Has Ferrari Lost It's Luster?

Whilst there are mugs out there to purchase the top end Ferrari's the rest of us will continue also.
How they keep the top end buyers is by allowing them to profit.
One day there will be less buyers and more sellers.
Somebody will get caught.
As always happens.

 

One day? Pretty sure the guys that spent $750- $1M on the SF90 out the gate are those buyers. Still doesn’t mean the brand has lost its luster. People wouldn’t be this upset about disliking new model design if it lost its luster. They simply wouldn’t be paying attention at all.

 

You might be onto something. I’ve been into Ferraris for around 37 years, since I was 14 or so. Used to know every model, sub-model, etc.

I’ve just about stopped paying attention, for about the past 10 years. Didn’t even know there was an F80 or 849 til I chanced upon posts here about them, but yeah I wasn’t a fan once I saw pics.

Is that because of the cars, or is it me? A bit of both is a fair answer, IMO.

 

Just one reference point, my kids are both in college and having talked to a lot of their peers Ferrari doesn’t have the weight it used to. In fact, I hear them talk way more about Porsche and Lamborghini than Ferrari.

 

Probably to their eyes Ferrari is somewhat similar to Maserati or Alfaromeo: a glorious F1 brand that didn't win anything during their present lives. Porsche and Lamborghini instead focussed more on the cars themselves and didn't waste their image with a 849...

 

I think maybe it’s a bit of both. I know a lot of people who simply grew out of the car game. Having nothing to do with car design or the way they drive etc. they simply lost interest. I’ve been into watches since I was a kid and collected watches since I made my first real money. Every time I made a significant deal or sold my companyI’d buy myself a watch. Since I got into cars a few years ago I could care less about watches. Life cycles….

And I don’t think asking college kids what they like is the best barometer. Lambo in my opinion is a young persons car. Too Flashy. Too over the top. Too big a statement but when you’re young it’s perfect. I know a lot of people my age(45) feels this way. I think a lot of people grow into Ferrari as they mature. More of a gentleman’s exotic. This is my take. Never been a lambo fan and I know people love them. Not hating just not for me and I think it’s draws a younger crowd.

 

This describes me as well. I grew up with the 308 being the only Ferrari sold here in the US. The 512BBi was fearsomely exotic, and the 400/412 was virtually unheard of. Ferrari was seriously rare — I saw a red 308 QV in 1985, and that was the extent of my Ferrari experience. Car magazines would cover any updates to the 308, but there was effectively only one Ferrari.

Like you I’ve lost track of all the new models. But then new cars more broadly are losing my interest. Too complex with too much unusable performance. I miss my 328, and love my ‘93 911 — either car can be wrung out and has all the right sounds, smells, and sensations. Best of all, when they wear out you can rebuild them without a mortgage.

 

It’s interesting to note though if you track the “hot” cars in the market and at auctions you’ll notice a trend. Once buyers hit their mid 40’s they begin to get the cars they dreamed about as kids. Then as they age they get replaced by the next group and the market shifts again.

This brings up a crucial question, if today’s kids aren’t dreaming of Ferraris what will they buy when they get to that point in life? If Ferrari isn’t planting the seeds today they are going to have a problem down the road IMO.

 

All that is true, and on top of that, even if these modern cars are the cars the kids of today end up owning when they’re in their ‘earning years’, they’ll likely have a harder time keeping them on the road as hobbyists (unless the ‘support market’ for these cars steps up and develops, which depending on the demand later on, remains to be seen).

Agreed. I’m sans Ferrari at the moment, still have the ‘88 Carrera besides my dailies, but if I add another one at some point it’ll likely be a 328, for the exact reasons you mention. I’ve been watching the driving videos of BaT 328s lately…not a good time for me to be adding a fun car, though.

 

Ferrari is still a prestige marque, but that market is getting crowded. The Schumacher era captivated me, but that is now history, so the F1 luster has faded. That was the reason for Ferrari's existence: As capable as the Purosangue and Amalfi may be, they have obvious direct competitors, and when it comes to track weapons the Porsche 911 GT3 RS commands a premium and delivers the goods -- with no hybrid drivetrain. And they're also status symbols with eye-watering MSRPs, although you can't get one at MSRP and must be on a special buyer list. Sound familiar?

A young enthusiast has many aspirational options now. Again, when I was a teen devouring car magazines, there was only Ferrari (legendary racing marque, 512 BBi in a Sammy Hagar video), the Countach (for rock stars and drug dealers), and the 911 Turbo i(Hollywood and McQueen credentials) in black. Then there was Magnum PI and Miami Vice, and I was obsessed: What else looked like a white Testarossa? (Nothing.)

Different automotive world now. The prestige restomod mania (Singer being the most visible) suggests updated classic cars are stealing at least some of the spotlight.

 

I agree. I grew up in the same relative time frame. Back then it was just Ferrari, Porsche and Lamborghini. With the addition of Pagani now it is basically the same manufacturers fighting over the same piece of pie, only difference being each manufacturer makes many more models.

IMO from what I have heard and seen Ferrari has garnered a negative reputation with the younger set. I see/hear a lot of comments where young people believe (wrongly) that Ferrari will sue you if you mod their cars, even if it's only different wheels. This false urban legend is now widely believed and has created an underlying resentment towards Ferrari. Pushback towards this perceived snobbery is what led to the rise of popularity of Porsche amongst the Instagram generation IMO.

Ferrari needs to do some serious image repair with the younger market before their current clientele ages out.

 

I just want to mention the 'its just not special any longer' feeling isnt just for exotics. Its for everything these days. Nothing feels special any longer from music to movies to cars, etc... and thats because of the internet and how flooded with product every category is.

 

The internet certainly drained the mystique from anything formerly considered "exotic". That 308 QV sighting in June 1985 was a life event for me. Even with Road & Track and VHS recordings of Magnum PI I was unprepared.

 

I don’t think that the problem is just with the internet and the excessive quantity. I believe that today more than in the past there’s a loss of heart, a loss of feelings and passion.
Everything is just about money and greed, excesses, luxury.
Most music and films and cars of the past were an undoubtable expression of passion.
Together with the human relationships - here in Italy a tad less pronounced, bit our insipid lives have all moved online, in the cold. Even this forum if you think: we talk together from thousands of miles away.
It’s fun, but it’s nothing compared to talking of cars in a garage.

Now the passion is lost, but with the exception of Horacio and Ing. Dallara. They’d make more easy and accessible and usable cars, sold at 200.000 € they’d replace everything.

By the way, I am seriously tempted by an Elise.

Bye,

Nic

 

Most cars seen in movies are CGIs in the action scenes with rare exceptions. For television cars are rarely a centerpoint(Dalgliesh in his classic Jag is a rare exception). Kids are into phones,streaming, instagram etc and cars are no longer of interest unless it’s a self driving EV with a mammoth screen. So exotic car manufacturers raise prices, create scarcity to create the illusion of lust for their cars and maximize profits per car. Many Ferraristi have gotten burned out by the incessant games the dealers and corporate Ferrari has played. It’s happening more now than ever and Ferrari has lost a step

 

Guntherwerks is on a big media push too. Makes me think they're spending money on influencer promotion.

Tuthill is also a cool one with their high revving engine, not sure if they're selling in the US though.

 

Overexposure and such a quick attention cycle these days. You had to look for car content then. Motorweek on Saturday mornings, C&D or R&T once a month. Maybe you saw a Ferrari once every 3-4 years where I lived. I think by 16 I had seen 5 Ferraris.

Now a car launches online 6-12 months before you see a demo car, and 2 years before deliveries, and there is constant IG content, YouTube reviews, etc. for so much time before cars land. And by the time they are being delivered, the videos and posts are already about the NEXT models. A 4-5 year product run now *seems* like a long time.

 

There is some truth in this, but when I see an SP3, LaF, Tdf or soon to be SF80 drive past me - I still get giddy. Maybe it’s because I live near Laguna/Sonoma and it happens relatively often.

I get it’s not that exciting when I see them on an instagram post.

 

Nothing compares to seeing them in person. Only thing better IMO is seeing them driven on the track.