Double Dipping!

I was fervently prompted to abstain from creating this thread. It was suggested to me - urged, even - that merely starting this thread could be bad for my heath. Lupara Bianca was one of the terms used. Google it; I had to Google it. It's interesting.

It has always been suggested that Ferrari "double dips" - fudging production numbers, using the same serial number more than once, etc. But this is almost impossible to prove; almost. You'd have to be an insane, obsessive serial number tracker to finally, after years, unearth some solid evidence.

If you know about Ferrari serial numbers, you know that the serial number is the last six digits of the VIN (for those of you who own 348s or older Ferraris, your serial number is the last five digits of the VIN).

Those of you who own 360s, Challenge Stradales, F430s, Scuderias, 16Ms, 612s, 599s, early 458s, 550s, Enzos, 575Ms, Superamericas, etc., have maybe noticed the shiny matricola plaque on your dash (Enzo owners, check the passenger's side carbon fiber foot well wall). Engraved into this plaque is the serial number of your car - if you then look at the VIN, you'll see that the last six digits of the VIN match the serial number engraved into the aforementioned matricola plaque. Ergo, no two cars can have the same serial number!

Still with me?

Below are four pictures. The first two pictures are of a red F12, s/n 186616, that was displayed at Pebble Beach three years ago.
Notice the last six digits of the VIN: 186616.

The last two pictures are of a white 2012 US-spec California, s/n 186616, seen for sale a few months ago at Global Luxury Imports in Burr Ridge, IL.
Notice the last six digits of the VIN: 186616

It doesn't matter that the beginnings of the VINs are different, or that the cars were built for different markets, or that the cars are different models. Because the last six digits of a Ferrari VIN are that Ferrari's serial number, so no two Ferraris can have the same serial number.

But these two Ferraris have the same serial number. Hell of a way to start the week, huh? If I disappear, you'll know why.
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If my lifeless, exanimate corpse is gonna be shoved into a trunk, I would be proud to be stuffed into an FF.

There's a reason that discovery was never publicly published.

I don't get it. Is the California supposed to be the Dino?

The first 11 characters of each VIN are vastly different when you jump from model to model, and it's even quirkier when you compare VINs of different models that were built for different countries.

And I tried asking people about the most common questions concerning serial numbers...

I thought my explanation about serial numbers in the initial post was clear and thorough. What else needs explaining? I'll explain anything all day, I'm just not certain what's unclear.

The implication is that Ferrari is double-dipping - literally using the same serial number more than once, on different cars sent to different countries so that they can make extra money, and still publish low, independently accountable and verifiable annual production numbers that support the exclusivity that's cause for the inflated pricing.

"Oh, I didn't mind paying $1MM for my Aperta because it's one of only 80 in the whole wide world."

Yeah, LOL, try at least 160!

It took Ferrari a while to catch on and capitalize on things like exhausts, wheel choices, caliper colors, other personalization options, etc. But they have cornered the market on exclusivity - and intangible belief that's both relevant and vital to the brand that Ferrari has created.

 

The red F12 is from Europe - as per the VIN, it's a European-spec car, built for Europe, but it was in Pebble Beach in 2012, on display, because it was a brand new model at the time.

There are other possibilities, sure, but do you know incredibly difficult it is to catch these catch and document these instances? Just because Ferrari double Aperta production doesn't mean they reused some of the serial numbers - I bet every Aperta serial number is different, because it's a limited edition model.

I've only seen one 99999, so I can't personally account for the existence of more than one. However it's been relayed by an extremely reliable source that there are at least two 99999s. And now I know why that proof has never been posted the way I've posted here about 186616.

Is this another joke?

No, when it comes to Ferraris, the first 11 characters of the VIN are not the basis for it all. Ferrari serial numbers are unique to each Ferrari, therefore every Ferrari serial number is different. Even if you have two different models, built for two different countries, you cannot have two different Ferraris that wear the same serial number.

No, none of the serial number "stuff" changed when the VIN was introduced; serial numbers were simply tacked on to the ends of VINs. To learn more about specifically Ferrari VINs, check out Edvar van Daalen's Red-Headed.com. Be sure to click on VIN Decoder.

Mmmmph! Mmmmmmmmmphphph!!!

Parker, 186615 is, supposedly, an F12 that was maybe the Paris Auto Show car, but I don't have hard evidence. And the issue with 171212 was that it didn't display a full VIN, only a matricola plaque in the engine bay. Today, we know and are certain that 171212 is a 2010 US-spec red/tan California, and that Ferrari just gave the Paris Show Aperta a serial number plaque for display purposes. Here, with 186616, we have two complete and correct VINs for two different models; full VINs! This is different than 171212.

Can you tell me about the other F12 that flanks 186616? Is it 186617?

 

I could type out other supposed examples, but none like this; none like 186616, where the proof is irrefutable.

I promise you, this is deliberate; this is not sloppiness or laziness