Why do people spit on my car?

I'm not so sure about that. I've had the same experience numerous times with Ferraris (spit on the hood, empty cups tossed into car) in very nice neighborhoods, restaurants, city blocks with restaurants, etc...I came out of a restaurant once where I was parked in between many other cars in a lot, not double parked, nothing wrong and I found my driver side mirror ripped off and gone. Completely gone. Get used to it.

 

Only until the Turbo kicks in!

 

I always get nervous when I drive my Ferraris through the poorest parts of London, which I do en route to various destinations unless I want to take a detour. But never had anything except thumbs ups, pictures, and requests to rev the engine. So far.

I have been spat on and shouted at twice, both times in the same area, a middle class, staunchly left wing inner city area where people buy lattes and designer bicycles.

But the only damage the cars have suffered at the hands of people? I put one ex car up for sale at a dealership. No sale, went to collect after six months to find scratch on the front wing and muck and dirt all over the interior. They had taken it to a classic car show and put it on display. Without asking me. They fixed it, but bloody hell.

 

There are several factors.at work:

#1 is Detroit. You know that place is an absolute s*** hole. You already know that crime, drugs, etc. is the culture. Hell, it wasn't that long ago you could buy a 'house' for <$500. The current political climate makes everyone a victim and oppressed and the sight of a Ferrari (that in their mind is unobtainable) makes you the oppressor..... which is BS.

#2: Ferraris seem to polarize in the best of times. In 30+ years of owning them, I could either get a thumbs up or a middle finger. On another note, when I bought a McLaren, they seem to put a smile on everyone's face 100% of the time. Which leads me to #3...

#3: May have something to do with a lot of owners. Many are self important weasels that are more concerned with getting the best valet spot and how their hair looks than trail braking and picking off a perfect apex on their favorite road (or God forbid) track. They may also look down on people.... usually hiding their own self image issues.

Don't take it personally. It's not you. All you can do is be the best you can be, share the exotic car experience when you can and stay the hell out of Detroit!

 

This may not be relevant, but when i was quite young and going to college,,( a free NYC college) i worked all summer loading freight and saved enough money to buy an MG.
I was driving somehow thru W Virginia when, for the first time in my life, i saw a coal miner with his face black from the coal mine.. i felt very privileged and very sorry for the poor guy.

On the other hand, i am very reluctant to leave my car anywhere unattended, just too many crazy people everywhere these days

 

I will always respect a man that works hard but it goes both ways and i work damn hard myself as I’m sure you do or have. If you made a better life for yourself than that man it’s not due to privilege, it’s something you should take pride in not feel guilty about.

 

@Viperjoe
Please keep P&R in P&R.

Kind regards

 

Sitting on cars is crossing the line. Trying to open it? That's crazy.

 

argh, sorry - this is crazy -

 

I agree with most of your post, but this is just a myth. The rapid ascent from poverty to wealth happens in all sorts of countries, and ironically it's probably now more common in countries like China and Russia than it is in the US.

 

China, maybe if you sell your soul to the communist party. Russia only if you’re an oligarch’s child and in Putin’s good graces.


Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat.com mobile app

 

yES, I Know what you are saying, but i and most of my generation were very lucky, not that good things fell into my lap, but lucky timing and being in the right place.
That coal miner probably died of black lung disease years ago,,, he has the bad luck to be born in W Virginia,, Oh and by the way,, i don;t feel guilty at all

when i got my 308, i took it to a small rural town to get an inspection, I told the garage owner i was a bit embarrassed driving the car around in a place where most
people didn;t have 2 nickels to rub together,,, He answered " They should get off their asses, and work harder" I felt better after that

 

When something like that happens to you, just think that the guy who did it did it out of jelousy and would love to be in your shoes......obviously it's upseting , but i would gladly endure it if that meant i could afford a Ferrari

 

I know you’re trying to be humble and I try to do the same but it isn’t your generation that got lucky, you made it happen you took advantage of what was in front of you. I’m 37 I suppose that makes me a millennial not that I care about that garbage but it drives me nuts when people my age complain about “boomers” and how lucky they were. I didn’t get lucky with anything, in fact pretty much everything I tried to do failed but I kept going, I never stopped and I made a life for myself because I never stopped. The recession was an opportunity for people who didn’t waste the previous 5 years of their life doing nothing to come out ahead and Covid has been the same thing, there will be another one in 10-15 years. Just like then all the people that worked hard and have some kind of assets to show for it will reap the rewards of it. The losers who did the bare minimum just enough to pay their bills will be the ones complaining again about the generation before them.

 

what's P&R

 

I am Humble, but i am also a Snob , if that makes sense. I can emphasize with the less fortunate and i don't envy the super rich, I would say most of my current friends are self made success's. Try to figure that one out

I basically agree with you,, I know a lot of people who are much more success than i , and they all took risks, as did I, and all showed up to work and never gave up.

So anyway, i don't leave my car unattended and i have my 575 and i burn a lot of gas,, and when i croak, i can say i did just about everything i wanted to do,, no real regrets.. ie. woulda , coulda , shoulda

 

I would really like to know why people spit a all, even when it is not directed at a Ferrari. This is something I have been thinking about a lot recently. I will see people outside in rough parts of town just spitting on the ground every few minutes. Sometimes they are talking in groups and spitting a foot or two away from each other. I think I would lose my mind if anyone spit in my presence. I also wonder: if spitting is such a tick that they cannot control, how do they shut it off when in a restaurant or inside someone's home and then just magically start spitting again when they walk outside?

I brought up this very same topic with my buddy Wade and he just looked at me and said, "You sure are actin funny since you got that Ferrari", then he spit on the ground...

 

You know exactly why people spit on your car..and it is partly why you bought it in the first place. You love that you have an object most people don't. You love the attention..positive or negative. You love being "in that world". If you didn't you wouldn't post about it. Be real.

 

I like driving it, I bought it for myself not anyone else.

 

maybe they think Ferrari's melt

Ones life must be pretty rough to take time out of their day to spit on a car

 

Three Ferraris - Red 456M, silver 308 GTS, yellow 360 Modena - and 35K total miles driven in them, and this has never happened to me.

Definitely Detroit and the low class people you encounter there. I did a FEMA gig there and felt like I was in a third world country.

 

That's a really extreme consideration though isn't it? I don't think I can come close to speaking for others, and am not sure if you or anyone could (though would be very interested to know from all the others here), but I have absolutely no consideration of loving that I have something that another doesn't have when I think of the exotic cars that I own, or anything for that matter. Yes, it is a more rare item than other consumables, but it gives no pleasure to have what would effectively be considered an adult version of "keep away" when considering that I have something another doesn't. I'm sure there are some that buy a car to flaunt wealth, but that is not me and I suspect for true enthusiasts who are probably on these types of forums, the objective is not wealth flaunting but pure driving enjoyment and technical satisfaction. I suspect those trying to show off are largely not that involved here, but that could be wrong and if you people are here, please identify yourselves and why you do it for our benefit. I am grateful to have what I do but there is no thought about that the next person doesn't have it. This sounds like you actually feel that way, is that how you do about your car(s)? I'd be interested to understand your point of view if so as I don't think one could project that to all here.

 

I consider my lowly 308 automotive art. Worked very hard and bought it to impress myself, no one else. You spit on my car, and I catch you, it will only happen once.. I promise.

 

Politics and Religion

Kind regards.

 

OK, thanks,, not so much or either , i thought
it was part of owning and driving a nice car , part of the experience, the good and the bad