Lunch with Luca: The Man Who Really Made Ferrari Famous

So Motor Trend believes that Luca is the one that made Ferrari famous?

 

Don't you have a Di Montezemolo 348 in the garage?

 

Seems like a reasonable article. Especially since the Mondial isn't mentioned.

 

As far as I am concerned this was an absolute puff piece to score points with LdM. Journalism at its fawning best with little perspective. LdM's greatest achievement is turning a specialist manufacturer into a cash cow that trades on its history. Under his rule the company employs strong arm tactics.

Did MoTrend convienently forget that LdM was just some aristocrat but installed into the Ferrari world because he is part of the Agnelli family. A serious omission in the story.

Jeff

 

Let's see---Motor Trend. Isn't that the mag that, back in the day, used to select "Car of the Year" based on advertising revenue?

 

Oh snap!

 

No - I have a 1993 348SS, he had a 1990

 

"D"

 

Motor Trend has always been pretty much the bottom of the barrel of American automotive journalism (such as it is).

 

The best L di M bio I've seen was in the Wall Street Journal magazine a month or so ago. He's pretty accomplished in busines outside of Ferrari, although there's no doubt he got a bit of a head start! Seems like his biggest failure was the soccer team he ran for Agnelli (can't remeber which team).

 

Of course it's a puff piece. Way too short to be of any real substance. Just designed as fluffy background for those who know nothing about the company but have passing interest.

 

I believe it was Juventus.

 

+1. I don't identify with the Ferrari of today. I'm an enzo guy all the way. I was only 11 when he did but it was a big deal for me then.

 

No they did not mention WHAT family he is part of in the article, I subscribe to MT/R&T/C&D.

 

In times past when Mo Trend was owned by Petersen one of the nicknames was "land of the living dead". Almost all the staff wanted desperately to leave for Road & Track (a place with reasonable ethics) or to the car manufacturers in the PR group.

Ed Niles: You are absolutely correct on the Car of the Year being an advertising issue. One year a Pontiac actually won but Chevrolet offered a bigger ad budget. When the Citroen SM won there are stories that Bob Petersen was livid with the judges and staff because Citroen had no advertising money.

I was leed to believe that post Petersen and with the start of this Magnus guy the place was less of being a journalism whore show. Who knows, maybe Magnus is getting a healthy discount on a car for being a whore this time.

Jeff

 

I agree with the content of the article in many ways, but object to the title. Sadly for us true Ferraristi, the two cars that "made Ferrari" into a household name were not the legendary GTO or the 275 GTB... the cars that made Ferrari truly famous were the 308 and the Testarossa. These were the cars that saved Ferrari. So, if we want to give credit to the "man" who made Ferrari famous, you have a few choices

(1) Sergio Pininfarina

(2) Don Johnson

(3) Tom Selleck.



If you want to go one more, we can include Ferruccio Lamborghini, because without his Lamborghini Miura, neither car would likely have happened and, more importantly, without his Lamborghini Countach, Ferrari never would have made a car as over the top as the Testarossa.

In addition to his fine work in modernizing Ferrari, I think we all owe a debt of gratitude to such a fine altruistic gentleman. Luca has gone above and beyond to insure for future generations that no child is ever deprived of a Ferrari surfboard, laptop computer, or an amusement park to call their own.

 

right on!

 

right on!

 

I'll agree with this

 

+1. Especially the last sentence. It's as much about branding as it is the cars today. But I guess everything is that way.

 

+1

 

Right. And that's why the 60s Ferraris are so cheap, the brand had no value until lhe got there. LOL

Art