How Do You Feel When Driving a Ferrari?

As long as you understand that you are going to be viewed as a spoiled rich kid/man/old fart, and can deal with that, it's fine. Sure, you and I know that these are (relatively) cheap, old Ferraris that cost less than many current sedans but 99.9 percent of the population does not. I was washing my 328 a few days ago here at the marina and a young couple stopped by asking if it was a new one. They were very surprised to learn it is 21 years old and that they could easily afford to buy one if they wanted a 21 year old car. They don't!

Lot of it depends on where you are/where you go. If you are in an area where there are a lot of classic cars/street rods/whatever, it's not a big deal but in some areas, it is a bit uncomfortable and I'd feel much better driving an old muscle car. "Horses for Courses," as they say...

I've moved around all my life. Where the car lives (in MD, not far from Annapolis) it's not an unusual sight; other places I have lived I wouldn't take it out of the garage (actually, I wouldn't own it at all).

 

There is perception and there is reality. Perception is:
- anyone driving a Ferrari has nothing better to do with his or her money that could be spent on "better" things and people.
- we are wasting precious fuel and contributing to global warming.
- it's a sin to show off wealth.

Reality is:
- plenty of middle-class people in my country spend a whole lot more on pickup trucks and SUV's than I did to purchase my 328 (many with high loan payments they cannot afford).
- my total driving and fuel consumption across several vehicles are less than what the average person does in this country.
- each person (at least in your country and mine) gets to decide how we spend our time and our money.

So, no I don't feel bad about treating myself to the Ferrari experience on a regular basis. I endure whatever looks and occasional snied comments that come, but I also exercise some judgment in where I do and do not drive her.

Enjoy!

 

True, there is perception and there is reality. But your list of "perceptions" is "reality" as far as how most people in the real world react to seeing someone in a Ferrari. The fact that they may be wrong doesn't really matter unless you have time to talk to them over a beer and convince them that they might be wrong.

 

I was in a neighborhood bar last year during the Barret-Jackson tv coverage. The wife and I like to guess what price cars will sell for, a Guy standing near heard Us and started a car conversation. I told Him I had some older cars and like to se the values of trailer queens fluctuate. He asked what I had and I told Him about the AMX, We talked about that. I told about the Austin-Healey, We talked about that. I told Him about the 328 and He turned around and walked away.

 

He walked away? Huh? Seems a little harsh. Geesh.

I always thought Bimmers and Mercs were the #1 "Hey look at me and my pretentious car". I figured sports cars were viewed as belonging to mainly "car guys" from all walks of life. Too bad.

 

I agree with Mike...3x8's aren't as out of reach as most people think but a 20+ year old car isn't for everybody.

I also think the economy contributes into peoples attitudes. Let's face it, if you've lost your job and really having a hard time surviving, as many are right now...we Fcar drivers can be frowned upon as rich flaunters. I think it applies to any expensive marque not just Fcars but a 348 IMO is quite a flashier looking/sounding car than ALL the others ;-) but I am biased as we all are towards what we like. I don't seem to get dirty looks when driving in more affluent areas but did notice some people will give you nasty looks.

I am NOT rich just an average motorhead that works his BUTT off 10-12 hours a day 6 days a week to have the things I do. I suffered 3 down sizings working for what I thought would be long term jobs I could retire from. The world doesn't work that way anymore. I started my own company 5 years ago and it was really tough at first but now I'm doing 6 figures a year and providing jobs to 8 other people. As a result of what I created for myself I was able to buy my dream car and paid cash for it. I will never be as rich as the PAPster (his garage is 100x nicer than my house LOL) but I am happy that after being on the brink of homlessness myself 5 years ago, I have everything I need and then some.

My guess is the folks giving dirty looks have not discovered that these days it's up to YOU, not a company, to make yourself successful.

As long as nobody throws stuff at me while I'm driving my 348, I really don't care what they think. I love my Fcar (it's my most prized possession) and I know there was a lot of hard work on my part to earn one. I enjoy taking care of the car and maintaining it properly. If I sound proud of what I've accomplished, that would be a correct assumption and I feel it's a justified emotion. I've been through H-E-double hockey sticks and with luck, sweat and brains I made it back to a comfortable existence AND was able to buy a 348.

I bought my car because I like it and that's what I wanted...not to show off. I'm sure there's people that talk behind my back (midlife crisis/penial cruelty comments ect) we've all heard the comments but I don't know the people talking and they don't say it TO me, so what do I care. It's just small people making comments/gestures that have no basis for what they are saying/doing. They have no idea what we go though to be able to own one of these truely special cars...it's not like buying/owning ANY other car. I've had MANY MANY cars...nothing compares IMO. What a rush....

 

Actually, I think the Porsche 911 gave me more of that feeling, back when I had my 993. That was a beautiful car and drove brilliantly, and I don't think I got a compliment on it the whole time I owned it. I've never felt that way in the 356s and early 911s, which get a LOT of love on the road and parked, but starting in the 1980s they moved from sporting symbol to status symbol. It was a kind of rolling resentment magnet even when the economy was better.

I'd also put the BMW M6 in that category, with its "I'd like you to know I spent a lot of money on a sort of luxury, huge and heavy but impractical, half way sporting car with more toys than a Town Car, self-indulgent design and did I mention it's the really expensive Beemer" image. It's a car I could never drive without feeling like a c%ck.

People tended to love my 328, and it was a conversation piece whenever I parked it in public. I think the "dick" factor was reduced because it was black metallic, which is not an in-your-face color, and also because 308/328s have sentimental value to a lot of people. Women liked it because it was a pretty car, and men didn't feel all that threatened because it was older.

On another note, if you drive courteously, don't cut people off, smoke the tires, speed, etc., then people can form a better impression of you. I.e., your conduct on the road also has a lot to do with it.

 

No. I have worked really hard for everything I have. Anyone else can have the same stuff if they want to work really hard. If they have a problem with someone else driving an expensive car it's probably because they are lazy.

You don't want to give up a softball game or a stroll in the park for work then you don't get the extra money to buy extra things. I don't get angry with the guy who wants to hang out and smoke weed all day so why should he be mad at someone who wants to be productive.
This young guy I know, smart as hell, says to his friend the other day who wants an A8, do you know you will have to work really hard if you want that, do you know how much effort it will take to buy one? That is a smart man right there.

 

Not at all, just sounds like his personality was not aligned with the car. If you don't have passion for the marque then there is really no point.

 

Although I have/had other sports cars, the Ferrari seemed to draw more ire from the folks that work for me than others had - and at first, most of them tried to use that as a point to make me feel like I were a "dick" for owning one... even to the point that I were rubbing it in their faces that I was - and they weren't getting raises. I bought a well used 308 and did a lot of work on it (still am) - so I bought it cheap. I brought in my bill of sale and put it on the table in front of them and said they were welcome to continue to deride me if they would bring in the bill of sale for any car they were driving that cost less. Suddenly the bickering stopped and I was then called shrewd. Many of them were driving cars that were at least twice as expensive as my 308. Many of them were driving cars that cost more than my Ferrari and Toyota truck combined.

I haven't taken the Aprilia to the office.

Rick

 

Hello from Germany,

maybe something from overseas from the most envious country. People over here say, that you US folks are strictly the opposite ( regarding envy )
I'm living in an extremely bourgeois small town with around 5000 souls. Everybody who is not in cars hates me. But everyone who loves cars, likes me. Or at least pretends to do so
Unfortunately you can count the latter with the fingers of one hand.
But since I don't have to earn my money with business with my nearest neighbours, I give a **** on all this.
But I also have to admit, that it took some years to gain this attitude.

Best Regards

Martin

 

Even my 328 doesn't worth much, I don't drive it often for the respect of the economically unfortunate people who are still suffering from the bad time. As for attention, I have as much attention driving my rock crawler: kids look my truck with a big smiles on their faces, people honked and gave me a thump-up yesterday and again today while driving. A young guy told me just last week "Gee I can pick up girls with this thing", I paid $8K for it many years ago.

 

Not at all, I feel like someone who has accomplished my life dream -owning a 308. I have never once felt like I was a D*** for driving it.

If you do, then perhaps a Ferrari isnt for you....


PDG

 

Fat old fart in a bright red Tubi-equipped 308 here.

I've never had anyone make a negative comment or hand sign other than a thumbs-up, both with my current car and the 330 2+2.

Yesterday, a guy at a gas station asked me if the 308 was a Mustang. Around Dallas, where there aren't a lot of Ferraris, I think non-car people often assume it's a Corvette or occasionally a Mustang because of the horse emblems.

Speaking of feeling like ****** or prick or whatever, I never have in either car. If others choose to judge me such, their problem, not mine.

There's a large Whole Foods Market near our home and we shop there often. The store and us are both in Lakewood/East Dallas, a section of the city that is highly diverse and populated by folks ranging from staunch conservatives to wierdos and hippies of all ages and descriptions to screaming liberals with every bumper sticker imaginable on their hybrids. All shop there.

I've thought about a fall project, for when the heat has died down--park the 308 in a highly visible space near the store entry and then sit anonymously for an hour in the store's outdoor cafe and observe other shoppers' reactions. However, I'm seriously concerned that to do so would invite aggressive vandalism from the Prius-and-bicycle crowd.

Maybe best just to drive through and see what the comments are.

 

Haven't had any negative comments but instead a LOT of admiring glances and positive comments...

However, I have been asked if it's a new Toyota (it's a black/Tan 84 Mondial Cabriolet) but luckily no one has accused me of driving a chick car (which happened often on my Alfa Spider)

I enjoy the car
I love driving it
I even enjoy the envious looks from other drivers....yes, even from those guys driving vettes and 911's that vastly outperform my car....

 

It's funny, I can't believe how friendly people are about my 355 spider, in the year that I have had her I haven't made a journey yet that hasn't included either nice comments from other drivers or people asking me about it whilst parked up, heck, I've even been offered food whilst stuck in a traffic jam.
The general feeling is that due to it being an older model and deemed as pretty, people do not seem so offended by her. The usual comment I receive is "that's a beautiful car" "I love yours and the Magnum car" so I'm suprised if any one would feel like ****** driving such a beloved icon as a 308/328

 

This is my take on it. I'm here at the office on Saturday. I have 8 appointments, since I had to take most of Thursday off to be with my wife having a baby. I dropped her off and had to go to court for hearings (important client, couldn't pass that one off to someone else). I worked almost a full day and had several court hearings yesterday; her mom was here and picked her up from the hospital for me. Now, this is our third so it's a bit routine, but this is what it takes. I'm not running around with my kids on a Saturday morning. I'm here. Every Saturday. And most Sundays 4-10pm. Since February I had only taken two Sunday afternoons off from coming to the office. Given this economy, this is what it takes to keep above water. I'm not living high on the hog. My lifestyle is still very modest and is NOTHING like I imagined it would be (in a bad way) when I was applying for law school years ago.

A law student asked me just last week what it takes to start your own law firm. My response: "It takes everything."

 

Yep. I remember this kid yelling at me from the sidewalk one day while I was in my SL55 he says that he works harder in a day than I have worked in my whole life. Idiot!

Congrats BTW

 

As Bullfighter mentioned, I think color certainly plays a part, but the economy plays a bigger one. In this economy people who normally wouldn't care what you drive now look at you like you are a rich dick.

Of course I could give a rats arse that they think that, and drive my 308QV (now decatted and loud) as much as I can, and enjoy every bloody minute.

I also agree it matters a lot how you drive and how you treat people when they approach you. If you are cool, most people are cool back to you (with a few exceptions, and they are dickheads anyway).

Drive on!

MB

 

Ive never had any negative experiences driving my 328..always either had thumbs ups or the frequent flash of someones camera..I have had the occasional person shout out "Hey Magnum" but as Bob the original poster noted,here down under older Ferraris are pretty rare..355,360 and 430 are common enough...I would generaly see an example of either car at least once a week...I have yet seen another 328 on the road while I have been driving mine in the year that I have had it,,not including concours shows..

 

In summer, I get mostly positive reactions to the 328.
On the Friday morning commute, I had a guy in an X1/9 honk and give me a thumbs up.

And it's ironically funny when some duffer in an $60K luxo SUV decides to get in the way of the "rich guy" in the beater 328.

Oddly enough, though, people seem to be annoyed if I drive the car outside of summer -- as though you're only allowed to have a fun car when school's out.

As for those who think every Ferrari costs over a million, I'm not inclined to let other people's ignorance make my decisions for me.
I bought the car for me, not for the random observers.


But whether I'm driving the 328 or the EVO, I suspect most people are thinking, "That guy's *crazy*!".
(I'd like to think they'd say, "He can really drive.", but most people think that anyone driving faster than a slow walk is a lunatic.)

 

X 1/9 thumbs up makes me laugh - I was a Ferrari owner wannabe the entire time I drove X1/9's (2 that I rebuilt). A 328 GTS is the ONLY way to recapture that spirit but this time with a real engine.

 

I feel like a "Fred" driving mine.

I think a lot of it is how you comport yourself. I try to make people understand that a Ferrari isn't some "Goddess". It has its inherent flaws. Their engineers did some stupid things, and some pretty clever things. Letting them know how much it ISN"T worth, helps. Now as to a newer model, I wouldn't feel comfortable in one. My "real' cars have all been Fords. I once had a Mercury Marquis Brougham. I never felt right driving it. Go figure.