As a followup to this thread: http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=241886 ... I would like to ask: Would you consider buying a new Ferrari road car if the Scuderia team is longer involved in F1?
Of course! It's the legacy that nobody will ever be able to take away. I wanted one from as early as I can remember. Why?..... Motor racing, and specifically, F1. What happens with these crazies right now doesn't affect that.
A Ferrari is a Ferrari, and that's what I voted, as I just really like the look and the looks it gets, however the fact they do race in F1 plays a BIG BIG factor to me owning one, as I love both...but not the way one of them is being currently ruled.
I'd buy an alfa or maser because of their race heritage just as I would buy a ferrari. Yes it is important to me to know that they entered and won at the F1 level but F1 isn't what it used to be, is it? I'd buy a porsche also due to their racing heritage although that was from sportscars, not f1. Same for the vette who in gt1 is learning a lot in terms of practical technology. If you race I buy-doesnt have to be F1, now more than ever given the current climate.
The Ferraris I'm interested in are from 1947 though the mid 1960s, and I probably will not be able to afford one unless someone is desperate to sell a 250GTE
I voted it doesn't really matter because i probably wouldn't be able to buy a Ferrari anyway. But if somehow i was financially viable to buy a Ferrari someday, i still would........ After all a Ferrari is what it is.
Will that "F1 World Championship" plaque on the dash make my car go up in value? When F1 runs the same engine in all the cars, it isn't F1 any more IMVHO. As long as they are racing, customers won't care. Look at Porsche. No F1 but they seem to sell lots of cars every year. In fact, it would be fun to own a model and drive it on the street that the factory races.
Ferrari has never been known to "sit back." I think if Ferrari dropped out of F1 participation, it would be temporary and they would come back. They would participate more strongly in other competition, then make a decision to either re-join Bernie or start a new F1-type race in competition with F1. That's how the Indy/CART league got going.
I would have never bought a Ferrari if they weren't in F1. In fact I would never want to own a car anymore from a manufacturer who isn't in F1. The real question should be: Will you sell your Ferrari if they leave F1? I might.
Tricky one, well not for me: No way! It would all depend on your take on this fuss, which most predicted, almost like a foregone conclusion, and IMO Ferrari won't leave. Takes are : Ferrari are spoilt brats = sell car or, Just standing up to the way the sport is run = more respect keep car. Today already I have been jibed at, they got a two fingered salute..
To me it depends on whether Ferrari leaving F1 would be a temporary thing or not. If they would close down their F1 development shop and focus solely on road racing <yawn>, I would give up on my Ferrari and buy a car from a manufacturer who still has the cahones to duke it out with the best. Luckily for the time being my second car is a Toyota.
If Ferrari drops F1, I will be disappointed in the company. Basically they will have picked up their ball and went home because they weren't winning the game. Ferrari, IMO, would be the marque of "quit when you aren't winning". For years, many have claimed that Ferrari was superior to Lamborghini because of the racing history and continuation of the legacy. They could always claim that you were getting a racecar for the street. If they leave, they are just a car builder. And one that, IMO, is not better than Lamborghini at it. Not style, not reliability, etc.. Take away the racing and you take away a lot of what Ferrari is. I think you also take a little bit away of what it was too.
If Ferrari were the only one to exit, I would agree with this assessment. However, if all the major players exit at the same time, that doesn't mean they're quitters, that means there's a systemic problem within F1. If Hamilton, Massa and Alonso are on the track battling in McLaren, Ferrari and Renault cars in France and England and the US, then -that- is the premier series. It won't matter if there's some other "F1" series running the Mongolian GP with LiteSpeed and Force India as competitors. If the breakaway series gets Monaco to buy in, then it's over for the Midget.
Still doesn't change the fact that Ferrari (and the rest)just picked up their ball and started their own game. Maybe even more pathetic. Like the fat kid getting his butt kicked at the park by the other kids........so he takes his ball and goes to his house with the 3 other fat kids in tow so he can beat them on his own hoop. At the end of the day, he is just the best fat kid. That's even MORE pathetic, IMO. The fact that Ferrari thinks they could get away with that is sad (I am sure they do). The fact that millions would allow them to by tuning in to watch it is even more sad. I wouldn't. The problem isn't F-1. Ferrari and everyone else knew the rules. The only "problem" is that they aren't winning. And I don't think ANYONE would consider it the "premier series" when they just watched every one of those drivers and teams get waxed the year before.
They are already participating in these series and even winning. Just google Risi, Salo and #62 car. But nobody gives a hoot. Nothing will stop you from buying a Ferrari, true. But maybe you suddenly don't find it so appealing anymore? A few years back I went to the USGP at Indy with my 308. I had parking on the infield and on Saturday thousands of people were milling around the track. As I got closer to the stadium and the entrance, people started to notice the car. They started to holler and wave and what used like an impenetrable mass of people became the parting seas. I felt like Moses and Bonjovi altogether. Would the same thing have happened if I had shown up in a Lamborghini Jalpa or a Lancia Beta? No. All the millions of F1 Ferrari fans are constantly fanning the flames and keeping the flame bright and shiny that illuminates the prancing horse. Take that flame away and the myth will die out eventually and the buyer of a new exotic suddenly thinks scissor doors are cooler than regular doors and all wheel drive more practical in the winter and a proven Audi engine more reliable than a finnicky Italian powerplant.