What is your embarrassing Ferrari story?

This happened in my NSX, before there was a Ferrari in the scuderia.

About 10 years ago, I was backing out of a space in a parking lot with my then (very new) girlfriend Lane. There was a car blocking me and I casually told Lane "I'm going to hit them; that'll get 'em moving".

She was rather impressed that I was, indeed, a man of my word. I was rather depressed that I'd just accidently t-boned a car (albeit at a very slow speed). But for some amazing reason, the people in the other car just kept on driving. It was a rainy night, but I can't imagine that they didn't know they'd been hit...

The next night the skies were clear and I went outside to thank the appropriated celestial orbs

 

It's not exactly embarassing, but rather amusing... I was getting out of my F355 in Raleigh (ages ago) when an old guy drove by and shout..."nice car, that's the new Mustang, right??!!!"

I could only smile...

 

This one's got my vote so far.

 

What strikes me as odd with all these embarrassing moments in Ferraris at least, is the fact that they are Italian and anyone who knows Italian cars should realise that problems like these are not unusual. I suppose it comes down to the fact that generally the car is expensive and most folk think that a broken down expensive car is funny

 

that cgperry's is pretty damn funny LOL

 

Just pulled out of the building I work in and I was going past some hot girls that also work in the building that were at the bus stop. I had the revs high in first gear for the noise and then tried to go to second gear, well not being warm you can imagine the noise. I looked in the rear view mirror and they were laughing. The next day when I saw a couple of them in the hall they laughed again. I hung my head real low.

 

Gary, I had the same thing happen! About 1/2 mile from home at 1 AM, but I DID drive home on the choke. Europas have a pull button choke control that's easy to modulate; I got up to about 15 MPH in 1st and arrived home shortly, no problem. Turned out the throttle cable didn't break, just pulled out. I reinstalled it in a minute and went to bed with a happy grin that I made it!

Ken

 

I bought an 82 Mondial.

 

hhaha yeah that happened to me (not in a ferrari tho lol) but i was driving my car down a nice straight backroad on my route home and shifted hard into third and popped a shift cable and had to drive a mile home in third gear and up my driveway in third gear..whew i was gettin high off clutch after that LOL!

 

Did this when driving my first F-car - - picking up a friend's 308GT4. Stuck at 90° on a Munich dual carriageway with a 3 lane wide stampede of cars bearing down on me. Only way out was to mount the kerb and drive down the sidewalk to the next junction. Had to explain the front spoiler lip damage to friend. Felt like a pratt!

Or... how about on an old british roadster cruising through sleepy italian villages when the horn contact developed an INTERMITTENT fault and sounded the horn completely randomly and rapidly like I was saying "HEY - WAKE UP FROM YOUR SIESTA - I'M HERE AND I WANT YOU ALL TO NOTICE ME!"

 

I was pulled over by the police for an expired tag( a mistake) on a 4 lane highway at the entrance to the most crowded mall in town where all the traffic had to slow down for the mall entrance. Then after the cop realized his mistake and left, I got back in my 308 and tried to start the car but something in the ignition switch had broken and I could not turn the switch. So I had to call a tow truck and have the car towed in.

 

Shortly after I bought my car I stopped at a gas station to fill up. After I got out of the car, the alarm automatically locked the doors. My wife was inside, and the radar system picked up her movements and set off the alarm. Naturally, the key fob was inside the car....

After we got that sorted out, I pulled the alarm brain out of the car and threw it very, very far.

 

Listening to all this dribble about being embarassed about being human. I say screw 'em. Sure the losers are looking for the guy in the Fcar to screw up. They are just jealous. I'm sure all of these people that we are worried about how they think of us, never make mistakes.......NOT!

Every time I go to the track.....every loser wants to 'beat' the guy in the Ferrari. Maybe I've just been around Fcars for so long that all the BS that other people put on me just don't have an effect anymore.

Drive 'em, have fun and don't worry what other people are thinking, because chances are they would give their left testicle (or boob) to be in your shoes!

 

Can I have an Amen to that?!?!?!?!

 

Amen brother!

 

My most embarrassing moment was when I strutted out of a restaurant in front of a crowd and realized, too late, that my Ferrari was actually a Miata.

 

A while back I saw a guy on a side street with his prestine 308GTS jacked-up, changing a flat tire. His wife was standing by in her sundress while drinking iced tea from a mason jar.
I didn't think that a tire on a Ferrari shouldn't go flat or anything. I was just suprised to see the owner changing it himself and not waiting for AAA. I asked if he needed a hand and he said no thanks, so I continued on.
Joining this forum has changed how I view most Ferrari owners. I have alot of respect for most of them. This forum and this thread has shown me that you are actually normal people that make mistakes just like everone else and while your cars look absolutely perfect, they can break down just like any car.
Thank you all for sharing your stories.

 

bwahahaha! same here... except in an X1/9, not quite the same sort of F-car.

with mine, the horn button just got stuck inside, usually i'd flash my high-beams, but in a really low car with pop-up headlights of a 3-candlepower magnitude, the horn is necessary.

i meant to just give a quick toot to alert the guy, worst thing is, i have dual staged horns, a stocky horn, and another BLASTER that comes on after about a second, it sounds like a freight train because it's hard to be noticed in such a little car sometimes. so there i am driving behind this guy, in a matchbox car that sounds like an angry mack truck...

 

I think the "Stuck Horn" stories are the most embarassing. Darn you MOMO!!!

I remember one time when I still had my '70 510 and I had the FIAMM horns in it. I was working on the steering wheel that day and everything went fine. Then, in the middle of the night I was woken by the sound of the horns going off. Again, this was in the dead of night, outside, facing my garage door! I had no light there, so I opened the hood, reached into the area around the horns and pulled on the first wires I could grab. Amazingly I grabbed the right one(s) and it all stopped.
Closed the hood, went to bed.
Sheesh!

The offending car.....
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Hey us Mondial owners have to stick together. We have to start somewhere!!

Besides I love mine.

 

Well a mate of mine went to a club in his 355F1, had prime parking place right outside the door, went inside had a bit to drink and came outside to find he had left the lights on...flat battery...now you try find the battery on the 355 in 3.30am after a night of partying...the result the car was towed....

 

Its embarrasing that I did not have a Ferrari.......consequently while in college I had to take girls out in some real orgasm stoppers! I remember this one VW rabbit diesel with a sun roof sealed with tar to keep rain out. It also smoked more than Snoop Dog and Ricky Williams combined. While I am here I would like to issue a public apology:

Julie in Miami..... If you are reading this SORRY! I was car less at the time and my dad's mosquito killing Rabbit was the only way I could take you out . You are an angel for just letting me get to second base! God bless you!

 

Fufilling one dream and and still waiting to purchase a 512BBi.

Well the Prancing Horse logo is on it!
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My first was when Henry Tran asked me to take his 355F1 back to his house while he took his Dino home. Well... nobody had explained to me key remote situation when starting. I thought it was a "normal" security remote, lock and unlock the doors. So here I go into the 355 parked in full view of nearby cafe patrons, with all eyes on me as the lucky driver of the Ferrari. Needless to say I'm having difficulty starting it. The gear selector is in "N", its turning, but no fire. By now, everyone knows I having difficulty with this Ferrari. I call Henry on his cell phone, "Henry! How do I start this damn thing!" If you could imagine to my humiliation as he explained, all I had to do was press the remote button first... the car fired right up. Dohhhh!!!!!