Ferraris at job sites

i dont even tell anyone i work with that i have a ferrari - here in the UK there is definatly a 'them & us' envy culture !!

 

I have it just outside my office right now. Although I'll never take my car to thehead office, or when meeting with a customer, my co-workers have pretty much gotten over that fact that I own a 308, and have stopped thinking that I'm a closet-millionnaire or mobster.

As far as the envy or "us & them" attitude goes, I say "FUK EM'!!"

 

No one cares I have a Lotus, but if I had a German car, it may not be the same benign neglect...

Ken

 

I got more comments about my 500 SEL than my Ferrari at my last location (same company).

Only two managers and the controller know that I picked up the third, but they are all car guys.

If you have to ask if its okay, don't. Politics/envy is a weird thing sometimes.

If you don't have the golden handcuffs, sod 'em all...

 

My lawn service guy drive's his F40 to the house sometimes when he is just pulling weeds and doesn't need his mowers.

 

Lawn service guy has an F 40?? LOL I'm in the wrong business!

Ken

 

I find it the opposite. We had a customer conf last week and was asked to drive the car on one of the days by a customer but our HR dept (wife) asked that I not. Funny thing is that my boss drove his new vette and another IT boss drove his new M3. But they get worked up when I drive my 17 year old Esprit (that costs less then half of the other cars).

I think it is just in the perception of having a sports car like that.

 

Yup. When your Esprit is 33 years old, it will be different. Even at 17 years, your car could still be mistaken for new so you get that flack like Ferrari guys sometimes get. Mine is obviously from another era and that somehow changes people's perceptions.

Ken

 

I think this revilation deserves a picture. Is this guy on board? Maybe a business lesson for most of us would be in order!!!

 

It was a joke...although from what he charges he could likely afford one!

 

I'm in mortgage lending and work for a bank that has strong ties to the non-profit community. So when traveling in those circles it is important to have a low key profile for the democratic minded folk. However quite the opposite when soliciting referral business from some Realtors and Attorneys who are very reseptive to 'image' and it can create an in. All in all I would say my 360 gives me a very slight sales edge. Driving it though does make me a very happy worker.....

 

Dave,

As a former consultant, I ran into resentment just because I was paid a little more than the staff engineers.
Driving a ferrari would just be rubbing their noses in it.

Work is work, play is play. Keep them seperate and you will be better off.

 

I try and leave the F & L car home if I am dealing with tenants, vendors or contractors. If I'm dealing with realtors or attorneys I may take take the Italian cars.

I may have already lost a few contracts from showing up in a 308 or a Countach. I'm beginning to think a Prius with the tax credits and car-pool lane bonus would be a smart alternative.

 

Best statement that can be made!

"Sophia" can't go to my work because the school district is reluctant to remove the speed bumps and the clearance on Sophia is quite low. She's also only referred to as "the red car". On the other hand, no one comments about the SLK 350 but some of the guys comment on my green C320C and just ask - "how's Kermit today".

Carol

 

NO ONE at the rockpile even knows I own this car (except those surfing this site ;-)). The 200 or so folks who collect a paycheck from me might be somewhat less enthusiastic were this baby parked in the boss' spot.

 

Yes to that. Lots of times I'm glad I have my Jeep Liberty. We're doing a community service project at my company next week, in a not-so-hot neighborhood and showing up in the P-car would be a bad idea. A Ferrari? Yikes.

Also, honestly, parking at the office is outdoors, in full sun, near chronic road construction. Sometimes the Jeep's even too nice.

If the car looks like it's in near-new condition, people assume it's new.

 

I"ll take mine in on the weekends. I'm the boss so those (employees) that are in on the weekend neither object or revell in it. I have a 22 car garage underground at my office building for myself and other tenants to distribute the few spaces available to whomever. There are 2 05 911 c4's, 930, several M-cars, Hummer, Lexus coupe (Hard boiled egg), C5 and a couple of SUV's. The garage sits pretty much vacant on the weekend.

 

I heard that since he spent so much money on his car, he can't afford a mower. So he just tosses a live goat in the passenger seat and it nibbles down the grass at the job sites.
(Dangerous idea, because friends now think he has the ugliest girl friend in town.)

 

Our pool guy brings his F50 by the house when he's only dropping by a couple bottles of chemicals.

 

Our maid takes her Enzo when she doesn't have to carry aound her mop and sloth bucket.

 

I try to keep it from my patients. When I do drive it it goes out back.

 

There is something strange with Minneapolis like that....I visited Thomson-West up there off of Pilots Knob the one day and the other IBMer I was meeting to do the presentation with wanted me to bring my car so I did since he came all the way from Germany and was a good friend. I also checked with the Thomson guys to make sure it was ok they said yes and were pumped to see the car.

So fast forward to the day I bring it up there...everything is cool then we get into the board room and sure as hell the one of the first conversations we get into with the CFO is pricing of our software. About two seconds later he refers to how they dont have the money to pay their employee's the kind of money to buy Ferraris. I must have had to pick my jaw up off the floor...it was supose to be an architecture and product future direction but degraded into a guy making probably 5x me telling me that I was to rich. Pretty nuts...

In Sleepy Rochester here everyone at work loves the car and I am one of five Ferrari's in the parking lot so its not a big deal

 

i am ok bringing the ferrari or maserati to work. boss drives a mclaren (the gordonM one, not the mustang trim package from the 80s).
besides, with two parking garages, it is easy to skulk away/