Let's hear stories of nice gestures by Ferrari Enthusiasts!

So, I had been on Fchat for a few months, and, had found a thread about an Enzo someone spotted. And, the owner happened to be an Fchatter. So, I started reading the thread, and someone mentioned "hey, you know, I'd like to come check out the car sometime." And, he posted, call me for a talk/ride/drive. I thought, who the **** offers there million $ car up like that?! (this was when I was first getting into Fezza's) Aren't they scared of someone scratching it or harming it in some way?!?! I heard he was going to be at the Cavallino in Palm Beach. I had never heard of it and had no idea what it was. In the few months I was keeping up with that thread, people were driving his cars, riding in them I thought, wow, that is my #1 dream right there. To drive a Ferrari. At the time, I was only 15, so, I knew that wasn't happening

Fast forward three months. Come January 23rd, me and my parents pull up to The Breakers hotel. I am absolutely overwhelmed by the amount of cars. F40's, F50's, 275's, Daytona's, vintage race cars, I almost fainted. Any way, we're walking around, and we see people with wristbands. So, we ask where we can get one, a person tells us, and we go up to the stand, $50 A PERSON! My dad stomached up the $150 for us to get in. And so, we're walking around the area where a lot of the judging is going on, countless 2460's, 360's, even a Bianco Fuji F430 spider all on one beautiful golf course backdrop. I was in HEAVEN.

We finish walking through all that. Then....

I spotted it. The almighty Enzo. I spend a good 45 minutes looking it over. Every little detail of it. Soaking it all in. At the time, this was the first Enzo I had ever seen. I was pretty hesitant to start talking to the owner, don't know why, but, I was. So, I came up to him, introduced my self, started talking about cars, and he said, "You ever been in one of these?"

I say, "Actually, this is the first one I've ever seen."

HE asks me, "Have you ever been in a Ferrari?"

I answer "No, I haven't. Infact the most exotic car I've ever been in was a Porsche 911 S"

He says " Go a head, get some seat time"

He swings the door open, I think to my self, this can't be true. This man is opening his Ferrari Enzo, to me.

So, I get in. And immediately, I'm just drooling over ever detail. The plaque on the center that was "Enzo Ferrari. Limited edition 399"

OMFG!!!!

So, about 20 minutes goes past.

He tells me "Alright bud, you want to fire her up or let someone get some seat time?"

I say "Your kidding"

So, he hands me the keys.

I put them in the ignition, and immediately, I hear pumps priming up for ignition, beeps, whines, and then, it goes silent.

Hit the button and clickclickclickclick VROOOOOOOOM!

The sound of the 6.0 liter V12 8 inches from your right ear is just unbelievable.

The sound, the feel, the smell of the Enzo, was unlike I had ever experienced.

Rich, I can't thank you enough, that completely changed my outlook on life.

As he is known to everyone in the Ferrari community, the Tax DR.

At the end of all this, he told me "Do good in school, don't get a job that pays a lot so you can have one of these, do something you love, and have a passion for, and your dreams WILL come true. Trust me. I'm a doctor."
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awesome story 430rks

 

Awesome story Jay!

LOVE reading stories like that.

So many generous people out there, its great to hear and see.

 

The guys at Ferrari of Tampa Bay, specifically Chris Warren (who is now at Aston of TB), Tommy Hassel, and Bruce Brown, are top notch guys and have done some very thoughtful things for me.


My story is one that I have told many times.

I was a 16 y/o on vacation to LA to visit my Family. One of my grandma's friends is the wife of the guy who created hot pockets. My grandama took me to their house to meet them and to see Newport Beach because I had never been there.

We got there around 10-11am and we all had breakfast together outside by the pool, which by they way was the size of my house in sq/ft. We chat for a while and my passion for Ferrari becomes the topic. David (husband of friend/house owner) says to me, "I have a Ferrari in the garage, want to go look at it?" So we head out to the garage and one thing leads to another and he takes me on a ride in his 2007 Nero 612. We take a short trip on the PCH and head back toward the neighborhood. He pulls the car over on the side of the road and asks me if I want to drive. "Really?! I don't know.....", "Don't worry about anything" he says. So I get in the drivers seat and he lets me drive it back to the house.

I will never forget that gesture and I will definitely pass it on.

This is a pic of right after I parked it.

edit: I asked a mod to move this to the General Discussion section.
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So, little did I know, today was going to be the greatest day of my life.

I set up a shoot with our Porsche 996TT, and my neighbors Gallardo.

We get done with the shoot, and he hands me the keys.

I say "Your kidding..."

"Why do I care?, it's only a car."

"O.M.F.G."

I never really liked Lambo's.

I'll give a more detailed story once I stop shaking and get my self together

Even got pics and video.

 

I've met quite a few nice Ferrari owners...

Here are some very nice gestures that they have done:

Earlier this year at a local Cars & Coffee event, a member here on FChat (switchcars) was nice enough to take me for a ride in his TdF Blue (I think?) 360 CS. My first (and so far only) ride in a Ferrari. As we left the coffee shop and turned onto the freeway, he let the horses run! As we took our drive, we chatted about Ferraris, his car, and many other things. When we got back to the coffee shop, it took me about 10 minutes or so to stop shaking from my excitement!

Another story...

I was at a local shopping center this past summer. As my family and I were about to leave, I see a 360 Modena parked in front of a restaurant. We stop the car and go take a look at it. I get out of the car and started taking pictures. The owner must have been sitting out on the patio, because he came out of the restaurant, casually strolled up to me and said,
"You know, you should really take a picture of the engine. That's what I fell in love with when I saw this car."
With that, he unlocked the car and opened up the engine. After that we started talking about local car shows, how he found his car, etc. for about 15 minutes or so.

--Grant

 

An F-chatter said he would let someone borrow his car for the week end, no big deal. So I asked and he said yes.

It was awesome!

Thanks again!

I have driven quite a few now, all nice gestures of Ferrari Enthusiasts!

I can't wait to lend my future Ferrari out for the week end.

 

I've been a HUGE Ferrari enthusiast all of my life but never had the opportunity to drive one until last year. My cousins father in law has been a ferrari collector for quite some time but i never really knew of him since he was always travelling. It wasnt untill my brothers wedding where my cousin began to talk about the joy of driving these numerous ferraris his father in law had. So then i asked if he'd think his dad would mind. He said no and the next week i drove to the house to check out the cars. The first thing i noticed upon arriving was this immaculate 575 superamerica. I looked over the car for a few minutes then sudenly his dad opened the door from inside the main house and asked if i wanted to go for a ride. I instantly said YES and we were off. We get on the road and were puttering around in 4th i think when he downshifts and hits the throttle, the 5.7L V12 explodes with a wail and were off! quickly. After this brief subjection to being slammed in my seat we pull to the side of the road. I ask "what are we doing here?" he turns off the motor gets out hands me the keys and says "you drive" I immediatly started to get this geeky grin as this is a dream to me. I sit in the low slung buckets fire her up and we're off. I was amazed how easy this car was to drive. I always thought ferraris would be somewhat difficult to drive though this had the f1 gearbox. Anyways long story short im very thankful for this mans generosity and hope in the near future i can do the same for another ferrari enthusiast

 

Great thread!

 

I have had a few of these stories. Perhaps the one that started them all off was a sports car outing and a chance meeting with a 348 owner, that lead to a 3 hours of chasing Porsche around mountain passes, the scream of the Tubi on the 348 filling the valleys with Italian "music".

I developed a friendship with that owner which has lead to me experiencing virtually every Ferrari built in the last 10 years or so as well as being made possibly the only non owner member of a Ferrari owners club.

His latest acquisition was a 599 HGTE and I had been going to the Ferrari dealer since I was around 13(am 26 now) and I remember how awesome it was to hear the cars being started so a few months ago, a father and son come in and want to know about the 599 HGTE parked out front, the keys get passed my way and I get told "start it up, let them hear it".

Few big blips of the V12 and the smile on the sons face, could have been me a few years back, it really was quite a special moment.

 

It was my 42nd birthday last week. This is something I wrote 12 years ago:

 

This is a very cool thread! I love to read stories like this.

 

There was also the time when an Fchat member (tifosi12) arranged for me to be his +1 on a Ferrari factory tour. That was a pretty unforgettable experience that I still like to brag about! Cheers Andreas!

 

After the alternator failed in my RS6 and stranded me on the way back from a track event, our crew chief honked and waived as he passed by with a big grin in a TR.

It was touching.

CW

 

At the FChat Vegas event, we met with a non-FChatter with a 360 Spider. We talked for a quite a while when he jokingly told his son that they needed to get me into a new Ferrari. I laughed and (half)jokingly said I'd settle for a ride. Next thing I know we're doing about 80 mph down the Vegas Strip with the top down. Passed by the Bellagio Fountains as Con te Partirò (Time to Say Goodbye) was playing. Perfect timing. The sound of the Tubi exhaust in the Bellagio parking garage still gives me a .....ugh I better stop.

 

I was 11 or 12 years old at a Ferrari event in Virginia. There was a smaller track off to the side where they were doing demonstration drives in those small Legend cars. A guy in a 355 Spyder was acting as the pace car and my Dad asked him if I could ride along. He agreed and gave me a great ride around the track. I remember getting in I couldn't figure out how to open the door and was embarrassed about it but the guy was gracious and showed me how.

 

My story is from today...and by far this is one of the best aspects of Ferrari ownership, sharing the excitement.

A high school friend said her nephew (12) is a huge Ferrari fan, has the posters, models, etc. but has never seen one in person. So we arranged a surprise today, while he was in the driveway playing basketball with his sister I pulled up in the 355F1. The look on his face was priceless, jaw dropping to the ground...yelling to his parents as if it was a random event. We had a great time going over the car in detail, pictures of him in the driver seat, and of course going for a ride.

 

I LOVE reading these kinds of stories!!! Every one so far has brought a smile to my face. Here's mine:

The day was Saturday, April 17, 2010; I was 18 years old. Four days prior, my girlfriend of one year had broken up with me after I found out she slept with 3 of my friends while I was on a trip to Mexico. She was my first girlfriend and that whole situation devistaded me. I could find happiness in almost nothing. I wrote an email to a great friend of mine, who I met right here on f-chat back in 2008. His name is Mike, XSSSIVE is his alias. In the email, I explained everything that was happening and how I felt. I didn't know why I was telling him all this; there's nothing he could do about it, right? After pressing the "send" button, this feeling of regret came over me. I was hopeless. The next day, he replied to that email and said, "In time, you will find that this experience haswill only made you stronger." At the time, he recently bought a Maserati Granturismo S. He called me the night I read the email and asked how I was doing and if I'd come over that Saturday to do a photoshoot with the Maserati and his Ferrari F430. I agreed hoping that it would be an outlet where I could just get my mind off of things. That Saturday, April 17th, I went over to his house at 8:30 in the morning. He had both cars in the driveway. He greeted me and gave me a lot of great advice about relationships and how to deal with the struggles of adolesence. He then put a comforting hand on my shoulder and said, "Everything will get better from here." That was the first time I'd smiled in a week. I then proceeded with the photoshoot. An hour later, I packed my cameras away and went into the house to say goodbye to Mike. He walked me out to the driveway and said, "Well thanks! I appreciate you doing this. Do you have to be home right now or can you stay for another 30 minutes or so?" I replied, "Um...I can stay." He then stared at the Ferrari for what seemed like a year, then looked at me...then at the Ferrari again. A smile began to form on his face and he looked at me and reached his hand into his pocket. "You wanna drive the Ferrari?" he asked. It was the first time in my life that I had literally been speechless. All I could do was smile. He pulled the car out towards the street, got out, and said, "Hop in!" He got in the passenger seat. I settled myself in the driver's seat, looked at him and asked, "Are you serious???" "Yep!" He exclaimed. He showed me how to work the F1 transmission and what-not. Within 2 minutes, we were off. I was nervous as hell and was shaking with excitement. By this time, no thought of the whole break up dilema was in my mind; I was on cloud 9. I got to drive it for about 6-7 miles and even open it up a bit. That whole experience was a dream come true for me and one I will NEVER forget. The drive was insane, but what I got MOST out of that experience was that whenever you think you've hit rock bottom, there is always someone out there to help. Thanks Mike.

-G.B.

 

Great stories guys!!!

Mine is from my time in Belgium. Close to where I worked there was a dealership that dealt primarily in used sports cars. These cars were pretty much perfect in every way. At various times he had different cars including Porsches, Lambos, Benzes, and of course Ferraris.

1. They got to know me fairly well through my horrible French and their broken English. I could show up and just walk around as if the cars were mine. Eventually, they asked if there was one I would like to drive. I immediately chose the 1979 308 GTB over the TR, 355s, 348s, and 328 they had on hand. So, he rearranged his showroom (a fairly tightly packed place) and moved the 308 onto the road. He had it warmed up and ready to go. I drove it very carefully - never pushing the limits of what the car could do. I dont think I revved it beyond 4k rpms even. I babied that car, but what a thrill for me to get to drive it.

2. On another occasion they arranged for my first Ferrari ride. I got to ride in one of the very first 430 Scuderias off the assembly line. I know that it was the first one to arrive in Belgium. The owner spoke very little English - maybe less English than I spoke French. He was VERY kind and really ran the car out for a while during our little trip. I giggled like a school girl the entire time - but what a rush with that sound and that force pushing me back.

3. Most recently I went to visit another FChatter (LVFerrariPilot) and he took me for a ride in his car. On our route back he asked if I would be interested in driving it. How could I turn down an offer like that!!! His car was recently rebuilt in his garage using high compression pistons and P6 cams and all sorts of cool stuff!! How much fun was that??? He also gave me a souvenir of my little trip - one of the original pistons from his car!!! It now sits proudly on my mantle above the fireplace in my living room.




PDG

 

Great stories.

I can remember being about 15 and in the south part of Denver with my mom running errands (it was the holiday season so probably Christmas shopping). We were near Ferrari of Denver, and since I rarely got to be down there (and because my mom is the greatest) we decided to stop in. Quiet weekday evening, they were about to shut down shop, but Mike, one of the dealers, entertained us anyway. He let me poke my head around on every car, even let me sit in a brand new 575 with a bow on the hood.
They were getting ready to move a 348 from the shop to the showroom, and Mike decided it'd be great for me to ride shotgun on the trip that lasted approximately 35 seconds (but had a life-long impact!!) He handed the keys to one of his associates and we wandered back into the garage area. Hearing a Ferrari fire up like that, in a garage where everything echos, as a 15 year old Ferrari nut, and totally overwhelmed just to be sitting in a 348 is something I'll always cherish. We rolled out of the garage, went down the back drive of the shop and he opened it up as much as he could. The trip was over before it started, but as I said, it was such a great experience, and time was not a concerning issue.

Simple gestures like that do so much more than they seem. A standard procedure for them was the most rewarding thing I could have asked for, and it was all their idea. It's great when Ferrari enthusiasts share their prize possessions with the world, and I know that it'll be one of the top priorities of mine when that day comes and I have the keys to my own Ferrari.

I love that the F40 owner said this, cheers to him and all others that have this mindset.

I have so many other great stories that I'll probably share later (Roland Linder letting me ride shotgun in the F40LM, The Ferrari of Denver staff (AGAIN) letting me sit in the first Enzo delivered to Colorado, Dave Helms for giving me a summer JOB at Scuderia Rampante, etc, etc.) But the 348 one stuck out to me for some reason. Just a simple gesture on a Tuesday night in December, they must have been in the holiday spirit

 

Well, now, a few weeks after my first exotic drive, I will tell the story.

The day started out with me waking up at 4:50AM on a Saturday morning to a HUGE semi truck coming down my fairly narrow street. On the side "RELIABLE AUTO TRANSPORT"


I think, "Oh, this ought to be good". I come out side, hear something fire up. It's RIDICULOUSLY loud. Then a Gallardo pulls out

Anyway, after that, I can't stand it anymore, go back to my room, and pass out.


Fast forward a week. As I seem him pull down the street in his 745li, he pulls in his driveway, and starts getting groceries out of his truck. I think, now is the perfect time.

I go to his house, "Jimmy, you think we could arrange a shoot with this sometime soon?"

He says, "Yeah, for sure. Lemme put these away, and I'll give you a holler"

I think awesome! I can't wait!

Anyway, about an hour later, I get a call, "Hurry up bud! I aint got all night!"

I run out side with my camera gear, get in the car, and were off. My parents are soon to join in the Porsche.

We shoot the cars, blah blah blah.

Then I say: "Alright, I've gotten what I need"

He says "your done?"

I say, "Yup!"

So, he asks me "You have your license right?"

I say "Uh, yeah? why?"

He reaches in his pocket and says "Here, you drive"

He puts the keys in my hand and I stare at them.

About 15 seconds later, I take my eyes off my hand and pick my jaw up off the floor and say, "Your, serious?"

"Quit your whimpering and lets go!"

So, I get in, fire her up, the Tubi exhaust purring.

Put her into gear, and go off. Oh man.

I had tracked my CBR at close to 150mph the night before and that didn't even come close to the rush and excitement I was feeling driving the Gallardo. Even if I was going 15mph.

Then, we get onto an open stretch of highway he said go ahead, punch it.

I thought "OMFGOMFGOMFGOMFG"

Flicked it down 2 gears, and BAM! at wide open throttle, the sound, was incredible.

As were pulling down the road to turn into the neighborhood, a car, full of my friends, was pulling out. Could tell they were suprised to see a Lambo. But, when they saw me driving...

Priceless

 

My story isn't a big deal. It's just a Mondial cab. I was pretty good friends with a guy at work back in Denver. He was a sort of car nut, but knew little about anything except US muscle cars. I'd bring the Mondial in a few days a year when the weather was nice.

One day I brought the car in and we went to lunch, and took my car. Neither of us was in a hurry to get back to the office, so I handed him the keys, and said 'let's go back in the twisties a bit'. He was kinda nervous at first, but even a lowly Mondial sticks better than a 60s Mustang, so he got the feel of it.

I let him take it home overnight a few months later and his wife almost spit bricks when he told her he traded the Mustang for a convertible Ferrari! She never let me forget that trick.

 

That last part is awesome!!!

-G.B.