Unfriendly Ferrari owners

Sadly its the same over here, but like you guys say, there's good and bad people everywhere. I have a 348ts which ok is not the pinacle of F ownership, but its mine and I love it. Whenever I'm out for a drive and I see another "nice" car I'll give them a flash and most are really cool and flash or wave back, but I've found the worst ones are Porsche drivers they never seem to respond.

If I'm out and parked somewhere and someone wants to talk and look at the car I'm only too happy to chat and show them around, but then I'd be like that whatever car I had.

Some people seem to forget it doesn't matter what you have or who you are, we are all still people underneath.

 

Did I miss something? Nuclear missiles?

 

Just yesterday, when done with lunch in downtown Marietta, I let two kids who looked like they were about 11 and 13 sit in my 328 while their dad took their photo. I don't mind doing that anywhere, anytime.

Too many of my Ferrari-owning brethren hide their cars. How else do you explain that in 7-1/2 years of living here I still have not seen another Ferrari on the roads of this county?!

(But then, if I had a new model, I'd probably be more secretive myself!)

 

Newport Beach Ferrari owners were mentioned before. Armen Gugasian lives in Newport Beach! Nice guy and he owns several Ferraris! There are plenty of exceptions.

 

There are a lot but a lot of azzholes who own Ferraris and give the rest of us a bad name, when I drive any Ferrari I drive it for the pleasure of it and I am always nice to people around me and even then I get called names and my cars get spit on every once and then, most people that ask questions to me about the car they approach me in a shy way, but when I am out in the nsx or 996tt they all come forward with no hesitation and ask real questions about performance and then how mich did it cost. With the Ferrari almost always is stuff like how much? are you rich? is your dad loaded? or do you really need a car like that? do you like to call atention to yourself? do you get laid often thats a chick magnet? Really sometimes I wonder what is it that makes non Ferrari owners either look up at this cars or either hate us the owners or even try to make fun of us for spending so much money on the mark when others are just as fast and cost a fraction.

 

Somehow when we have Ferrari-related "social events" around here, you never see the newest cars like 360s, 550s, 575s or 456s. Generally the newest cars that participate are 355s and TRs, and nobody is snobbish, either to those of us who own the "lesser" Ferraris or to the public at large. I've been on two drives with other Ferraris and again the new cars don't show up. And everyone is very civil towards one another. I know some of the guys are significantly wealthier than myself but we all behave as typical "car nuts". In my limited experience in the "club" I have yet to see anyone with an F-car speak down to anyone else, and I hope that continues. I'll be curious to see the behavior on the Monterey peninsula next month...........

 

When people approach me in my F-car I try to be as nice as I can. I answer their questions, let them sit in it, and open the lids.

One guy was really nice so I let him take it for a ride.
If you see him, ask him to come back.

Just kidding.

What I really hate is reverse snobbishness. You know when you just driving around and some kid in a hyper-tuned Volkswagen rabbit come flying up your butt, pulls around and blasts by you giving you the thumbs down.

Maybe punks like that turn otherwise nice people into snobs.

 

Mark,
Not to get personal or anything but......your Avatar. I mean.....have you seen a dermatologist ?

 

Take heart! I have a red 360 and take the time for a friendly chat with anyone who wants to do so regardless of what they are driving. Also, it helps to return the compliment if that person is driving a well taken care of "anything." It's all a question of upbringing, isn't it?

 

This weekend I was tooling around in my 308 when I noticed a local car club had taken up residence in a hamburger joint. I thought, "Cool, I'll cruise through and check out the cars!" Having owned and raced Ford products since the late 60's, I was drooling over a 427 Fairlane and gave the owner a thumbs up and a smile. All I got back was a blank look from the guy and his wife(girlfriend?). So I rolled on. There was a gorgeous Hemi CUda. THere were three guys standing around so I gave them a smile and thumbs up. Nothing. Found a beautiful '64.5 Mustang with a man and woman sitting next to it. I purposely sat there until they LOOKED at me (instead of the quickly turned glances). I smiled again, mouthed "nice!", and gave them a thumbs up. This time I got a sneer from the woman and the guy got up and walked away. Since I was batting 1000, I just drove off.

I think this goes to what a friend of my wife said after she told her I was getting the 308. "Why don't you just let him just go out and screw a big boobed blonde and get it over with - it would be a hellofalot cheaper!" What had been a dream of mine since 1975 (when I first saw the 308 in a magazine), had been trivialized into a midlife crisis, rich snob, excess. And I would be willing to bet the guy with the 64.5 Mustang had more $ in that car than I do in mine! I was sorry my 8 yr. old daughter had to see that kind of crap. But as soon as we hit the road and the revs were up aroound 6G, we both had big smiles on our faces again! (She is something else!)

I answer all questions and also let the kids (old and young) sit in it! Some of the nicest F guys I have met were at the Gathering at the USGP. I was not an owner at the time and they were/are terrific - hats off guys! I just want to do the same.

Jim

ps I asked for the big boobed blonde and actually got the OK. But then she asked how I would like the 308 cut in half.....darn

 

I'm sorry to hear that Jim.
In my neck of the woods I end up being one of the few 308's to show up as of late. The group is usually comprised of mostly newer cars, the oldest being 328's.

I was asked to lead part of an impromtu drive through my neck of the woods with my lowley 308. The group consisted of a 328, 348, 355's, 360 Modena, Spider, a new Stradale, 512TR, 512BBi and a newly aquired F40.
I have to say I enjoyed being passed by the F40 and 360 Spider at least 6 times. I have had a nasty black 575 on my butt for half a day on a previous drive.

I don't see these guys on a lot of these drives because they are busy and travel quite a bit. Pay to play. When they do show up it is a level playing field from the richest to the not so rich.

I think the key to involvement is activity, meaning DRIVING. Not just sitting around. We usually have a destination and it is usually for lunch. It ends up being one hell of a carshow sometimes and it gives us a chance to interact with the curious and maybe give a couple of kids a ride.

I think I am pretty lucky to be around a bunch as active as these guys. It's obvious that our drives are a great relief from the hard work everybody puts out in between.

 

..so if I got the car, and the blonde, it's a win win deal???

 

Take it from me, NEVER EVER EVER just drive through a meet of classic cars with an F-car. You will give off the WRONG signal. Might I suggest going again, but taking a diff approach? Park and eat at the burger joint
(I'm assuming it's a drive in) with your daughter, wear jeans and a casual shirt(for the love of god don't wear a polo style shirt and khaki shorts with leather sandals!). Nike shirt or Ford racing shirt (since you dig Fords) would be great. If you happen to park next to a car you that catches your attn, compliment it, and say you used to race them a lot in the day. You have to make connection with them first, because when they see you rolling right past them in an F-car they automatically assume you're to good to hang out with them. You just "tooling" by is evident of that. I go to a classic/muscle car meet reguraly, a classic Fcar will roll through, people will check it out, but we all guess what will happen next. They won't stop, and they will just drive off. Sure enough, we hit it right on the nail.

 

What gets me is this guy driving red, gold plated testarossa, with a really loud exhaust at about 30mph on a beautiful twisty road. How better to attract the ire of locals than this.

 

TOM B thanks for the medical advice, but my avatar is a photo of a bronze statue I saw on eBay that my wife told me I could only buy over her dead body. Very risky.
For some reason I connected with the thing. I think it looks like a Miniature Schnauzer I had when I was a kid.

 

Wow, that's crazy! I had the complete opposite experience here in rural Indiana. There is a Drive-In diner near where I live and one day my girlfriend and I drove my 308 there for lunch. The owner came out and told me he really liked my car and that he held monthly Cruise-Ins at his diner and that I should bring my car for the next event. So my girlfriend and I showed up and the place was packed with soley hot rods and muscle cars and only one other guy had a foreign car (an Alfa). They even had an Elvis impersonator. Everyone was really friendly and the owner took me back to the fridge and told me I could drink all the free beer I wanted. I had a great time...at the end of the night I even won a plaque for Best Cruiser

 

Jaime I know what you are saying as I used to "show" a Mustang years ago. HOWEVER, there was not place to park except in a shopping center that is not within sight of the burger doodle. I did not have the top with me so I was not real keen to leave it unattended and open. Heck I would have double parked in front of the Fairlane had they given ANY indication of being friendly. You just do not see a Tunnel Port 427 anywhere anymore! As far as my dress? I was wearing jeans and a t-shirt still grubby from putting up 150 bales of hay in my barn. I looked more like I stole the car than looked stuck up. I don't know. Maybe if I had been able to talk shop with some of the folks things would have been diferent. Hoffmeister, I live in a pretty rural area also. Plenty of good ole boys to go around, more trucks than cars! Maybe if I put a black Number 3 decal in my window, I would have been invited over ;0)

Har!
Jim

 

Those are the type of guys that buy a Ferrari to make up for their own physical/mental "shortcomings" and don't actually care about the cars for the art that they are.
Don't worry, he wrapped it around a tree shortly after he snubbed you. Karma will get to him.

 

I think that the money part is not relevant here. Being a jerk should not be justified because he spent more than you. Courtesy should not have anything to do with wallet size.

 

yup you seem to fit the profile.

 

Wow, when we had stuff in KC there was a 288GTO, several 360 spyders, an F-40, 355 Spyders, 328's, 308's and even a 275GTB....and everyone one was nice to everyone else regardless of which car was yours. I even got to drive the F-40 once, got to give my kid a ride.

 

I've encountered *******s in Ferraris, but percentage-wise it has been no worse than any other make/model of car.

 

I stopped waving to Harley guys after a few bad experiences with them (nasty looks, being given the finger after waving, etc.)... which is sad since some of my friends are Harley guys.

 

You will find way more arrogant and snobbish people driving Vipers!

I own a Viper myself and (probably arrogant too but not snobbish to where I wouldn't talk to anyone who showed an interest in any of my vehicles) when I am not in it, and try to talk to someone in a Viper they act like they are too good to talk to me.

I am sure there are alot of owners of different marques that have this attitude but the Viper folks just seem to stand out from the crowd.

I like Vipers, Corvettes, etc. but some of the folks who own them I couldn't care for.