Perusing some Pebble auctions (rant)

I've felt the same way for a couple of years. These are - quite obviously - no longer cars. They are collectables. I don't collect things. I like cars that are fun to drive, which means to have the "fun" I actually have to drive it! I get no jollies from saying I own a Ferrari (quite the opposite, I prefer that folks don't know), I get zero joy from showing it off at P&P (parking and posing, aka C&C). I do get joy from driving around a track where I don't risk innocent folks' lives to streth the cars legs. All that makes me in the minority of Ferrari owners in my observations of mileage on these cars.

I largely say "meh, whatever, to each their own" and that is mostly how I feel about what others' do with their prized Italian status symbols. But, being honest, I do think its a shame. (To be clear, nothing to get worked up about or do anything about, but it rises to the very low bar of typing about it on an interweb chat room when bored). And the focus on little mileage props up prices (all else equal) and keeps the cars out of drivers hands (it certainly keeps them from being driven by the majority of owners). Same with proudly claimed "never tracked", as if driving the car as it was engineered and intended to is a bad thing for these cars. Of course the high breakage incident rates and costs are part of it, even if talking about that in the open here is frowned upon. Many of these cars are not driven out of fear of spendy repairs. Not all, but many.

This is where many people chime in with their "exception" stories and how that ain't them, but the mileage numbers on the vast majority of modern ferrari's say it is that way for the majority of owners. I also think that in-part explains the folks that get the latest and trade it before the warranty expires (in addition to the dealer games to stay in line and get your ego fix of access to the latest and greatest Italian status symbol that you won't hardly drive and certainly won't track in 90%+ of the instances). These cars are baubles to keep the wealthy entertained (mostly by getting access and spec'ing them, less time is spent owning and driving in many instances). Oh well, its just a hobby for most, and a business for ferrari after-all I guess.

 

My theory has always been that a lot of chaps spend their lives working hard and achieving goals. And, one of their goals and a symbol of success has been an exotic car.
When they finally get it, some are overwhelmed by what it takes to actually own the damn things. Insurance, maintenance along with being worried about parking it in normal parking lots, tickets and even the ride and noise. So, they bought it, achieved a goal, and just as quickly, they got it out of their system. Boom . . . off to the auction.

 

Alot of people view life as a game, and money(Or in this case limited edition Ferraris) is just the way to keep score.

Alot of people also just like to collect things. Baseball cards for instance have very little you can do with them, but people love to collect them. I've got some friends who spend a huge amount of time and money collecting craft beers, but they don't really seem to like to drink them.

 

Why would you have a under 200 mile FF?

 

The market being as it is, i think it's very hard for a lot of owners to resist the temptation to 2x/3x their money. Even for genuine long term customers. Maybe they come to realize that they wanted a $1.4m LaFerrari but they dont want a $4m one. Esp not one that will drop $20k per 100 miles driven.

Of course you have a bit of everything. People who are in it for the money and who order so many new cars that Ferrari wont black list them.

 

Too true. I have a mate who has ordered everything in the line-up just so that he can sell his 458 S-Aperta and not blow his chances on the next special edition. From Ferrari's point of view, makes sense to tag these people along as it shifts a lot of Lussos and Californias.

 

Because the dealer insisted you buy it even though you don't want it in order to get into his good books for an allocation on another car that you do want. Presumably then the owner did not appreciate the dealer's buy back price so off to auction.

I know someone selling a used 430 that they were asked to buy to get a future allocation. Not only has that 430 not been driven since purchase, it has not even left the dealer's storage facility!

 

My 355 was my first Ferrari. I was nervous and wanted something that I could resell just in case because I didn't know what to expect. Mileage, paint, records, etc...

My next Ferrari will be a higher mileage one that I'll drive the snot out of and not care about paint and that kind of stuff. I get pleasure out of taking it to events and chatting with people about them but I get the most pleasure when I drive it so that's what I care about the most.

I doubt I'll ever have the money to buy one of these special editions but if a miracle happened, I surely wouldn't stare at it.

 

OK I'll bite. See Post 24 at http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/vintage-thru-365-gtc4/88341-naked-mondial.html

Best regards,

Robert

 

A lot of people who have the werewithal and determination to get hold of a special edition Ferrari have a lot of things. Houses, boats, companies, wine, art, islands, whatever. They don't sweat not driving each of their many supercars on a frequent basis, just as they don't lose sleep over not seeing the Bacon tryptich because they haven't been in their Malibu home for a while.

That's just life. Complaining about it is like complaining about all those empty beautiful homes in any major world city. It's a great shame, but..that's the way it is. If I had a billion dollars I'd also buy every car I could, and probably not have time to drive them all, too.

 

Another pity the owner low mileage thread..

If the owner is a collector and has 10 other supercars..
And his personal allotment for time and leisurely driving is 2000 miles per year total..
10 cars driven 200 miles per year for 5 years equals 1000 miles total per car
What so hard to believe about that.


If you can afford 1 La Ferrari you can afford 10.
Thats Capitalism at its best.

 

Neither of these is a point I was making, fwiw.

I certainly don't pity the owner(s) that aren't driving the cars. Far from it.

And I figured the "has too many cars to put much mileage on them" point would get made....now that its here, I'm sure that does occur. But there are too many non LE, non Hyper car Ferrari's like 360, 430, 550 etc etc etc, with very low mileage and usage. I'd be surprised if those owners have more than 2-3 cars each. Sure, that will limit mileage on each car, but it doesn't say anything about whether the other factors pointed out herein aren't happening (fear of losing money if putting mileage on it, fear of losing money if it breaks from using it, etc).

Put simply, there are of course multiple reasons why these cars don't get driven. My wager is the majority of the non LE, non Hyper car low mileage examples is from those factors discussed in the thread vs. "I have too many cars to drive it".

 

Well played, Sir. Well played.

 

Mecum has 5 Ford GT's on the block; the max mileage is 2,100, the lowest is 107 miles.
Most likely explanation is "investment".......but 5 similar cars in one auction will put that idea to the test.......

 

I have one car and I drive less than 5,000 miles a year. If I had enough to have a LaF, it would probably be car #20 at that point in the garage. That would be 250 miles on average each with the same amount of driving.

I think that is one of the reasons for low miles, but also others like those wanting to keep the price up or just too much of a hassle to go out with it (low ground clearance or it's not comfortable to drive or get in/out of).

I'd love to have a nice collection of cars to drive enthusiastically around a track, but work and other hobbies take a ton of time...maybe if I was retired.

 

Well, at age 60, 13 years ago, when I bought my first and likely only Ferrari, I decided to screw depreciation, etc. and drive it. 105,000 mile later, she is getting her first new clutch, 5th(?) set of belts, etc. and will hit the road again for, hopefully, many more miles.

Steve

 

Poseurs then. And perhaps also overwhelmed by the car itself.
Better than crashing it, on you tube.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pgm8I0B8bY

 

My F355 was my first Ferrari, and I drove it rather cautiously for the first year to get a guttural check of reliability. Then I started road racing (HPDE) it and had a blast. I still own this car, and it will be my LAST Ferrari.

I always wanted a Ferrari since I was about 18 YO, and it took my until I was 48 to get one. I wanted a Ferrari to drive, and one that I would feel comfortable being seen inside. This is why I have never owned a Porsche. Porsches are great cars with great motors, long lasting, moderate maintenance,.....but since 1970 they have all failed in the "I would want to be seen in one" category.

I would love to get a more modern one, but the 360/430 never did anything for me, the 458 does. But I demand a stick, Ferrari don't make one, so no newer Ferrari for me, ever.

Sad.

 

Cool car! Not a "limited edition", yet somehow mileage-proof ...

 

So true, particularly since the car has no speedometer nor odometer so there is no mileage register.

Best regards,

Robert