Ferrari Today - There's Something Missing

MONTEZEMOLO is/was responsible of Ferrari's dilution and fall .

 

100% Correct! And so many speculators / profiteers in Fchat do not help matters.

 

Sixcarbs is spot on with his comments about both Ferrari and Porsche. With Porsche they are now also becoming an appliance company with their EV cars. The only good thing is that they still make some sports cars. However, I talked to a friend who just got his new 992 4S and ask him how he likes it and his comment was “it’s like driving a computer”. I think it will be a while before Ferrari is in that situation if only because of their limited total production capacity.

When a company goes public the soul does come out of it as the bean counters take it over and run it purely for the shareholders profits/dividends.

 

Agree completely. But it does mean there are very well equipped bargain Lusso's to be had nearly new. A LOT of car for the money, used.

 

A 2000 pound car only needs about 250 HP to be a complete rocketship,
........................and only needs 5 speed gearbox
........................and only 16" wheels
........................and only 245 width tires
........................and only needs to be 63" wide
........................and only 42" tall
........................and less than 180" long
........................and no power nothing.

Unlike Miata, it still needs the engine behind the driver.

I wish my F355 did NOT have power steering, it is far too light at speed.

 

Copy that. I just wish at 6'2" I fit into a F355.

 

Don't worry, Ferrari will thrive well into the future. Maybe not as some (possibly even me, but not likely) may like it, but many others will embrace it.

 

Exotic car evolution that makes me sad:

gated. Na
F1 na
dsc na
Dsc turbo
Dsc turbo + elec
All elec
Autonomous
Computer controlled driverless exotics

each iteration requires less investment to drive

 

What’s missing for me is that Ferrari no longer feels special. There are too many of them and many more people can have one. To be clear, I don’t begrudge anyone being able to afford a Ferrari but for something to be special, it must remain a near impossible dream for most. Just look at for sale numbers by number of cars for each manufacturer, Ferrari is way up there.


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No. M was responsible for their resurrection. Uncle Sweater and Elkan are responsibly for the, in your words ‘dilution and fall’. M wanted to keep volumes lower and exclusivity up.

 

100 percent

 

I don’t think any non-hypercar nowadays is that special period.

It’ll be interesting to see how the secondary market determines which car prices stick and which don’t. JMHO we’ve surpassed the saturation point and at a time when younger generations / the audience for these types of cars is actually shrinking; much of the “old money” is what’s keeping this boat afloat...Ferrari & others probably need to milk it as much as possible and as fast as possible.

 

My respect for M has nothing to do with anything other than what his accomplishments were. I don’t worship men. Maybe you do. He brought Ferrari back to life both the racing team and the road cars. Ultimately he found Ferrari’s sweet spot in the global market and set their business up to be an amazingly self sufficient ultra profitable company. When Elkan decided to pimp Ferrari out to prop up Fiat by offering in IPO that’s where M didn’t agree. Elkan then got rid of M and had Uncle Sweater do what he does best. At first I really didn’t like uncle sweater and as time went on I really developed more and more respect for him. I’ve been calling him Uncle Sweater for a long time and just because he has passed I don’t see a reason to change this nickname. I think Uncle Sweater did some very good things and I wonder who can fill either of their shoes. I will say that Uncle Sweater could not have accomplished what M did. M was the perfect man for the job and I would say perhaps the only man for that job and what he accomplished. Certainly not perfect. What Uncle Sweater did was take what M had already accomplished and dail it up to 12 when maybe it should have been left at an 8.

 

You spelt Marchionne wrong !

 

Fact: Monte wanted to cap total car production at 7,500. Sweater guy and Elkan blew the lid and 10,000+ cars would have been produced annually as of this post.

 

I respectfully disagree. Happy new year.

 

One stated the decline, the other one made sure of it.

 

I left out the final evolution- POV headset 100% cgi racing —-

 

Ferrari is fortunate Luca was there to pick up the pieces when the old man died. By 1989, Ferrari was in trouble. The F348 was a disaster. Luca cleaned house. The F465 was the first modern Ferrari, followed by the F355. But, the car that made Ferrari what it is today was the F360. You really had to have been there, but it put Ferrari over the top financially. Back in the '80s and '90s, there were no waiting lists at Ferrari dealerships for cars. That all changed in 2000. Without Luca, there would never have been the possibility of an IPO.

 

I was a broke doctoral candidate when the 456 came out, and I fell in love with it immediately through just the test drive stories and photos in all the car mags I got back then. The first 456 that was actually sitting on a dealership floor that was close enough to UNT in Denton was in Plano, so me and some car guy buds made a trip to see it. There was also a yellow 355 there, and they were both a breath of fresh air. I loved the Berlinetta Boxers, so the Testa Rossa was a huge disappointment for me. Not nearly as pretty (But it has grown on me over the years). And the 456 was so much more beautiful than 400/412, which I didn't develop a taste for until just the last ten years, that I sensed something was going in the right direction for Ferrari after several years.

And yes, the 348 was a snoozer. I've always liked the 308/328 much better. Remember, the Daytona and the 365GTC/4 were the first Ferraris I fell in love with before I was old enough to drive, so the 456 was a retro-modern mashup of those to my eyes. Never thought I'd own a Ferrari, but about 18 years later I got a 456M for my first Ferrari, and a 308 for the second. Now I have a 360 instead of the 456M, and it still looks and feels like a supercar to me. Prettiest mid V8, IMO, and it was a real, actual phenomenon. Buyers were flipping them like crazy.

I'm not sure how I feel right now. Ferrari is a financial powerhouse, which is nice after some of those years when it was iffy that they would survive, but the 458 is the last mid V8 that I care about, and the F12 is the most recent front V12 that does it for me (Do not like the 812S, sorry). But the Roma looks gorgeous, and it's the first front V8 that has ever done anything for me.

So now it's between a 612 and a Roma for a 2+2.

I've decided to keep the 308 because the market is so soft it makes no sense to try and sell it. I plan to tow it to my new place in CO and leave it there, right in the middle of some of the most fantastic roads on the planet. It will be the perfect seasonal sports car.

I hope that the "Little Brother" V6 hybrid is a smoother design, like the Roma, so at least I'll like the looks, but I have to say, I fear that the SF90 and "Little Brother" will be disasters long term. Who will want to buy and maintain twenty year old hybrids? Not me, that's for sure.

I still wish Ferrari would revive the Dino for an NA rear mid V6 car. Don't expect a manual, a DCT would be fine. I'd buy that!

Maybe I shouldn't post after an energy drink!

 

My point is Ferrari would probably not be here today if it wasn't for Luca.

 

Yes a stop gap but unnecessary. They could have continued to make the non limited Pista (as they still are today) with both the coup and spider and not a sole would care. And would have made much more profit. Instead produced a $100K cheaper clone with different body panels and tune and guarantee a significant percentage to first time walk-in buyers. Crazy. Maybe the V6 was never really delayed.