Special Editions not so special?

I think except very early on, Ferrari always had a "handbag for men" component. Or more elegantly, a cachet of exclusivity and prestige. I agree Porsche has done the best job at maximum utilitarian offering. I would be a liar if I never asked myself asking myself why don't I buy a 911?

I argue by most objective measures Porsche assuages the left brain, but cars to me are more than numbers and track times. I enjoy the theater and sense of occasion that no Porsche* comes close (even turbo models) when driving on the street.

That said, I've always respected and admired folks that love other marques, in the end, it's not what's the best make out there, it's what's the best make out there for you. So far, no make has even come close to the smiles that Ferrari has given me. For that I'm grateful.

*some exceptions such as the 918, Carrera GT, etc.

 

Im not a porche guy, never owned one, drove a few from a 2.7 Rs some 964,s a carerra Gt and 997 Gt3. Imo the 997GT3 was the best to drive and the carerra Gt out of this world in speed design and build.

I was more refering to porche offering Gt3s and Gt4s cars you can buy. As opposed to ferrari with the speciale and pista making the type of car I do desire, but its unavailable and the owners are obsessed with appreciation, ie the focus is on investment not driving. IMO as a result ferrari is lost. Porche has a large track contingent who run Gt3s and Gt4's, not so with ferrari. IMO the place you can run fast today is the track.

Ferrari had it right with the 1500 F40s, they made enough to satisfy the market while keeping some tension. It was also a great raw car, then they lost the plot in making limted cars for investment, the enzo and laf being low points, ie heavy cars whose performance was easily supeceeded by later models, cars devoid of true character.

The 288-F50 were something truly special.

The CS-Pista should have been just regular options that enthusisast could buy, like say you can buy a z06 vette instead of the regular one, hey ferrari might have retained a few non handbag customers.

Like you ferrari is my thing, although truth be told if it were newer latin metal it would probably go lambo as it reminds me more of what ferrari used to be, and you can actualy buy the car.

 

You do realize that Ferrari will void your warranty if you track your special edition track car? They will also void it for any other number of reasons that you would assume it was designed for. If you like I can post all the small text describing why they would like to void your warranty. Porsche. McLaren not so much. Lamborghini will void you as well as their brakes are not suited for track and there have been some accidents.

 

My dealer has invited me and other Performante owners to track events using our own cars. Furthermore, no documentation that accompanied the Bill of Purchase and Sale made any mention of the warranty being voided in the event the car was tracked.

 

I understand what you're saying, but hard to offer a 100K-150K Boxster GT3-GT4 equivalent when the cheapest car already sets you back 250K.

They do offer tracking and racing. It's just it costs a lot of money. It's called Corse Clienti and Ferrari Challenge. If you have deeper pockets you can compete in IMSA in GTD/GTLM.

Ferrari used to have more affordable racing cars and programs, it was called Maserati before they split.

 

Same here, very interesting - not saying @Gh21631 is wrong - in fact would love to learn where you got the information? I wouldn't be surprised sadly.

 

My info is from some friends that had their warranty pulled when running at VIR and had some problems. Two guys in perf had brake failures, one had a pretty bad accident the other not so bad.

 

I think youre missing something here. Im talking fast street legal cars, which if you really want to use them in 90% of countries means going to the track, thats not racing. Or put in reverse, a 458 hell a 360 already has way more go than can lets say sanely be deployed on road. So whats the point of a Cs or speciale beyond bogus manufactured collectability/asett apreciation if you cant readily get one, theyre less useable on street and the regular car is already beyond what can be deployed on street. Theyre essentialy produced as instant collectables and most of this thread is obsessed with numbers produced and collecatbility, as opposed to really using the car.


Essentilay the 288 f40 and cs reinvented what the 250 swb was and created new genre , one ideal for trafficked speed limited roads; the street legal track capable car. While many companies will put that moniker on their cars, very few are really capable of it, and the masters are Porche.
A Gt3RS like a speciale is as optimzed for track as a street legal car can reasonably be without being overly harsh. Yet for those who really like to drive, (which in the 2ks in a exceedingly fast modern means the track,) ferrari offers nothing you can actualy buy, unless youre an "investor" who dosent want to put miles on their car . I dont mean a speciale or whatver is not great on track(for a street lagal car) I mean the car one would really like to buy (speciale etc) is not purchaseable, and that is because ferraris priorities are all about brand management, ironic as they are essentialy hollowing it out.

Yeah we love ferraris, we certainly love ferrari for what it was, and some of their new cars are certainly desireable, but theres a reason so many have decamped elsewhere.

Porche cred rests on the Gt3 Rs, that gives the rest of the 911 line cred, and by extension the rebadged vw suvs cred and premiums.

 

My dealer has sponsored track events as well. Would be interesting to hear the response in court as to who sponsored the event that caused the accident and who voided the warranty?

 

bingo!

 

Porsche is very very good at this game of milking customer. They are the master that Ferrari, Mcl and Lambo can learn from. They keep milking the myth of last NA engine with manual...

 

agreed. That's why I am stopping at 458 and FF, until something really knocks me off the chair.

 

I agree with you on spirit. Yes, Ferrari today is not best bang for buck on track. But neither is the other big names. There are niche companies that do fill that void.

New Ferrari are very much a package offering that caters to HNW and UHNW.

 

Dreaded 458 brake failure issue?

 

Well we all know that when the top goes down... The price goes dow... Ohhhh wait. The price goes up.

Historcally they are always more money

 

Lol. Don't worry Porsche isn't going to enjoy the same volume of cars they did this last time. So many speculators ordered gt cars and got burned. It won't happen again. Porsche punished the speculators by over producing and pocketed lots of profit. It won't be repeated.

Also Porsche guys used to drive their cars...

Now they order 12k dollar paint to sample colors in the color of baby poop and then brag about their leather air vents.

Porsche guys have become bigger posers than Ferrari guys

 

Actually I bet they do, I believe it will be easier this time around to get a GT car than it was for the 991s.

 

I think we are saying the same thing... But just a little different.

I think getting 992 gt cars is going to be much easier. Markups will be very little in the beginning unless they announce a limited run.

But I also think that their volume will be down because so many people ordered multiple cars thinking they were going to make money.

 

Except at any track day there are lots of Gt3s and Gt4's, and lots of heavily moded caymans and older 911's, so not all poseurs. Porche like ferrari produces for the poseurs, but they also to your point produced enough to get out of specualtors and be able to deliver new track worth cars to some drivers too. Ferrari should do the same.

 

As Preuninger said, porche is not a hedge fund, they build cars. Long term health of the brand is to get the Gt cars into the hands of people who will use them, ferrari would be wise to do the same..

 

I agree with you with Porsche.

However I disagree with you with Ferrari when it comes to the sports cars.

But this is why Ferrari is building an suv.

Ferraris branding vs Porsche branding is completely different. Im not saying one is better than the other... But they are completely different business models and can not be run the same.

I think Ferrari is going to be much better off than Porsche as electrics come in

 

Two very different marketing models.
Each works for its customers.
Frankly I dont want to see a Ferrari on the streets a dozen times a day.

 

seeing a ferrari out in the wild was the best experience ever...now i see them everywhere where i live.
what i do notice is im more excited to see a dino or a 355 than i am a 488 or 812.

 

The dealer games model hasent worked for its customer either,
Dosent work well for this no longer customer, or the 4k customers who now buy Mclaren as an alternative.
Wouldnt imply increased production, just production mix. Theyre already way past 10K cars so you;lll be seeing more. They also wnat tos ell more cars.
Now if you mean one on every street because the cars actualy get used, Im all for that.
BTW the streets of london have plenty of ferraris, they look great parked and really perk up a road.

I guess theres two types of customers, drivers and...people for whom owning a ferrari meanbs a whole lot of other things. To me a ferrari is an asthetic and driving choice, all the other wealth sucess social status aspects etc are negatives, and have negatively impacted the product development.

If ferrari is an "authentic" brand it should serve both customer bases.

 

over several hundred thousand miles my average speed across a few cars is 26 MPH. The speed limit in most of the US is 55 mph. Ferrari doesn't warranty and cover damages if the cars are used on the track. so can you tell me what does being a driver mean when we are referring to late model ferraris? That you are a driver if you choose to drive your car around town?