Cavalcade Classiche

Has anyone been on any of the prior events? The entry fee as expected is fairly steep so I am wondering if the "experience" goes some way to mitigate this fee.

 

The 2019 Cavalcade Classiche event takes place in and around Rome, Italy, between 19 and 23 September 2019, and the entry fee is Euro € 17'000 for three days and four nights (two persons in one car).
Your Ferrari has to be certified (red book) and built prior to 1979.

Marcel Massini

 

Can we find a more expensive way to use and show our cars??

 

No, but I can show you a cheaper one:

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A day out for children who are all carers for disabled siblings / parents.

 

17000 EUR + 22% VAT = 20740 EUR

 

If you wanna play you have to pay.

Marcel Massini

 

I think those 17k are included VAT?
but even this is a rip off and ridiglious for only 4 nights and 3 days. ( only my personal meaning and I never would do this ! ! ! )

 

No...sorry Joe VAT excluded!

 

No, it is plus VAT. Here is an extract from the invitation:

Cavalcade entry fee of € 17.000,00 + VAT includes the hotel accommodation for 4 nights from September 19th to 23rd. Lodging will be at the Hotel De La Ville, a brand new luxury hotel from the prestigious RoccoForteHotels Collection, full of charm and incredible design and opening in an iconic area of Rome city Centre: the top of Piazza di Spagna stairway. It also includes four themed dinners, three lunches on the route, technical assistance and road services, your personalised gift and all the visits on the itinerary. The price is for a crew of two persons sharing one car, in a standard double or twin room.​

I just checked the hotel's website and a superior room (there is no such thing as a standard room listed) is Euros 599 +VAT per night, so the rest of the package costs Euros 14,604 +VAT, which seems a little steep to me. Brochure attached: like the invite to the 70th. Anniversary celebration, it's a bit short on detail - "pay up and you'll find out what you have bought later" - but that is par for the course with Ferrari.

 

thank you for the VAT info
so one more reason not to join

 

It does seem very vague to say the least, however the brochure also looks very nice. I think the cost is acceptable if the event is of an incredibly high standard with cars to match...

 

I paid 6k I think for the 275 tour, the first one ever organized by the factory for 40 275 GTB and few GTS and Preston Henn’s car. That was a mythical tour and I don’t think it is possible to do better ( although I did the Daytona one and the Italia Classica with Ferrari on boats on the Gran Canal). But I the end the quality of cars goes down, the crowd is less passionate and more money, and I don’t believe costs since 2004 have increased so much ( and certainly not income).
So everyone chose what he / she wants to do but displaying cars among the rich and famous , at a certain moment, is pure vanity.
Then I go racing!

 

Rather spend the weekend with John (above) and buy him a pint at the end of the day......

 

Thanks for the feedback. My fear with something like this is it being simply a vanity tour rather than a group of people passionate about Ferrari and its history. The former has no interest to me, the latter would be amazing.

Perhaps subject of a new thread but are there any event which are more enthusiast geared than vanity geared?

 

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It depends what you wanna play....
Jokes aside, Ferrari is making a big mistake by emphasizing that much of its market on bling bling.
The Cavalcades, the tributes to Mille Miglia, to the Targa Florio, etc are only exciting because of the cars that participate, and eventually also because of the nature and cities they are travelling trough.
The cars are not owned by Ferrari.
The nature is not owned by Ferrari.
The cities are not owned by Ferrari.
Even the restaurants and hotels to be visited, for those who imagine these could be exciting, are not owned by Ferrari.

Why then ask 17.000 € + VAT?
Why not ask 170.000 € + VAT?

Reasoning and logic is out of fashion at today's Ferrari. That's clear.
They think they'll keep the scum away from the posh, acting like that. And that's a huge error.

Exactly the same thing is happening in the Classiche Certification procedure. First of all, they pushed any classic Ferrari owner to have his car aunthenticated in order to be able to take part in Ferrari organised events (such as Cavalcade, Tribute,...) The next step is to exclude now any authenticated car from these events, unless it is yearly checked at an official Officine Classiche dealership. Up to this date many of those so called Officine Classiche dealers haven't the slightest clue about classic engineering, bodywork, authenticity....

The day the people at the helm of today's Ferrari will realise that, instead of attracting those people they hope, they'll eventually find out that the real, true enthousiasts have left the Ferrari world of today since a long time.
Worse, apart from the gorgeous pieces of art which once belonged to the Enzo era, many of these owners of classics, even prefer not to be associated any longer with the money-devouring machine Ferrari S.p.A has become.

So, in this sense, "playing" Ferrari has become a definition with quite a bittersweet taste.

 

I agree, Marcel. Rather brave of you to speak out. I don't think they know me from Adam, and that's OK. But it strikes me that there might be times where you want the cooperation of the factory. Or not. Oh well; make hay while the sun shines, I guess.

 

The only way I know to determine if it is overpriced is if a lot of people show up or not. If they have a lot of participation its not overpriced.

An advertising guy told me once, if you don't get it you are not the target audience.

My only gauge is the 70th in Maranello. The venues were terrific, the food was fabulous and the champagne bottles never ran dry.

 

I have no doubt that they know their target audience and I dare say this will be fully subscribed. Whether the attendees will be getting value for money, however, is another matter. I attach a brochure of a similar event being put on this year for Bentley owners. The venues are just as special, the hotels as good, and the price is very similar (cheaper if you factor in VAT). The difference, however, is that Bentley drivers get a tour lasting more than two weeks, not three days - looks rather better value for money to me, and makes me believe that Ferrari are taking their owners for a ride of a different sort.

 

I do not disagree but the ride is of their own choosing. Ferrari has done an excellent job of marketing their "Lifestyle" events and monetizing everything surrounding what many consider "Just building cars". I think for many the emotional response comes from the fact it is a hobby, for lack of a better term, for them. We can like it or not but I don't think we'll be changing it.

 

And I agree with you, too. I think it is a shame that Ferrari treat the guardians of their heritage as just another group to be exploited for maximum profit, but nobody is forcing us to go, and there are many other ways of enjoying our cars that are much less expensive, so I shan't be shedding any tears over it (nor signing up for the tour).

 

I think in many ways they always have. The same goes for people who choose to race their cars. I read Mark Donohue's book the Unfair Advantage back when he wrote it in the mid 70's. A few years ago I reread it after having so many years in the Ferrari business I got a great deal of entertainment out of the part about he and Roger Penske's experience with Ferrari while racing the 512. I laughed because it's the same company today it was back then.

 

Penske would soon swap prancing horses from the Cavallino for the one from Stuttgart with Can Am having seen what the writing on the wall was with Maranello...

 

While Mark was famously successful with the 917 he loved driving the 512. Said it was the best car he ever drove. He had plenty of headaches with the Germans too. He had difficulty among other things understanding why both created so many roadblocks to success.

 

I would say the same, 512 is the best car you can drive ( at least before Group C that I have not driven) . But only in circuit,,, while few are registered and road legal (!?) you cannot drive them on the road unlike in period because there are so many extreme road bumps in every village now. So I had to give up the idea to enter it in Tour Auto ( same for competitor who wanted to enter the Matra , he gave up ) while I am so far the last one who entered a 250 LM ( adjusted for higher clearance though ).