Found in another section-6 rules of F-car ownership | FerrariChat

Found in another section-6 rules of F-car ownership

Discussion in '348/355' started by plugzit, Jan 25, 2013.

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  1. plugzit

    plugzit F1 Veteran
    Silver Subscribed

    Dec 1, 2004
    7,792
    Redondo Beach, CA
    Full Name:
    Bruce Bogart
    As the owner of an Italian vehicle, you have undoubtedly found that,
    from time to time, the thing defies all known laws of Physics.
    Distinguished researchers from all over the world have spent entire
    lives trying to understand such phenomena. Recently, the Six Laws of
    Italian Sports Cars were discovered, thus reducing most owners'
    dependency on sorcerers and prayer, to keep such cars running.

    Careless application of these laws to any individual auto may fix the
    problems of the moment, but cause hives or allergies in said owners.


    1) THE LAW OF PLEASING DESIGN WHERE IT REALLY DOESN'T MATTER
    "The inside of cam covers or other relatively innocuous areas, shall
    be laced with buttresses, cross-bracing and all manner of esoteric
    stiffness-with-lightness design, while something like connecting rods
    shall self-destruct at redline plus 1.0 rpm due to a basic lack of
    strength." An example of this Law is the stunningly beautiful
    Lamborghini or Ferrari V-12's of the late '60's. They were famous for
    wearing out all four camshafts in 10,000 miles or less. The cam's
    metal appeared to be recycled coat hangers, which coincidentally are
    still in short supply in Italy.


    2) THE LAW OF NON-FUNCTIONAL APPARATUS
    "All Italian Sports Cars, regardless of age, shall have at least one
    system or component which does not work, and cannot be repaired. Such
    a part shall never be mentioned in the Official Shop Manual, although
    there may be an out-of-focus picture shown." It goes without saying
    that such parts should never under any circumstances be removed, lest
    the natural balance of the car be upset.


    3)THE LAW OF ELECTRICAL CHAOS
    "All Italian Sports Cars shall be wired at the Factory by a
    cross-eyed, color-blind worker, using whatever supplies are within
    reach. All wires shall change color-code at least once between energy
    source and component. all grounds shall be partially insulated." This
    tends to guarantee that the owner of such vehicles will eventually be
    intimately familiar with its electrical system, since he will need to
    trace out each wire, then rewrite his Official Schematic, which will
    differ from all others in at least one area.


    4)THE LAW OF PERSONAL ABUSE
    "The more an Italian auto breaks down, the more endearing it becomes
    to its increasingly irrational owner." For example, you purchase an
    Italian Sports car, for all the money you ever hoped to earn, and
    receive a ticket for air pollution on the way home from the dealer due
    to the vast clouds of smoke that follow you. Several return trips to
    said dealer, accompanied by your rapidly dwindling cash reserves,
    cures the smoking. But now, the engine sounds like a food processor
    full of ball-bearings. After replacing every component in the car,
    including the radio speakers, the noise vanishes and is replaced by an
    odor reminiscent of a major fire in a goat-hair mattress factory. You
    still keep trying, God help you.


    5)THE LAW OF UNAVAILABLE PARTS
    "All parts of an Italian sports car shall be made of a material that
    is available in inverse proportion to its operating half-life." Thus,
    the speedometer hold-down screws are made of grade 8 cold rolled
    steel, while the valves are of fabricated Unobtanium, made only at
    midnight by an old man with a pointy hat covered with moons and stars.
    Such parts will be backordered during the design phase of the car, and
    will remain so forever. Bribes, pleading and threats will be ignored.


    6)THE LAW OF CRYPTIC INSTRUCTIONS
    "Any official publications dealing with repair, maintenance or
    operations of an Italian sports car, shall be written such that every
    fourth word is incomprehensible to the average American. In the event
    that a random sentence is understandable, its information shall be
    wrong." This is also known as flat-tire English, where a sentence
    flows along nicely, then-Kaboom!
     
  2. Nosevi

    Nosevi Formula 3

    Jul 8, 2011
    1,990
    Lincoln
    Full Name:
    Pete
    Brilliant, absolutely brilliant :)
     
  3. apex97

    apex97 Formula Junior
    Owner

    Nov 25, 2006
    593
    Stockbridge, GA
    Full Name:
    Edward Zabinski
    As a long suffering owner of Italian cars...damn your honesty!:)
     
  4. WATSON

    WATSON Two Time F1 World Champ
    Owner Rossa Subscribed

    Sep 9, 2010
    23,914
    WI
    #4 WATSON, Jan 25, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
  5. JoeZaff

    JoeZaff F1 Veteran
    Owner

    Aug 5, 2007
    5,459
    Philly suburbs
    Full Name:
    Joe
    Absolutely Brilliant!
     
  6. SoCal1

    SoCal1 F1 Veteran
    Owner

    Jun 14, 2011
    8,636
    SoCal LA/OC/New Mexico
    Full Name:
    Tim Dee
    Priceless !!!


    :)
     
  7. HH11

    HH11 F1 Rookie
    Rossa Subscribed

    Sep 4, 2010
    3,346
    Made my day! Then I thought about it for a second and realized its all true!!
     
  8. st4rk

    st4rk Formula Junior
    BANNED

    Dec 7, 2011
    447
    Hahaha! This was great.

    I also loved the "replacement wiring harness smoke" picture!!
     
  9. UConn Husky

    UConn Husky F1 Rookie

    Nov 11, 2006
    4,425
    CT
    Full Name:
    Jay
    Classic, and so true!!
     
  10. MarkJ

    MarkJ Formula Junior

    Sep 10, 2006
    729
    NW Arkansas
    Full Name:
    Mark Jones
    This is simply not true! One can still readily find recycled coat hangers in Italy!
     
  11. AceMaster

    AceMaster Three Time F1 World Champ

    Feb 6, 2009
    34,785
    Ontario, Canada
    Full Name:
    Mike
  12. stevew3765

    stevew3765 Formula Junior

    Oct 27, 2012
    716
    Tulsa, Oklahoma USA
    Full Name:
    Steve Wool
    I have a spider so #2 belongs to me....
     
  13. ncjetskier

    ncjetskier Formula 3

    Jul 7, 2012
    1,416
    Eastern NC
    Full Name:
    Chris
    That was great. Would love to drink a beer with the sarcastic person that tells the truth (I would even buy the beer). Made my day!
     
  14. vvassallo

    vvassallo F1 Veteran

    Aug 4, 2006
    8,329
    Palos Verdes
    Full Name:
    Vince V
    As someone who works on their car, 2 and 6 are particularly irritating.

    I give up on making some non-functioning stuff work. The AC works or it doesn't. Whatever. The passenger's side mouse doesn't work and who cares?! As long as it goes like stink and handles like a slot car it's no big deal.

    When I had a 348 spider, it was weird how there was no documentation of the spider specific parts and they were not even mentioned in the Ferrari parts catalog. I remember having the car at the Ferrari of Orange County and the parts guys looking at what was needed on the car and being at a loss to find it in any documentation from the factory. In the end, Gary Bobileff would fabricate it for me.

    That is why they are Ferraris! If they worked too well they'd be called BMW. ;)
     

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