Passion vs Posers

You could not have said it any better. Same in economy. There are needs and wants. Ferrari is a want. Some are passionate about it and could care less what others think of them and others see as a status symbol.

 

Most of my friends who have bought new are not passionate about the car but like the attention. I was lucky when I bought mine because he was a doctor and wanted a new 360 so the car had good maintenance under warranty.

I think you nailed it though some of the 355 have bee owned by people who fix problems by pulling out light bulbs in dash and just wanted the attention with ,minimal cost and then there are the people who want the car to run the way it should and look nice.

Its their life and I do not condone it, but when looking for one you need to be a bit picky or just by the one you can afford and slowly fix it so it works properly.

For myself I refrained from a sports car till I could afford my dream and at the time I did not like the 360 and the 430 was not out and by the time the 458 was out I had one.

I like them all just likemsome more than others.

 

I just said what you said only you need an hour to read my post. Ha ha

Nicely put.

 

Ferrari ownership boils down to passion or posers? - Sorry but that's a bit of an oversimplification!

For a start off you've missed out investors.

These are people who buy Ferrari's (as well as other marques), and then mothball them for years on end in the hope that one day they will be worth a lot more money in the future.
They're not particularly passionate about Ferrari - It's just a means to an end, and they're not posers because they never drive the car to pose around in.


Then there are the curious owners.

These are general petrol-head/gear-head's who are not passionate about Ferrari's in particular, but love cars in general and decide to own one out of curiosity. Some maybe posers, but plenty of the curious owners are genuine, down to earth car lovers who want to see what the deal is with driving a Ferrari. They own one for a few years, drive it as intended, and then move onto something else.

Some people are happy to stick with one brand such as Ferrari all their lives, whilst for others, there's a massive smorgasbord of cars out there to be tried, and only a short time in which to try as many as possible.

Ferrari ownership: Passion Vs posers? - It's a bit more complex than that!

 

This is a good post

 

I do get where you're coming from - In general, those who buy a Ferrari because they specifically like the marque and actually use the cars can be broken down into the two groups you mentioned:

Passion: Owners who love owning a Ferrari and drive it fully, as Enzo Ferrari intended his cars to be driven - Pushed to it's limits and flat out wherever possible.

(And this can include those that have a passion for cars in general that I have mentioned - They too will drive the car as it was intended to be driven).


Poser: Those who amble around at slow speed, wanting to be seen driving a Ferrari, or drive at speed in inappropriate places (usually where there are large numbers of people to see them), to show off their car thinking that they're some kind of driving hero.


With My 348, I've always fallen into the first category: Passion.

I've always avoided driving through the towns and cities and have instead headed straight for the country roads where there are some great, twisty roads to fully appreciate the car.

The downside to driving an older Ferrari as Enzo Ferrari intended though, is that all too often you encounter some complete knob in a modern day, performance family saloon, who, on seeing a Ferrari being driven fast, suddenly has to try and race it, to try to humiliate the Ferrari driver and get some sort of sad man's bar room bragging rights about how they outran a Ferrari.

All you can really do in that situation is let them go on their way with their pathetic moment of glory. Sadly, on occasions though I have found that even if you try to let them go on their way, they refuse to!

I've had people overtake Me (sometimes in incredibly stupid places!), and then slow down massively in front of Me to try to tempt Me to overtake them so they can then re-overtake Me again (Which is when I find somewhere to pull in and wait for them to p:censored:ss off up the road), and I've had people over take Me, go racing off up the road and then pull in somewhere, waiting for Me to pass by, and then they come racing up behind Me so that they can overtake Me again! - It really is quite pathetic and can completely spoil a nice days driving!

 

Why not? We have so many divisive labels for people in this country (USA) as it is, why not add labels to Ferrari owners as well and start stacking them in order of superiority. What a crock of s***.

 

Those that buy one because it's a Ferrari do so because of the passion they have for the brand

 

Everyone is a total looser except ME ME ME LOL

 

I've noticed the same thing and even said as much. When you see empty suits like justa beaver or jennifer low-pez in an exotic car you know they didn't spend hundreds of hours reading up on the marque before making their choice.

The same could probably be said of other high end luxury items. For example, there are people who collect art because they truly love it to the core of their soul, and then there are people who hang nice pieces on their wall in order to appear sophisticated.

I tend to equate passion with technical knowledge, but that's not always the case. I've met owners at dealership track events who have almost no technical understanding of their cars, but who love them just the same. And I've also met some of the other group of owners-- the ones who are clearly there just so they can brag that they "raced their Ferrari last weekend”.

As to Phil's comments, he makes some interesting points but I don't think it's all that complicated. Some investors think of cars as commodities and some people who truly love cars treat them as investments. And obviously you don't have to own a Ferrari to be a passionate car guy-- AFAIK Jay Leno doesn't own a single Ferrari, yet he's clearly a car guy.

But back to what I'm thinking that Buddy was saying, there are people who are moved by the Ferrari ethos and mystique. Many of them are not owners, but they still feel the passion. And there are owners who bought based on that passion, but there are also owners who bought because of how (they think) driving a Ferrari makes them look, as opposed to the way it makes them feel.

 

Yes, Tim. You are special.
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I've personally witnessed under 25 year old "Asian students" (three of them) pick up three brand new Aventadors....they dressed just like Justin Bieber....were chain smoking and...and....and I'm jealous....

The off-shore money floating around Vancouver, B.C is staggering....just google it. Look up "Vancouver super cars seized" or some variation. Fascinating. Do you think these people actually have a passion or is it a good old fashion pissing contest? You be the judge. Oh... Disclaimer here, I'm not a racist at all! I do a lot of work for this community with ZERO problems so far.

 

+355.

Great post and congrats on your F355 Spider, Buddy!

It's a worldwide thing: there are car enthusiasts and irritating posers in every culture and country. Don't know the proportion between enthusiasts and posers, but I like to think that most owners are genuine enthusiasts. I know that Ferrari owners' clubs are made of enthusiasts and I'm yet to meet a poser. Thankfully!

Kind regards,

Nuno.

 

Guess I'm consistently, passionately curious. In the sporting category, over the years I've owned a '92 VW Corrado VR6; '89 Porsche 964 C4; Tesla Roadster 2.5; and now, my '95 355 GTB (making me its 3rd FChat owner). For sure, for me, the 355 was a deeply-researched purchase. I spent as much as I could budget for the most fulfilling, daily-driver angst-free driving experience and cleanest history possible. But I didn't grow up thinking Ferrari was my end game. I just love sports cars – and I've ruined my oldest son's prospects by transferring this genetic defect to him.

Every brand is going to fall out along the lines discussed in this thread already, I think. But something about Ferrari always turns heads –*whether that's your intention or not. As many others have remarked on this site, my 355 makes even a short drive around the countryside so much more of an *occasion* than any of those other cars I've owned. And that's been the best reward.

 

I am not yet a Ferrari owner, but I am very passionate about the 348.

I do have some friends who just don't "get it" when I tell them I want a Ferrari 348 someday. One or two initially suspected that it was to fulfill some sort of compulsive consumer need or to show off the exotic badges of the car, rather than a passion for what the car is, the history behind it, and what it can do for the owner to make them feel connected to driving in a visceral way that isn't satisfied by modern cars. After trying to explain the point to them, I think they've realized that I'm not a wannabe poser, but I'm pretty sure they still don't fully understand the allure and probably never will. That's ok though, I'm not trying to get into Ferrari to impress anyone else - the whole point is that it'll be an enjoyable experience to own and use a car that's quirky and fun.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

Some would argue that I just struggle with brevity.

Me too!

All the best,
Andrew.

 

I'm always looking for folks who'll take the depreciation hit for me.

Please note the ones with 488s and I can hit you up for the list in a couple years?

 

Cars I am currently looking for to share my garage, Old Caddy Superfly car and a model T surviver car

 

Clyde, you are a smart man. I am on the same page.

 

Not sure where I fall: long time enthusiast aka car nut. Always wanted a Ferrari, but more of a Porsche guy (until I drove my 348). Do not mind being seen in it. I bought it right, in hopes it will increase in value as they appear to be. Will do most of my own work, but will pay others when I feel lazy and want to keep the cogs of exotic car commerce churning. Would never buy new....but if my income bumped again, I might spend my kids college on the down payment of a 430.

I wish my 348 was a 355 and that is only because the 355 is the most beautiful modern Ferrari ever built and I want the guys on Fchat to really like me. [emoji16]


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