Cancelled my 296 after seeing it, keeping F8

Not to speaker for FerrariCognoscenti, but it seems apparent that he is addressing the aesthetics of the of the 296, SF90 etc, not their driving characteristics. Since he has the gift of vision, his opinion is as valid as anyone else.

 

That’s why I left that one out. Lol.

 

I am wondering if he has actually seen them in person. Hard to pass judgment from photos.

 

These cars must be seen in person.

 

Yeah, please don't remind me. I try not to think about all the missed opportunities. Like that time I thought I might buy $1M in gold coins to put on my desk, just for the hell of it.. when gold was selling for around $250 an ounce.

Or that time I didn't buy 1,000,000 shares of this 10 cent stock that two weeks later shot up to $3+ while I was in Vegas card counting...

Or the time this guy I knew on FaceBook kept telling everyone who would listen to load up on Bitcon and that "it was the future of digital currency" and "going way higher". I almost put $10K into it just for kicks, but didn't; this was back when it was around $100 per coin or so.

Or the time I bought several million dollars of this biotech stock at $3 per share, only to have my mentor in the stock market scare the hell out of me a few days later; I ended up selling it at $3.20 per share, only to watch it rocket to $30+ a few weeks later.

Or that time Yahoo jumped from $17 to $24 a share and I thought it was over priced.... just before the Dot com boom.

Oh, speaking of Apple, that same stock market mentor friend of mine called me one day at my office and he says, "Hey, one of my top NYC hedge fund guys is telling me to load the boat on Apple stock... you know a lot about computers, what do you think?" I told him, "Are you kidding me? Apple is almost bankrupt, nobody in their right mind would buy an Apple computer these days; you should fire that fund manager, he's an idiot". I think Apple was trading at $7 or something. Split adjusted today, that's probably 50 cents. That one cost us both a lot of money; that's around the time we stopped giving each other stock tips & advance and just stuck to Salmon fishing together now and then.

But the worst one I ever heard was a story about a local Ferrari Mechanic. He used to tell a story about how this kid in jeans and a T-shirt drove into his shop to drop his Dad's Ferrari off back in the 80's. The kid told him, "You should really invest $10K into my Dad's new company it's going to be big and change the world". The mechanic told him "yeah yeah..." and to leave the car and scram. Turned out the kid was the son of the founder of Cisco Systems.

One time, just for kicks, I looked up the # of stock splits and calculated what that $10K investment would have been worth based on the current stock price (this was back around 2000). As I remember, it would have either been $90 million or a $180 million depending on if I had the number of splits correct or not.

Anyway, yeah, I just try to focus on the stuff which has worked out over the years and that I still have my health...

But thanks for reminding me that with just a few mildly different decisions, I could have owned a fleet of F40's lol



Ray

 

So I saw the 296 in person at an event last week at our local dealer. I actually think it looks OK... just OK... I wish they brought back Pininfarina.... but that's another story. Where I felt doing a runner was the interior. I sat in it three times just to make sure... it is a horrible interior with every material you touch incredibly cheap feeling. It has the materials of a $70k car. I have to say I was very disappointed. I will be sticking with my 458, which I absolutely love !

 

By the time I finished reading this post I was literally crying. If you don’t mind please drop me a PM on the next stock that you turn down. Thanks

 

LOL will do.

Currently it's TSLA leaps

Ray

 

Ferrari needs to eighty-six whatever batch of progressive millennials they've hired over there and go crawling back to Pininfarina... and this whole new EV stuff is really giving me pause when it comes to ever even considering buying another new Ferrari again.

I'm with you regarding sticking with the 458 or the 812 or something.

Ray

 

I saw the same car as you at the Tampa event. I looked at it over and over, stared at it…walked away and looked at Pista and 488’s and 45i and walked back to stared some more. I listened to peoples conversations about the car and felt the same as a lot of them. There are parts of the 296 I like…parts I’m unsure of. The more I think about it I believe the car looks sporty and not exotic. It looks like a sports car not an exotic car. That’s fine if that is the direction Ferrari is going in and what the Ferrari customer really wants.

The 296 is not ugly, it doesn’t look bad but it does not have the tougher muscular exotic sexy look the 458 still has and the 488, f8 have…especially the Pista. The F8 went slightly more elegant in looks but still have heaps of exotic flair. The 296 still has those huge wheel gaps….ugly. I’m not looking for slammed but look at the 296 renderings or look at what Porsche or Lambo do and wheel gap is much less and the cars look better for it.

At the Tampa event 2 sales guys said when asked by me that they are taking orders but only for VIP customers and the list is long and that I could not count on getting an ordered car…(fyi absolutely NON-REFUNDABLE deposit too)…..for at least 3-4 years. I was told 296 for VIP guys were at least almost 2.5yrs out maybe 3 as Ferrari is still building F8 for delivery.

Between the looks for me personally and not being able to drive one to see what I think ultimately, 3 plus years to get a 296 and the deposit games and VIP bullcrud…I’m out…lost interest and losing interest in the games with dealers these days. I’ll spend money elsewhere and still have fun.

 

Good points, however, considering the HMI is less than confidence inspiring, the unproven V6 with hot nested turbos, and a potentially temperamental hybrid system, looking elsewhere may be the only option.

 

I was at the Tampa event as well and share a lot of the Feedback that has been already given. In the end even if I loved the car the new interior layout is way too small for me. Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

It was nice chatting with you there about 458 vs 488. Your blue 458 is gorgeous!
Rob

 

Tight fit. What are your dimensions? I am 6’6” 260lbs and I can shoehorn myself into every modern car accept Aventadors.

 

6’4” 245 lbs. I fit well in 458/488.

 

Hey…it was good meeting you. I was the tall guy with the prosthetic leg you were talking with. Yeah it’s pretty tight in the 296…better foot room but tight up top and my knee was touching the lower dash. I fit so much better in a Porsche GT3 even with the carbon light weight buckets.

 

I couldn't agree more.

Mike

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I predicted problems as soon as the press pics and videos of the white car came out. My friend sent them to me and I told him to pass, as I thought the car would have QC issues. When he asked me why I thought that, I pointed out that the trident behind the front windows and aft of the rear wheels (it's c-pillar?) wasn't affixed correctly (you could see shadowing under the emblem, indicating that it wasn't flush). If they can't correctly stick on a emblem, I'm out.

Mike

 

No question.

Mike

 

I hate reading this, as I'm 6'5" and really really really want an AV.

Are you longer-legged, or longer in the torso?

Mike

 

I’m 6’2” and the AV was very tight for me.

 

I wish I had known that was you. I was standing next to the driver’s door as you were trying to shoehorn your way into that car.

 

How are you proportioned- longer in the legs or longer in the torso?

Mike

 

I'm 6'2" (~200lbs) with a Huracan Evo Spyder. Huracan Spyders are also notorious for being tough for taller people (the coupes are OK). I'm longer in the legs and I barely fit. If I was longer in the torso there would be no way it would be tolerable. I'm guessing the Aventador is similar but I've never sat in one so I could be wrong.

Also looking forward to the response from @italiafan since I've been thinking about upgrading to a V12.

 

Balanced. Wide shoulders and back.