The best write-up of what it's like to own a Ferrari I've seen!

Hi everyone, I had a mate email me this write up by Peter Spann (Brisbane property millionaire) at the Somersoft forums (http://www.somersoft.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19571&page=3&pp=15). I hope you enjoy (and agree with it ) as much as I did.
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WARNING - If you do not like gratuitous bragging and showing off – do NOT read this post because I am going for it!!!

OK, if it's one thing I know, I know Ferrari's...

Establishing Credentials on Ferrari’s and cars:

I currently have an F360 Spider in my Garage… In fact there's been one in my garage since 1995 - so 10 years of continuous ownership. I’m off to the Grand Prix this weekend in the Ferrari Corporate Box in the Paddock Club as a guest of Ferrari.

I have visited the factory twice. I have the 3rd F 430 Spider into the country on order and that’s only because I was away the day they announced they were taking orders and missed the email.

I have photos of me and Michael and Rubens and Jean Todt on my wall, and have sat in (sort of – too chubby to get right in) a real F1 racing car. (Girlfriend who is considerably thinner than me got right in!).

I have driven EVERY super-car currently available for sale in Australian and I still come back to the Ferrari. I have driven Ferrari’s in the European Club Sport races, and raced a F355 for 2 years, and driven them on roads in the US and Europe.

Ferrari’s rock. They are not old man’s cars (as somebody ignorantly accused) and even if they are you’d soon become young again. And yes, believe it or not many women do love them. I have had ample incidents where I have become instantly significantly more attractive because I was standing near my Ferrari and actually took out the keys. And I have had some women date me just because of the car – don’t start – I knew what they were after and didn’t care!

The sound, the smell (Connolly Leather), and the feel of the car is unbeatable. The handling is AMAZING – just like a go cart. The clink of metal on metal as you change the gears through the famous Ferrari metal H gate… all experiences you just don’t get with other cars.

And yes, I have ordered an SL65 and yes they are awesome cars but I owned an SL55 and everybody thinks they are worth about $150,000 (when they are worth $300,000) and no doubt that won’t change with the SL65. Like all German cars it is awesomely quick, very efficient, will never get you into trouble but lacks the one thing the Italian has in droves… Soul.

And people LOVE Ferrari’s - I have owned other cars as well Porsche, BMW, MB, etc and they are often vandalized and so on, but I have never had my Ferrari as much as scratched.

Police let you off speeding fines, but never in a Porsche, parking Nazi’s at the airport let you park the car in the 2 minutes zones, people stop to let you into traffic (try that in my BMW and you’d end up with a BIG dint). Hotels will always Valet park them for free. People have their photo taken in front of them. People buy you lunch. I’ve had one situation where I used to park the car at work and come back at the end of the day and it had been washed and polished by somebody I didn’t even know (and this went on for 19 months until I finally caught him 2 weeks before we moved office to thank him).

And people who own Ferrari’s are unique too… Yes some are w@nk#rs but most are genuine enthusiasts and always have an interesting story to tell. And when you get together at social events their partners are invariably good looking and intelligent – it seems the admiration of the same qualities comes through in both car and woman.

In the US 29% of buyers are now women too. You will NEVER see me wear any promotional gear on any clothes except Ferrari at GP time. I have been to the Monaco, Monza, Indy, and Chinese F1 to follow the team and every F1 driver in the world wants to drive for them. Even when they were losing!

Ferrari is not a car it is a way of life, a way of being, a state of mind. On the good days a Ferrari is just a wonderful car to drive, on the bad days a Ferrari is just a wonderful car to own because every time I get in one I feel just a little but better about myself.

They make people smile. To the little boys and girls who wave at you to the teenagers who get down on their knees and “worship” as you drive pass to the mums in the people movers who give you a wistful smile and the guys in other cars who look and drool, yes even the girls with the long hair who’ll date you just to get a ride in one. And that doesn't happen in any other car I own. Not one. People give you the forks as you drive past in a Porsche, ignore you completely in a MB and BMW's are as common as Holden's these days, but most people smil even just a little and often bust into spontanious happines and give you a little wave when you drive past in a Ferrari – everybody loves a Ferrari.

And if you don’t then I feel sorry for you. Not only are they an awesome automotive feast, they are beautiful to look at – a genuine mobile piece or art (and MB haven’t been able to achieve that since the gull wing). You may never want to own one but it’s hard not to admire the company for their technical genius and amazing branding – most people who support Scuderia Ferrari will never get to own one in their lives and yet they still weep when Ferrari wins a GP.

To answer the original question – cost of ownership… Surprisingly little (well at least compared to what everybody thinks it is). They have a 3 year, 100,000km warranty and a 5 year warranty on the Aluminum body. They have an annual check up which costs about $750 but their first real service is at 50,000km. Insurance is cheap ($3,500 per year – my Porsche cost $6,500 and the SL55 was almost $10,000) because they are never stolen (in fact the insurance company is VERY suspicious of every theft claim because of the rarity of the event). Why? Because the immobiliser is bullet proof so no joy riding, and there is no secondary market for the parts (all numbered) and no imbecile would risk the warranty by not taking their car to a Ferrari garage to fix it, so no professional theft. Most people don’t drive them – tragedy – so they are rarely crashed but when they are it is usually a right off.

Parts are expensive and if you do prang them it’s really going to hurt, plus Ferrari don’t keep much in stock so they time off the road is exasperated by the delay time in ordering the part from Italy.

Depreciation occurs most when the models are replaced - everybody not interested in the old model any more, but stabilises then and they rarely lose their value from their. Other than that during the model life cycle they can usually be sold for only a $10K to $30K less than you paid due to the extended waiting lists for most people, and the fact that in times of good economics (like the last 10 years) demand exceeds supply. As somebody rightly pointed out they can also appreciate in value. The maximum amount I have lost on a Ferrari when I came to sell / trade was $30,000 and that was on a car with 30,000 on the clock (like 150,000 in any other car) and the dealer knew that I had pranged it (not a big bang but a bang none the less).

Contrast that to the last Range Rover which I bought for $135,000 and sold 2 years later with just 7,500kms on the clock for $60,000 and my last 911 which I paid $265,000 and sold 2 years later with 9,000 kms on the clock and sold for $190,000 and you can see how awesome those figures are. One Ferrari, my Barchetta I bought for $605,000 and sold for $670,000.

Cars to me are a part of life and life is just a little bit better with a Ferrari in it. To all those guys and gals who want one I can only encourage you to go for it – keep dreaming – it’s worth it – and more importantly learn to scoff at people who say cars are only for getting from A to B – they will never know the joy and passion they are missing out on.

 

Thats pretty good....thanks
It seems he has owned quite a few nice cars, although I haven't read the best reports about the SL65 in terms of control/handling as it appears that the 612hp TT V12 is a bit too much for the car

 

well, i guess we can suffer through a bit of horn-blowing when it's disguised as an educational resource. nice little rant overall.

this part is an interesting perspective, and true of any low-slung gorgeous exotic i'd imagine. and the bit about insurance is something i hadn't considered before, worth thinking about.

overall a worthwhile piece of self-indulgent prose for those of us with red misty eyes in our future...

 

This little rant nearly brought me to tears...

I've had a goal of buying myself a Ferrari for my 25th birthday since I was 10 or 12... can't remember. It's been THE MOST BURNING GOAL in my life for as far as I can remember. Yes there are things like health, love, financial freedom, friendships, family, etc that are part of the goal sheet... but nothing can make me feel the way that damn prancing horse can. The raging bull comes close tho ...

I came so damn close it last year, but in a matter of weeks saw my business nearly fall apart and since, I've poured all my money, and not my money too, into the damn thing to ressurect it. Of course the idea of a Ferrari is on the shelf again, and I am running out of time (turning 25 in 4 months). I don't think I am going to make it.... damn that hurts.

Mind you, if some of you will recall, I put a deposit (which I lost) on a 4200 Spyder with Tubi and Powerchip. She was a stunner too. Looking forward though, I will go for a 355 instead. Not just for the "car"... but for the EXPERIENCE.

Having gone to Modena and Maranello last year, being at the factory, etc... wow. What a feeling... it's not even a choice really. The heart's made it choice many many years ago!!! May be that was a lesson for me with the Massa... something had to happen to ENSURE i buy a Ferrari instead.

*sigh*

 

Iggy on your 355 eventual purchase,what sort of insurance premium quotes were you getting?A friend of mine who is 28 and has 60%NCB was quoted on $4K with NRMA and $1800 with Shannons on a $50K GT4

 

On the Maserati (purchase price $180,000) I was getting $3200 premium from RACV.
my details are: 24yo, 60% n/c bonus, 1 speeding fine, no accidents, Caulfield garage storage

 

Thats pretty good.Insurance seems to be dearer here in Sydney.Did you get a quote on the 355?Was there any differance in price?

 

man, i'm 28 and my poxy little X is like $1500-1800 with shannons.

 

Yeah Shannons don't make sense sometimes.I pay jut over $700 for the GT4 and I'm 34.I pay just over $600 for the Merak as well.Then I sent my friend who is 28 and has %60NCB with a clean driving history and has two Fiats insured with them and they quoted him $1850 for a $50K GT4 and told him after he turned 30 it would drop down to aroun $1500.His wife who is younger than him just got a BMWX3 and has it insured with NRMA for around the $80k mark and she pays about $1300.Go figure!The funny thing when we went to Shannons was that even before they knew how old he was they initially said that they were'nt taking on anymore Ferrari's.Then when he said that he was an existing member they said alright.Didn't Shannons run ads of them showing how they insured all sports car and the ad showed I believe a 308GTS during the Melbourne GP last Sunday.At least here in Sydney they did.Another funny thing about insurance companies is that there is this company called prestige car insurance out of Sydney that in there ad in the Yellow Pages and on there webpage they clearly show a sketched picture of a 308GTB and when I called them about insurance the first thing they asked me was what car and after telling them that it was a Ferrari they said that they don't insure Ferrari's.I told the girl on the phone that they might want to change their logo http://www.prestige.com.au/

 

It's been a long time since I've read THAT much crap!
He has had a 360 Spider in his garage since 1995? Good effort as it didn't hit the market until 2000. He sold his 550 Barchetta for $65k more than he paid for it? Highly unlikely IMO. They now trade for mid $300's, which is a hell of a lot more than the $30k depreciation he says is the norm. Try $250k plus depreciation on that Barchetta. Even 360's now have a lot more than $30k depreciation. I should know, I'm selling mine right now.

Peter Span is well known in my industry. Total and utter crap.

 

I think he meant he has had a Ferrari in his garage since '95, not the 360 necassarily
As for the 550 Barchetta I haven't seen one that cheap before, the only one I found for sale currently is going for $475K
http://carpoint.ninemsn.com.au/DesktopDefault.aspx?UsedCarID=703319&TabID=3328&Alias=carpointau

 

I can tell you , if 360C says there are mid 300 Barchettas out there, they are out there and portraying the Spider as 10 year ownership

550s are going in the late 200s now and represent the best buys while Barchettas have a serious credibility problem of only being able to do 80kph with the top up, still love them though.

As for the police letting you off speeding fines, I don't believe this for a minute unless you know the cops as I have been specifically picked out of a line of "speeding" cars for the only fine but I do agree that you can get special treatment when parking the car but this is generally for self preservation for the establishment I'm going to.

 

"I currently have an F360 Spider in my Garage… In fact there's been one in my garage since 1995"

Sounds pretty clear to me

 

Yes I agree, but I am assuming he just worded it incorrectly If not then he obviously isn't quite the Ferrari fan he claims to be

 

either not a ferrari fan, or a poor writer. for a guy who seems to have paid for his ferrari's with book sales, which is the lesser evil?

 

Thanks JM. I know what a Victorian dealer paid for one 3mths ago and I was offered a straight swap for my 360 Modena by a Barchetta owner last Christmas. Trust me folks, mid 300's is the Barchetta wholesale market; but you can "ask" whatever you want in an Ad. An ad for $475k doesn't constitute market price..........

Cops have zero ability to do anything but apply the law these days. I now know why Moretti has such a dislike for authority after my dealings with them this week.

 

He originally made his money by starting a Pharmacy marketing group called "Fulllife Pharmacies". He also did the industry lecture circuit charging insane fees for everything he did. He had some good ideas; but nothing revolutionary or earth shattering. The group no longer exists to any large extent.

When all the suckers dried up in Pharmacy (he sent one of my opposition broke FWIW) He then turned to American style motivational speaking on investment (particularly real estate). These days he seems to write books.

I am obviously not a believer in the Peter Spann preaching.

 

Have you posted a story about this i have missed??

 

Nope. Long and unpleasant story that is still unfolding. Maybe I'll post details when it's over.

 

Sounds bad, ive had bullsh!t runins with the police and subsequent poor treatment before, i wish you the best of luck

 

i once talked my way out of running an oncoming cop car off the road at like 130 on the wrong side of the road over a crest on a bend. i'll never forget the cops opening line when he caught up to me: "What the F$#K was that manouvre?!!!??"

long story short it wasn't really my fault i was in that position, being menaced by bogans in a commonwhore, and they were really understanding.

they defected my POS car though.

 

You let them catch you? Shame on you.

 

If your dealing with NSW cops in any way, PM me.

 

well, my dream is to own a prancing horse by 30. And i am 15 this year.

 

sounds awefully like wally world to me, i' ve had drunks under the morphett st bridge (whilst counting bolts) tell better porky pies, this is the kind of person who should have the electronic wheel alignment on it's head cos he has a bent stabilzer...