So Who Has Been Here the Longest - Without Ever Owning a Ferrari?

OP here, I'm now at in excess of 18 years at F-Chat without ever owning a Ferrari, with no end in sight. With retirement looming in a few years, maybe then, maybe never.

 

What brought you here, and what has kept you here for these 18 years, just curious, thx

Big G

 

I was on here close to 17 years before I bought my first Ferrari.

 

Good question, I always thought I would own a Ferrari, but being someone of lesser means buying opportunities are few and far between. Basically, I have had 3 shots at the gold ring and just chose something else that I liked better:

2005: Choice between a poor condition Porsche 993TT ($65k), a high mile 355 ($90k) and a perfect low mile Porsche 996TT ($69k). Made a questionable choice picking a 996TT but it was a great car for 8 years and over 50k miles and nothing broke. Put some money into mods so it was pretty damn fast for the era. So it worked out.

2014: After 9 years of feverish saving, had better choices this time, a 20k mile Scuderia ($184k), a 512BBi Boxer ($150k-ish), a 1999 Lamborghini Diablo Roadster ($120k). The Diablo did everything better than the BBi IMO (although I still admire the Boxer, great car) and while it did feel more vintage than the new Ferraris of the period, it didn't feel old. And it looked spactacular, pearl yellow metallic paint, nice curves, still decent HP (530). The Scuderia got shortchanged somewhat in my analysis because of the large price difference with other choices.....but if you have the means, go drive one.

As a side benefit, the Diablo prices have skyrocketed in the last decade so I can put money back in the car and still be profitable when I can't slide under the door to get in anymore.

2020: Yep, 6 more years of feverish saving.......this time after driving several different things, the choices came down to a Scuderia (still in that $170k-$200k bracket, but there were bargains like Ed Bolian's $145k car and the yellow car Scott owns here on FChat which I considered, a 458 (which I hated on a test drive), a Lamborghini EVO, fun to drive but pricey, and a $250-$270k Ford GT.

I was leaning Scuderia, maybe even a higher mile 16M that Edward had that he wanted $215k for......but then a local Ford GT came up that I had to check out. Not pristine, had 28k miles, more of a driver grade car with good bones....it needed stuff, but then again it had great mods that offset that. You won't ever see a car like that on BAT. But the owner wanted to sell as he just bought a Porsche TTS and needed the garage space. For $182k, I just had to have it....these cars are just wonderful to drive. And like the Diablo, every $1 spent to improve it results in a little more profit.

I like the people here on F-Chat and the site is moderated well. And the folks who get out and drive things, respect my choices. Every now and then you get a whacko who thinks every non F-car is trash but they are few and far between these days.

I invite all long term non-Ferrari owners to share their story, maybe we can start a non-owner support group.

 

there's a whole 'Section' for that: https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/#other-cars.177

.

 

Well, it seems you do have the means, and you have had some great cars !! Its never to late though,

Thx

G

 

I didn't think about it until opening this thread but this is my 4th since joining Fchat -- and my 7th Ferrari (if you consider a 246 Dino GT a "Ferrari").

There must be something wrong with me. Of the 7, 3 were new. All were a joy. So to those still looking, don't give up your dreams. It is possible to meet your hero.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Almost 17 years without a Ferrari.

 

I can’t believe the fortitude of some of the guys here…

I’m really a bike/chopper guy, but had owned a nice Lotus Evora 400 and sold it (at a profit) then didn’t really have an exotic on my mind for a couple years, until… the switch flips and I’ve got to have another exotic!

Hung out here for just a few months knowing that I’m going to get one, just “doing my homework” - and then jumped in with no regrets (so far).

Honestly, I knew the die was cast as soon as I created my login here - as I always say, “I can resist everything except temptation - it’s that temptation stuff that gets me every time!”

Kevin

 

I started lurking in many years ago, never registered. Went through a string of new Porsches, even a new Aston.

2021, started seriously looking. Criteria was 458 from Ferrari dealer. It took one year for the right car to come along. Now I’m in a Roma, with a 296 coming.

 

I have been here almost 19 years and still haven’t bought one. At least you were smart enough to buy other great cars that have gone way up in value. I chose to prioritize real estate and business investments over the years which have done well but I do regret not buying one of several F430 manuals that were around $150k a few years back when I had the chance. Now they are near twice that. Living in CA where a small house costs nearly $2m doesn’t help either. Learned a ton and met some great people here over the years and the cars are almost an afterthought, but I’ll buy one eventually.

 

Still don't own mine. Hope to, someday.

 

I've been here a couple of years. I bought a GT4 last year over a California or older Ferrari's. I think that was the correct move, to be honest, and I am really loving the GT4.

Although I have my own personal plans to add a Ferrari to my garage somewhat soon, (alongside the GT4 perhaps), we will see what happens. Not everything in the world is up to Ivan Drago. To be honest, I never really thought I would be able to have a 6 figure car of my own.

@merstheman One day cara, one day. Never give up believing. Não se preocupa

 

I signed up in 2004 as a 16 year old. Made the dream a reality 18 years after that with my F12.

 

Nice! An F12 at 34 isn’t too shabby

 

Sick mathematic brag post [emoji23]


Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat

 

ive had one for about half my life and am grateful

 

the movie Rainman was based on my life

 

I am curious what has held you back? If you are close to retirement then you are in the 4th quarter of your life span. I am sure you can afford to buy it and ride it a year or two and sell out of it but you absolutely deserve the experience.

 

Yeah, Sharky - what's holding you back, buddy?

We're only going around once - and the vehicle as a whole isn't "sunk money" if you sell in a few years - nobody gets to take their money with them on the way out in a few years so live a little while you can!

Someday you'll be sitting in a chair unable to drive and you NEED to be able to talk about "when you had a Ferrari".

That's what us old men do - "tell the tales" - so you gotta be building up your tales to tell and not disappoint the young'uns that'll be around to hear them over and and over!

Kevin

 

Well the 3 times I had enough funds to make a purchase, for the budget I had, I made the right purchase for me....obviously if a 812 GTS, Pista, F40, Enzo, 250GTO, Carrera GT, etc were in my budget the decisions would have been different.

Why not buy something now? I'm pretty conservative moneywise. I'm not the type to have a $3,000/mth car payment, even if I could afford it. Could sell one of them, but the gap between what I would get and the cars that speak to me would still be very wide. And the two cars I have are incredible, so as long as I can drive them comfortably the incentive to sell is small.

I get excited seeing you guys buy amazing stuff, so another reason to stick around.

 

All good, Sharky - (mostly) just giving you a hard time...

Most of my money I've spent on women and alcohol - the rest of my money I've WASTED!

Kevin

 

I’ve been on the Fchat forum since 2011. I bought my 1st Ferrari last year (2022). I previously owned a number of Maseratis.

 

Man, I think it’s awesome to see so many people on here hoping, saving to buy the car but maybe haven’t been able to yet

I’ll take you guys over the clowns that buy these cars to drive 4 blocks and park and know nothing about how to drive. Which is about 88 percent of the owners in south Florida and 80 percent of the members of the car clubs …


Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat

 

No problem, legit question. My last thoughts in this life will be of my family, and what I’ve accomplished, not about never owning a Ferrari….or McLaren, Pagani, Bugatti, Koenigsegg, Czinger, Gordon Murray, Zenvo, Hennessey, Hispano Suiza, Deus, SSC, Delage, W Motors, SP Automotive.

Geez, maybe I should rethink this and start buying things