a year in the same conversation with a company that serves 1.5 billion drinks a day should help inform thinking about how pervasive the impact of the Prancing Horse is worldwide. Not arguing who is the biggest, just that even the fact there is a contention of which one it might be is pretty remarkable. Image Unavailable, Please Login
If the "Prancing Horse" is as you stated "How pervasive". PLease show myself & others the "Prancing Horse" on the Coke machine!!! Let me assist you, there is NONE!!!.On aside note, Pininafarina also designed a Peugeot, that Coke machine could represent Peugeot as well as numerous other Pinnafarina car designs, you just FALSELY make the correlation with Ferrari. That's an Elitist attitude!!!...Alex
Don't sugar coat it, tell us what you really think lol. Pininfarina is closely identified with Ferrari, and also has designed high-speed trains, buses, trams, light rail cars, people movers, yachts, airplanes and private jets. With their offshoot Pininfarina Extra, they also do work on industrial design, architecture, interior design and graphic design. Accepting a contract from the company whose icon is recognized by people all over the world, and then designing their primary business delivery system, is just smart business. They are also in significant duress with cash flow, so the contract allows them to ply their trade without losing momentum. Since their work with Ferrari & other automotive design industries has stopped, they probably thought staying in business doing beautiful designs was better than unemployment and closing one more boutique shop (at a cost of almost a thousand jobs).
Reviewing the text to which you referred, there was no statement or inference the Ferrari logo was on the machine. Referring you to the Coca Cola website where they announce the machines, the designer, and provide a hot link to Ferrari's home page. The flow, color and appearance of the machine provides visual cues to Ferrari, something even a casual observer might see. Everything You Need to Know About Coca-Cola Freestyle Dispenser: The Coca-Cola Company Not sure why this has generated the seeming hostility. Even folks who disagree heartily can generally engage in a civil discourse without caps, exclamations and pejoratives to make their point. I'll assure you I'm a pretty capable reader and writer, so plain text will work any time...
