Ferrari Myth/Magic and 211

When I was 6 a family frteind came to visit in a ferrari. By the minds eye it was gold colored and was either a 275GTb or possibly a 4 seater 365. I remember the look and sound and being obsessed with cars a ferrari from then on was it. As a teenager another family freing flipped me the keys to his testarossa with the words have fun. The sound and steering feel were another dimension compared to the camaros and vettes I had tried. The drive was filled with the entusiasm and verve that 17 year olds posses, not to mention a couple of magnum Pi stlye 90 degree burnout turns.

When i could afford it i bought a boxer and have owned it for the last 13 years. Unfortunatly living in the US means that driving a ferrari as enzo intended is always a game of cat and mouse. The boxer while great on the street is not an ideal track car. So a few years ago I tried to put a deposit down on a 430, I told the dealer I didnt mind waiting a few years. To my surprise the dealer refused to take a 50K deposit because all the cars for the models life were spoken for.

A little research indicated that drealers sell to "special" customers who then resell to the dealer whereby both can make an extra profit. Also most newer ferraris are unimaginative red with tan and sheilds. While these cars are intensly good, they have mostly become fashion acessories for hedge fund mangers, apparently true entusiasts need not apply.

Over at Porche the gt3 is similarily unattainable, after 8 mos deposit the dealer informed me that they were allocated no 08 gt3's.
Yet on the internet you can buy barely used Gt3's and 430's for a premium. Somehow these cars have become a fashion invetsment tool.

Since I am keeping my boxer either way and really want a car for hard core track fun I have bought a Lotus 211. What a revelation. Go to a lotus site, it is filled with people who drive and track their cars, it is all about use and performance, concors is unheard of, there is no brand snobbery or assumed superiority because of the car owned. In short lotus owners are what ferrari owners were when the myth started, true automotive entusiasts who appreciate the unique performance of their vehicle by using it. A visit to the lotus factory treats owners as family and the engineers are interested in your experience.

A visit to the ferrari factory is treated as an honored visit to some shrine with enzo as some demigod, seriously a bit of a joke. Seriously ferraris are still the greates but all this brand engineerd fawning and aceesorizing is seriously a turn off. Ferrari is becomming as the french say declasse, basicaly another rolex. With aston getting its act together and maclaren comming on not to mention various others ferrari ought to think about who its future customers might be. What will ferrari mean when it is only a mere acessory for people who are unable to truly understand or use their car. Because amongst todays car inclined youth a ferrai is seen as something for showy rich people, what would enzo say, or maybe all he cared about was the race cars anyway. Me I am looking forward to a prodrive developed aston or maybe if the world economy has a spasm ferrai will be willing to sell a new car to someone who is fortunate and commited enough to scrape together 200k but does not have an extra 50k to throw away as a premium on a used car so some stockbroker type can feel smug about driving the latest car free for 6 months.

Sorry about the rant. It is hard to see a chilhood icon becomming just another kitch accesory, especialy when the underlying product is still so good.