Whut's a po boy to do?

Other than those with some sentimental value associated with the car, I still think I could pull 99.9999% of Mondial owners away if I offered them a new Lamborghini in exchange.

I guess I'll never understand how one can be so engrossed by a for-profit corporation, not to mention one that is indifferent to their loyal enthusiasts getting gouged at the dealers when a new model is out. I'd suggest you go to a dealership when a new 458 is out and ask if you can get one at regular price. See how much love and appreciation you get back from your savior. I think that's bull****, plain and simple, and that the respect is far from mutual.

 

"Nervouso, un anima, che bella machina." Ferrari and other Italian decendants of Vitorio Jano's engineering genius possess this. That isn't shared with the Germans.

However, I appreciate all car enthusiasts. A gearhead is a gearhead, or petrol head or whatever you want to call him or her. Auto bigotry is part of the game but tough to justify. Back in the 60's I was an Alfa Romeo and Italian car bigot. Had some old Ferraris and Maseratis and a Miura along the way.

Regretfully, I put down the German camp. Frauline Porsche did however capture me with a 69 911S and subsequently a collection of other 911 and 928 variants most of which I still have. The bubble of the late eighties drove this poor school teacher out of Ferraris, but I lusted for the sound track.

My poor guys solution at the time is a 4200 Maserati Spyder with a glorious, almost Ferrari, sound track. Love the short wheelbase of this car. Yeah, I'd rather have a 250 SWB except its beyond my reach financially. I must confess the Maser probably ticks more of the boxes for my everyday driving. The only semi collectible in my collection is a Maserati Khamsin 5 speed that shakes the ground, 4 Weber 2 barrels. "Nervouso, une anima."

P.S. That said, the Porsches are still fun. (I still can't classify the Cayenne as a Porsche because my head says that a P car is a sports car.) Guess my bigotry has not been totally overcome. I'm longing for an affdordable DIY Ferrari (oximoron?) because there is no substitute.

Diverdan

 

Quote: I mean come on. Ferraris are a lot of things, but a good value for the money? Are you kidding? BAWHAHAHAHA!

If you are looking for value for your money, pull your head out of your brown hole and buy a Honda Accord with the 4 cylinder. Great car, good handling and comparing price to reliability fun and performance it beats everything hands down.

 

Well put!

 

Italy's never been the world's hotbed of engineering. (Well, there was that Leanardo guy and the helicoptor thing. But, even then, it was a DRAWING. Art has always been their claim to fame...art, for art's sake.

Art for art's sake costs big $$.

Germany's art is lasered on fine engineering. Want the best engineered car on the planet? Go to Germany. Want art? Go to Italy.

 

And yet the Italians are renowned for making some of the greatest engines to have ever roamed the planet, both in cars and on motorbikes. Surely there was a degree of superb engineering ability that went into that?.

 

As a car enthusiast I would hope you buy whichever car you like, it's your money after all.

My point was that your original post implys that you are upset if you can't sell your Ferrari for at least what you bought it for, if not make a profit on it.

You don't see a Ferrari as value for money based purely on the fact that you can go faster in cheaper cars.

I have merely pointed out that based on these statements you appear to have missed the entire point of what makes Ferrari special and therefore worth the expense.You seem to see it as just a machine to go fast in, where as I have said, to a true Ferrari enthusiast, it's much more than that.They are not interested in other makes of cars that are cheaper/faster or both. At the end of the day, those other cars are not Ferrari's.

You then made a statement that because I do not own, nor have ever owned a Ferrari, I cannot be a true Ferrari Enthusiast. You imply that because you own/have owned Ferrari's, that makes you automatically a Ferrari enthusiast, but I say it does not, it merely makes you an owner, not the same thing. Again I challenge you to go to Italy and tell the diehard Ferrari Tifosi there that they cannot be true Ferrari Enthusiasts because they do not own one (as I'm sure the vast majority do not).

To "atone for your sins", just don't preach to the Tifosi that unless they own a Ferrari they cannot be true Ferrari enthusiasts.Try to become more enlightened as to what being a true Ferrari enthusiast is and I'm sure your God will help you all you want.

As to not being worthy, I'm afraid to this Tifosi, you may well be right. I'm sure though, you're exactly the sort of Ferrari customer that Enzo used to hold in a very special regard.

 

Trust me on this...that is a bunch of crap.

"Ferrari Spa" is a collection of assets. You are right, the physical structure doesn't have feelings. However, to believe that the people who work there, are not beaming with pride to be part of the legend and aren't in many cases, fans as well, is just silly. I imagine the reason Ferrari is considered one of the best places in the world to work is not just because of the greenery in the factory. Its about being a part of something important, admired...special... something they can take pride in. To make a fair comparision, the NFL owners may not care about the fans that aren't buying tickets or t-shirts, etc (although I know for a fact at least one does), but the members of the organization, the players, right down to lowest level, love the fans and the adoration. Enzo Ferrari may have been a pr&ck, but the company he created is more than just a cold business. They are competitors, business men, and enthusiasts. I've met a lot of people who work at BMW through the years, and they love their company and love hanging out with the enthusiasts. I can only imagine, given Ferraris heritage, that this is only amplified.

The Tifosi fill the stands, they are goodwill ambassadors for the brand, and they give Ferrari incredible leverage in Motorsports. A good business cares about more than just the bottom line, and Ferrari, if nothing else, has proven itself a very shrewd business.

Oh, and if you want to be REALLY cynical about it, Ferrari would have to be morons to not embrace the fans because, without them, all the d&^bags who buy Ferraris so they can be admired, would buy Lamborghinis After all, you can't be a celebrity without fans, and Ferrari automobiles, to many purchasers, are their vehicle to celebrity.

Just my .02.

 

Regardless of what you may have "heard." Ferrari was voted the best place to work in Europe in 2007.

To discuss Tifosi without mentioning the Scuderia makes no sense. The Scuderia is the reason we even know who Ferrari is today. The Scuderia is the lifeblood of the Tifosi, it is genesis of the passion for the company, and what makes the company legitimate. Its also the reason Ferrari constantly hawks the infusion of F1 technology into their road cars. Ferrari is, at its core, a racing company that builds road cars, not the other way around.

Nobody has a gun to your head forcing you to purchase anything from them, including a car. If your experience was bad, sorry to hear. I've spent a fortune on my Ferrari in the last year...but I knew exactly what I was getting into when I bought a low production exotic ITALIAN car. I don't know what you were expecting?

I also don't know what your Cayman cost you, but its a Cayman, not a Ferrari. Do you want to know what my Honda Accord cost me? Does it even matter? Your Cayman may perform better then your Ferrari, but in my book, there is Ferrari, and then everything else. You either get it, or you don't. If you really hated the brand as much as you appear to, you would be on Rennlist, not Ferrarichat. I got a feeling, your more of a Tifosi then you are letting on.

 

Did someone call me??? LOL!

I still have the Trans Am out back, too.......kind of like keeping your High School gf's phone number handy...

 

Newman.

 

LMAO YES! purell!

 

However, he sold it. In this guys religion I think that might be considered blasphemous.

 

Just like the fact that no one is as obsessed with sex as a virgin teenager, so too are non-owners the most dedicated tifosi.

Once you get the car, it's still a blast, but the reality sinks in, and you can be a little less starry-eyed.

And, of course, it's silly for a virgin to lecture a promiscuous person about the wonders of sex, but what else is a virgin to do, since that's all they think about?

 

At least you weren't condescending.

 

Although Italys auto industry is not as huge or expansive as the German one, it takes more than art to win multiple races in every sort of racing discipline.

Aprilia, Ducati, Lancia, Alfa Romeo, Ferrari and Maserati have all at one point or another dominated their respective racing series, and i would only assume it takes some engineering to achieve such a result.

 

well, i own a bug, im on rennlist quite a bit and came over here to check things out as Im thinking about exploring a ferrari in my future and came across this thread.
Why all the hate direceted at bug owners, if y'all as so secure why is that, seriously?
Ironically a bug owner on rennlist is getting hammered for talking about the 'class'differences between bug owners and Corvette owners, sounds like pricks own both cars.
The people talking about bug owners in general, what other groups of people do you put into categories like that?
anyway, first post, hope there is better content on the forum than this drivel

 

I speak from experience, as a former virgin and a former non-owner. I was more excitable then, and more realistic now (but still appreciative!)

 

Guilty as charged. I own an '85 911, and I hate myself.

Just can't forgive myself for the years I spent as a virgin.

No better content than this - just more drivel.

Move along, nothing to see here!

 

I'm sure you will take offense to this, but I find this disturbing and kind of pathetic.

I generally find it kind of sad when people take obsessions with material goods or even sports teams so far.

I like ferraris and I like other cars. I enjoy driving and owning them, but thats where it ends.

 

That's how just about everything in life is.

 

Personally, I was speccing a Cayman in 2006 when I realised it was ridiculously expensive (you do have to realise that new car prices in Holland are a bit different), about 70% of the price of a perfect 550 (€75k with options vs €105k). I did the research on running costs and went for the 550.

Since then, my 550 has been a posterboy for reliability in 20k miles and my costs have been significantly below what I estimated. And I don't skimp. Yes, depreciation has been higher than I expected due to the financial crisis, but if I had been running a Cayman I would have had a significant hit too. Depreciation on my 550 has been around €35k (also third owner). If I check prices for 2007 Caymans, the depreciation has been around €25k. You would expect running costs to be a bit lower for Caymans, but since Porsche dealers charge €100/hour whereas my Ferrari specialist charges €60/hour, I think the difference would have been less than you would think.

In the end, if I compare new Cayman to old 550 I estimate the 550 would have been maybe €7k (or US$10k) more expensive per year. More than worth the money for me - for other people it might be different.

For me, not everything is about the money. For instance, I'm going to restore my 365BB (which I bought after the 550). When all is said and done, there will be at least $100k spent that I'm very unlikely to retrieve. What I have bought for that $100k, though, is: a) the fascinating process of restoring such a rare car to its original specification, b) the absolute joy of owning something so spectacularly beautiful, c) the satisfaction that one has saved a piece of automotive history for other generations to enjoy. To do this restoration, I am giving up other things. But I am not going to whinge about how expensive these Ferraris are to restore. I know what I'm going into and for me it is the right choice. For you, the Cayman is. Well good for you. Personally, I would have been long bored with my 2007 Cayman, and I'm still enjoying my 550 and will for many years to come.


Onno