Has Ferrari Lost It's Luster?

I think there is less 'greed is good' today than at any time in my 57 years

 

Were hospitals and universities more or less profit-oriented 50 years ago?
Was every single job that was not replaced by AI or outsourced to Asia seen as a lost opportunity to increase profits 50 years ago?
Was every single sports car brand building SUVs 50 years ago, because that's the way to maximize profits?

I'm not saying that people were less greedy in the "good old days", but in the last couple of decades our society has certainly changed in a way that strongly benefits the excessively greedy. For the automotive industry in the West this has not worked out particularly well.

 

you’re actually right about this.

You’re on a Ferrari chat thread. You are the excessively greedy. And to answer your question, yes universities and hospitals were maximizing profits 50 years ago. Colleges shifted in the 70’s and 80’s and hospitals in the 90’s. Tuition’s skyrocketed in the 90’s and they started taking a ton of foreign money. Nothing new

For profit hospitals started in the 80’s

 

1) Quite a statement, considering that you know almost nothing about me.
2) the 90's were 30 years ago, not 50 years ago. So if hospitals shifted in the 90's the must have been different 50 years ago, which kind of contradicts the rest of your comment.

Perhaps you might want to write your postings more carefully in the future.

 

Ok, let me apologize — clearly I overestimated the ability of people to either infer the point or take a joke. I didn’t realize that 35–50 years was considered too narrow a window to illustrate how long hospitals and universities have been driven by profit. I figured a few decades was enough to show just how deeply ingrained American greed is — but hey, maybe we should roll it all the way back to the 1800s just to make sure no one misses it. That said, I have a feeling there was a lot of American greed in the 70’s as well.

And as for my other point which was clearly not a dig, come on, you’re on a Ferrari forum. By default, we’re all guilty of either owning or lusting after one of the most excessive, elitist luxury items ever created by man.

 

Of course there are still super greedy people, but I see less of them. Far less actually. My memory of the 80s and 90s is pretty much everyone seemed to be greedy (including myself) but these days i just see less of it.

 

Ah, the classic "I was making a joke but you were too stupid to understand" - how very creative.
Wealthy and greedy are not the same thing.

Learn to make a proper argument.

 

I’d also agree that there seems to be less greedy people now than say in the 1980’s.

What I do see a lot more of are shallow, superficial narcissists. Especially in the car community here.

 

Please educate me because your “50 year argument” is just brilliant

 

Not brilliant, but easily good enough to leave you without any valid counterpoints ... so far. Ciao.

 

I look at it this way, over time things evolve and Ferrari have evolved too from what it was to what it is today, is it worse, in my opinion not because had to stayed any any particular point in time and not evolved the company would not be around today.

Its easy to look at the past with a degree of romance, the beautiful shapes of the 60's cars, the one off cars, the unique styling elements and indeed those cars and era will always be special but of far more importance is how this history is carried forward and how that knowledge is shared with the Ferrari enthusiasts today.

Do the current models appeal to me as much, not all of them but their commercial success cannot be ignored so clearly there are people who they do appeal to so from that point of view company is stronger than ever before.

My view, Ferrari owners and non owner enthusiasts have a responsibility to protect the history and the best way of doing that is to share the passion for the brand. I've sat down with owners who know very little Ferrari history and inevitably once they learn some they often want to know more and have a higher appreciation for their cars.