How do you treat people approaching you in your Ferrari?

Hey Speedy,

What exactly is a "milk dud"????

 

I treat them like any other person. They are no below me cause of what I have. If they are nice people, why be a jerk? I am always nice until they give me a reason not to be. I even give kids rides if they want. It is all in good fun.

 

Back in the late 70’s I was driving through Bridgehampton on Long Island on a summer’s morning. It was during the gas crisis and it was generally a bad time to find good cars on the road, but suddenly a shape jumped out at me, the same way a girl with a great figure sort of stands out from everyone else on a crowded street.
Parked in front of a battered wooden garage was a Type 35 Bugatti, it’s engine cover open on one side. I pulled over and ran across the road to have a better look, and as I did so the bunch of gray haired men that were standing around the car and shooting the breeze grew silent. It was kind of obvious that I was intruding, but the car was just so compelling I ignored their silence and took in the design and the working patina of the black machine. It was wonderful.
Now I’m a car guy; I’ve always been a car guy, so although I was only 23 I knew that the weakness of the engine lay in poor cooling to the inlet valves. The defect ultimately led to the head cracking - if you drove the machine enough, and the paint chips and oil streaks told me that this car was regularly used.
“Have you had any problem with the inlet side of the head yet?” I asked the group in general.
There was a visible softening, a sort of silent sigh of relief that their Saturday morning wasn’t going to be ruined by someone who saw a social symbol instead of a car and soon we were all having a great time. The owner was more than charming. He was a solidly built man with a thatch of gray hair and a beard to match. He had driven the car for years and knew every square headed bolt it possessed. He gave me his card and said that I should call by some time and have a look at the rest of his garage.
I never did, being young and thinking that there was always plenty of time to do things. I also didn’t go because after having later read his card I didn’t want to bother him. He was Charles Adams the cartoonist, you know the man who thought up the Adam’s Family. I guess that’s why there were so many great car drawings in his New Yorker cartoons, he loved them.
My point here is that you can’t be friendly to everyone because as those old boys knew not everyone approaches you with good intent. the interloper’s opening salvo defines the response. If they ask a question that will give us a common ground of interest then one has time for them; if on the other hand their first approach is intended to draw a social or financial division, well then what’s the point of being chatty?
The irony is that a Ferrari cost less to design than any Chrysler clunker and the tooling to make the machine probably cost less than any Ford made after McNamara left the company. In terms of manufacturing it is the poor kid on the block, yet because it’s unit price is so high it is seen by non-car people as the acme of conspicuous consumption, sort of like a Louis Vuiton suitcase on wheels.
So, after all that how do I treat people who come up to me? Ask me anything but how much it cost and I’ll be as nice as a New Yorker cartoonist. Ask me about the price and I might turn into one of his drawings.
Kram

 

My absolute worst experience meeting another car owner was some trailer trash in Lake tahoe NV who somehow scraped the $ up to buy a Viper.

This was back when the V1 1st came out so I am standing next to it admiring it with a friend & this schmuck is walking to the car & he yells out "Dont look at it if you cant afford it." UnFooking believable. Little did he know I could buy & sell his whole family in 1 hour.

On the other side with my Ferrari, I was at DMV with my 512TR race car back when it was just an unpainted shell with a roll cage & no engine & so schmuck looks at the car & we chat for a while then he says"I suppose you need the roll cage if you are a Dr or a lawyer" Implying that I couldnt handle my own car. What an Azz, Must be related the the white trash from Tahoe

I am always pleasant & friendly to everyone whether they are just a beggar on the street or a Billionaire.

I deal with everyonme as a human being I dont care how much $ they have or what they drive, as long as they arent dumbazzes

 

quote: "Dont look at it if you cant afford it." UnFooking believable. Little did he know I could buy & sell his whole family in 1 hour."

What an idiot! I wish I ran into more enthusiasts... Been mostly dummies lately...

 

I tend to agree with the general sentiment here; it's not about how much money a person has, but rather how polite, curteous, intelligent and knowledgable a person is. The more the latter qualities a person possesses, the more willing you are to want to give them the time of day.

 

I use a fly swatter to keep people away. JUST KIDDING FOLKS!
I love talking with people and letting them sit in my car, things like that. I remember how I used to get when I would see an F car. And if they're negative towards Ferrari for whatever reason I just talk with them for a few minutes and they usually come around.

 

Ive never had the oppurtunity to talk to an owner in person, but ive talked to the dealer near me for quite a long time once. I was glad he wasnt a jerk and tried to usher me out of the showroom. At the autoshow here in philly i talked to the watching the Ferrari pit for quite a long time, everything from the Enzo's brakes to the 612s engine to Schumacher and so on.

 

I call them over really close and then activate my car alarm:

 

Just send them to your locker, with the alarm system I have.

 

i kind of have the same problem when i drive my f 355 some people may be really intrested in it and approach the but some other people would look at it and walk away as if i commited a crime. but it's totally a the oppisite stroy when i drive my mondial people stay far away and look at it from a distance as if it's a regected ferrari if there is such a thing

 

Interesting thread.

The "elderly gentleman" mentioned in the original thread reminds me of Peter Giddings, who I had the pleasure of meeting two years ago at a Ferrari Challenge event at VIR. He was there with his 1932 Alfa and spoke with everyone with the same cordial and patient demeanor, young and old alike. A class act all the way.

 

I'm 16, no Ferrari...Can't really say I remember talking to any Ferrari owners, but heres what I've observed about "exotic" car owners....

A few weeks ago there was a red Lotus Esprit across the street from my friends house...we (total of 4 people) walked over and were looking at it....we werent close (3 feet away probably), it was parked out in the street, werent goofing around...just standing there...talking about it....
The owner of it comes out of the house, and I, being the one who knows most about cars and enjoys talking with people about cars the most, was about to say hello to the guy, compliment him on his car, and ask some questions about it, but before I could even say "Hello" or anything, he tells us to get away from the car! WTF? I just stared at him for a second like "You are a F'ing prick" and walked away.....If he was concerned about why we were standing there looking at his car (well then he'd have to be a complete idiot....you dont see many Esprit's around here...of course its gonna draw some attention), he could have just come over, said hello, and asked if we were OK or just chatted for a half a minute...and if we seemed like we were screwballs just goofing around, could have parked the car in the driveway....or just said something like "Feel free to look around the car, just please dont get too close to it or touch it"....
Honestly, thats about the worst experience I've had with exotic car owners...
One day me and two of my friends stopped by this guys shop (www.patsauto.com) honestly just to get a closer look at one of the Pantera's that he had sitting outside, but decided to ask if he did any work with Lamborghini's, cause my friend (who i was with)'s uncle has a Jalpa that he's looking for someone to do some custom turbo work with...The guy was REALLY friendly, told us all about his cars and what he does and stuff, showed us around the shop...started showing my two friends how to weld, while I was chatting with his brother who was trying to get his twin turbo S10 to run...I ended up helping his brother out with his laptop, they both said that I was more than welcome to come by whenever and hang around, watch them work, help them out, learn some stuff here and there...went home with the manuals for the software that the guys brother was using to tune the truck with, went back two days later and we got the truck running (pretty much)...Really great people, VERY nice, very friendly...it was nice hanging around there, surrounded by Panteras and other...fast...cars (and trucks)...
Sometimes I think that the people with the less expensive "exotics" (not all of them, but some of them) tend to be pricks (again, only some of them...)...the ones with the Vipers, Esprit's, Corvettes, etc....cause some of them think that because they have a nice car, theyre "above" everyone else....while the ones with the higher end "exotics" tend to be more friendly and happy to talk about the cars and stuff....dunno...just seems that way (after talking to alot of Z06 owners and some Viper owners, and talking to a Lamborghini owner, and the guy with the shop FULL of panteras and other exotic stuff...)
Yep....