FCAR POPULARITY TODAY VS 10-20 YRS AGO

I think the crayness started with the Testarossa and got worse with Enzo's death.


I remember that some of my dads friends would ask him to order a 348 so that they could get in line .

 

They've always been difficult to buy. Enzo never made enough, and they've followed his pattern.

Art

 

my older FCA buddies tell me back in the 70s Daytonas were languishing unsold in showrooms

How'd you like to go back in time & negotiate the dealer down on a Daytona spyder

 

Ferrari's are more popular than ever and the mystique of the marque is going out of this world. Witness the obscene amount of Ferrari garb at any motorsports event. I think it was the 360 and Michael Scumacher that really put the company over the top.

 

I think you're right. Ferrari's really the last marque left that means anything to the general public. No doubt Schumi helped, but for Americans who don't follow F1 I suspect it's just the fact that Ferrari is the only undiluted and singularly evocative auto builder (i.e., Lambo has a lot of Audi DNA now, and Aston Martin lost its way under Ford with the DB7 and nearly became a sort of upscale Jag.)

 

I bought a TR in '96 then I wanted to add a 355. In '96 the 355 were sitting at dealers for purchase and they still were in '98 when I finally bought one. I had my choice of color as they had 2 or 3 unsold waiting. I had heard that the wheels came off in '90 and prices dropped and cars couldn't be sold. The 348 didn't stir the public into a buying frenzy. By the sound of things, I'll bet Ferrari is hotter now than ever. My theory is more money to spend and the downfall of other marquis. A lot of guys who would be happy with a MB in days of old now own F cars. In '94 I bought a 600SL thinking I was buying a future classic. Boy was I wrong.

 

Wasn't there a period where Ferrari only sold something like 53 cars world-wide; due to the gas crises or recession or something?

 

I think it was '99 and the 360 that really turned it up for Ferrari. That was the first significantly waitlisted car in a while; they went on to make what, 17,000 360s?

My guess is that it was the right place at the right time for Ferrari: great looking car starting at $150k, right at the peak of the dotcom money.

 

I know a number of people who bought new cars off showroom floors in the 80's (including the lovely couple Phill referenced above). The first big speculation occurred in the late 80's culminating in early 1990 when a worldwide recession hit and the fun ended. Some of you may find interesting that the rare coin market collapsed the same month, same year. Anyway, dealers had new cars available from that point until maybe 97-98. At that point, Luca's influence of building better products and making the Ferrari brand a widely known worldwide trademark began to pay off, first with the 550 (which sold for small premiums at first) and then they hit a home run with the 360 which was helped by the dot-com boom as well. I remember seeing a guy from Los Gatos Ferrari (they no longer have the franchise) bragging how they sold 5 360 coupes one Friday afternoon to dot-com'ers for about 250K each. The dot com bust came and premiums fell, but 360's were still hot commodities and with the help of FNA requiring dealers to sell at MSRP, the wait list and premiums for new cars continued to grow. It will be interesting to see what happens now that dealers can sell for market and perhaps we are headed to a recession. Nevertheless, Luca succeeded hugely in brand building. I now see Ferrari hats, shirts, etc. everywhere in places I would not have dreamed of a few years ago. But, the 360 was really the culprit. Although it's not my favorite, I recognize it was a ground breaking design. The rest is history.

Dave

Dave

 

Wealth is constantly growing. More are able to afford luxuries.

As mentioned above, the 360 started a new Era for our favorite car maker. To me personally, Ferrari gained my attention 100% from the Enzo and F430. They are a league ahead of the competition now

 

When I first heard Michigan was getting a Ferrari dealership (Cauley Ferrari), I did some poking around and found out that the dealership had actually already begun to obtain & sell Ferraris even though their new building wasn't built yet. This was in August of '99 I believe and I was told that they had 2 new 360 Coupes at their Chevy store, next door to where their soon to be new Ferrari dealership would be. So I went up there to look at them and finally be able to see a 360 in person. They had a brand new '99 yellow 355 Spider available also, which they said was one of the very last 355s produced. I forgot if the 360s were spoken for, although I would assume they were. I wasn't quite a Ferrari customer yet, so I wasn't inquiring about purchasing one.

One thing I do recall though was that the 355 Spider looked so much better to me on that day than the 360 Coupes. I can't be certain about demand in the 90s, but like others have said, I believe the "craze" started with the 360 and hasn't let up since, only getting worse. It was Sept of 2000 that I got on the waiting list for my first Ferrari (360 Coupe) and I didn't get it until Apr of '03. During that time though, I bought a used 355 Spider (May '01) and kept it until my 360 arrived.

 

And the chinese haven't even STARTED trading dirty green bits of paper for these cars.

 

Just read somewhere that the increase of chinese BILLIONAIRES (in USD's) are almost doubling for each year... Not to mention the oil nations... With internet international business is no problem, so a lot of companies go overseas for even more cash flow.



I <3 cars. Cash buys cars. Cash is therefore King. Hehe

 

There are cycles in the stock market and it seems cycles in the relative value of art, cars etc...

I remember people waiting in line with 250,000 in their pockets to buy a Testarossa at the dealership. I also remember Daytonas languishing in dealers' showrooms at 25,000 if I am not mistaken. However, as has been pointed out, the number of very wealthy has risen, and their desire to have the "best" has also risen.

Which makes for a reasonable argument that competitors will enter the market, more Lamobs, Masers and Porsches as well as mercedes, McLarens and what have you and eventually, the cycle for the more desirable F cars may start down, especially if accompanied by a recession.

Those who want new cars and dont want to sell their first born to get on a Ferrari dealer's waiting list, may just opt for one of the other competitors.

Stay tuned.