Ferrari myths and misunderstanding

I resepect and understand that the average person could care less about the history and I do not expect them to know or care either. There is however some silly misconceptions out there and one of the most common ones I hear center around service. My favorite being:

"When you buy a Ferrari I heard that it is warrantied for life. For that much money it better be."

 

Mythic cuts both ways.

 

Its hard to tell which country a Ford or Fiat comes from; USA, Mexico, Canada or Italy?

 

It can be exhausting sometimes but if you make the trip then you have to answer the questions.

 

I get this on a daily basis in my daily-driver Abarth.

It doesn't even say "Fiat" anywhere, just "Abarth" and "500".

Q: "What kind of car is that?"
A: "A Fiat 500 Abarth."
Q: "Who makes it?"
A: "Fiat."
Q: "Is that Japanese or American?"
A: "Italian."


The slightly more informed will say:

Q: "Oh, Fiat....Dodge owns them, right?"
A: "Actually, it's the other way around - Fiat owns a controlling interest of Chrysler."

Confused expressions and silence follow....

 

We know a lot about 1 car and most car people know just a little about a lot of cars.
I find the questions normal and encourage them. We all had to learn somewhere and some of these people may just be at the beginning of their hobby.

 

Hmm, for me, a non-owner, whose spent a decent amount of time around them, the appeal has gone away to some extent. They are no longer the mythical "unicorn" and symbol they used to be. I feel like these days when you see a 360, you don't think twice about it, a 430 may merit a "nice", etc. The rare older stuff I'd actually be interested in.

All that said, for many people, Ferrari's will still be that unattainable "unicorn" with all the myths associated.

 

People have the misconception that a Ferrari needs to be 'serviced' every year, and it is $10k+.
I have heard this at least 3-4 times recently. "isn't it more than 10k to service it every year?"

Not sure where people get their info.

 

I think it's a testament to Ferrari / Pinninfarina, that people alot of times, cannot tell the year of a Ferrari. When I had my 308, occaisionally, people thought it was a much newer and expensive car than it was.

 

Did anyone ask for the serial number? Anyone at all? At least one person?!?

 

On this forum we might know enough to not be in absolute awe.. but the magic is still there for many of us.

I only get that way with Porsches. Just waaay to common.

 

Thats certainly a personal thing. I don't get excited when I see a porsche either, or really any car actually. Maybe my interest in cars has just fallen off a cliff. who knows.

 

One of the best efforts I've ever seen at de-mystifying Ferrari. I took the picture, but the car and the note were from our very own Tillman at a local show a few years ago.
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I'm the exact opposite. I get excited when I see ANY nice car that is taken care of with obvious pride from its owner. Price of the car, or make doesn't matter to me.

 

True - Their priorities are all out of whack

 

I'm exactly the same way. We have a small strip mall just down the road and every Thursday during the summer there is a volunteer car show. Cars range from Model A's to '57 Bel-Air's to WRX's with neon undercarriages. All fun and exciting and everyone loves looking at the variety. After all, we all are just car guys (and gals)!

 

living in long island, you must get excited often.

 

TM: Long before I could afford a Ferrari, I'd go to car shows like the ones you mention and I always had so much respect for folks like yourself who would bring their exotics AND stick around to chat with the excited attendees. Some of my best memories of car shows are those chats and I think I was probably about as excited to see the latest models from Ferrari as I am now to buy them.

Off-topic: a couple weeks ago my wife and I were in Vegas staying at the Wynn and we saw a spider pull through while we were waiting for our driver. No idea what color yours is, but as it pulled through I wondered to myself if it was you

 

If it was red/tan, it was mine. I was there a few weeks ago to pick it up.

 

Was at a local show yesterday with the 328. It was pretty much the last of the of the year put on by the Triple X Root Beer drive-in here in Issaquah, and had been invited by the owner to just show up. Turns out it was mainly a bunch of lowered mini-trucks with a scattering of not quite so extreme other cars (mine included). Still had a great time and spent most of it explaining what a 328 was to a moderate but near-constant crowd around my car. Most of the spectators I spoke with could not believe she was 25 years old and still looking as good as she does.

Note: Tip of hat to Bullfighter for that interior. Still smells new, by the way - A fact no one missed.

The usual questions came up: How fast is it, how expensive, and some of the "knowledgeable" ones insisted the engine has to come out to do even the most minor of service. I don't mind gently educating them.

Also, some lucky kids (who asked really politely) had their pictures taken in the driver's seat. Overall, a good time and lots of smiles. Ah! The joy of ownership

Picture below is just before 9am and folks are still getting set up; but the sun was in just the right position...
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Even ferrari owners get it wrong. Last weekend at the 1000 car record attempt in the Ferrari parking area another driver told someone my friends CS was a Scuderia. And some b***tard left a bottle in my air intake!!!!

Its the joy that matters not the details though. Its a bit snobbish to feel you have to know the specifics about something to enjoy it. (though conversely I do refuse sit in photos from people who ask "can I sit in the lambo please?")

N

 

Your writeup shows the emphasis and reasosn for Ferari! This site just exemplifies all of those/us who cherish and appreiate for so many reasons. Thank you forthe kind and TRUTHFUL COMMENTS.

Pierre

 

It was red/tan! Next time I'll say hello

 

This is true, LOL. If you see my schedule for the next few months, it is out of control with car shows on weekends, and car gatherings during the week. I try to make as many as I can. I don't really take my car, because I enjoy taking my time looking at all the other cars. I would rather do that than hang around my own car. I already know what mine looks like! LOL
This Sunday, I have to go to an Itallian car show at Stony Brook University from 10am-1:00pm AND a Mustang show at Sayville Ford from 9:00am - 3:00pm. I some how have to make it work. I fugured I can go to the Italian show at 10:00 sharp, then leave at about noon and hit the Mustang show. This way I can get to see all the cars. If I only had the Italian car show that day, I probably would have shown my car in it. So many cars, so little time!

 

One time at our local Supercar Sunday, Bruce Meyer had parked his 250GT SWB S/N 2689GT, which is meticulously restored to LM-winning configuration including bug-screen, and one of the local hot-rodders was heard to comment that, "Yeah, you can buy them things at Pep Boys". He went on and on to his friend with other dumb-ass comments, just to show how much he knew. Not. I thought briefly about telling him he was looking a $6m race-winning piece of history, but thought better of it.
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