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Fascinating, thank you. What staggers me is how the very well-off people who can afford the Ferraris put up with this nonsense. In my book the whole point of be

Fascinating, thank you. What staggers me is how the very well-off people who can afford the Ferraris put up with this nonsense. In my book the whole point of being rich is the increased freedom which surely includes not complying to idiotic requirements (and I don't mean the social and legal norms here). I guess an urge for status signalling is very hard to resist.

arethuza 2y ago
It's probably because of this "nonsense" that people see these cars as exclusive and therefore worthy of putting up with the nonsense...
technothrasher 2y ago
Having dipped my toes in the Ferrari world, there are three very different groups of Ferrari buyers- Status people, car people, and super rich people. The status people play the silly game with the dealers. The car people buy used from the status people after the new model isn't flashy any longer. The super rich people buy original era cars (before Fiat bought out the company in the 1970's) and use them as investments.
rsynnott 2y ago
Well, the main reason that you'd buy a Ferrari in the first place is status signalling, so if it's extra-difficult to get, that makes it _better_ at status signalling. Kind of a variant of a Veblen good; the presence of whatever the special model is in their driveway indicates that the person has completed the rich-person equivalent of throwing a ring into Mount Doom, so is impressive to people who are impressed by that sort of thing.
- jajko 2y ago
  Well, I've driven one basic (458) on a track circuit and let me tell you... If TCO would be below 1% of my net worth, I would buy it in an instant. It literally puts a smile on your face. And its a marvel in engineering compared to cars for regular Joes. But completely useless in regular traffic, in fact much much worse than normal cars. And all kinds of idiots want to semi-constantly race you. So sort of great deal on the paper, actual reality not so much.
  - theideaofcoffee 2y ago
    Same, I drove a factory-fresh F140 v12 GTC4Lusso straight off the line in Maranello while they were still being produced, and having background in German-built cars, it’s light years of difference. If I could have bought that same day I 100% would have. They’re that good.
    - gedy 2y ago
      They are amazing cars, but damned if they don't look like a hatchback Corvette
      - kjs3 2y ago
        I see it as the Corvette looking like (copying) the Ferrari. I've got a friend who drives one of those 'high-end' wishes-it-was-a-Ferrari Corvettes. Every time she drives up I say "shoulda bought a real car", and I get a dirty look.
  - gambiting 2y ago
    Not a ferrari, but I had a Mercedes AMG for a few years and it was exactly like that too - put a stupid grin on my face on the track or on the autobahn(5am drive at solid 160mph for like 30 minutes near berlin will always remain my favourite driving experience), but day to day it was awful - loud, uncomfortable, ruinous on fuel, and people wanted to race you constantly, every now and then people wanted to take pictures as well etc - which I imagine with a Ferrari it's even worse. Nowadays I settled for a completely inconspicious family car that no one would even look at twice, but which still has enough power to go fast if I want to. But owning "flashy" cars is definitely not for me anymore.
    - kjellsbells 2y ago
      I confess to having a soft spot for sleeper cars. Dont know what the equivalent term would be in Germany. But anything that looks convincingly like a family car but can do 0-100kph in a flash would qualify. Example: Volvo V60 Polestar wagon, or the legendary Ford Taurus SHO Im sorry to say that in my corner of the US, an AMG Benz screams man-child rather than car enthusiast, because they tend to be driven by idiots. Ditto any BMW M.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
alistairSH 2y ago
I guess an urge for status signalling is very hard to resist. Buyers who just want an exotic don't have to jump through Ferrari's hoops. There's the used market. Or, it's relatively easy to buy a new McLaren, Lotus, etc.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
TacticalCoder 2y ago
> In my book the whole point of being rich is the increased freedom which surely includes not complying to idiotic requirements... That's precisely why there are people flipping Porsche and Hermes Birkin bags for a living. There are certain rich people who have absolutely zero patience and won't deal with that car configuration/salespeople/six months of wait bullshit. So what do they do? They buy the car now, the day they see it brand new but second hand, at a price above MSRP.
- bubblethink 2y ago
  I think the parent's point is why would a rich person care about these items at all. If I were rich, I would hire my own artisan to make me a bag. Kind of like a bespoke suit.
  - JCharante 2y ago
    Yeah I'm not rich but most of my clothes are made by a third generation tailor. Sometimes if I see a style I like at a retail shop I buy it and bring it to them to duplicate. You get to completely customize everything and having control of the fabric and literally everything is so nice. It kinda makes me wonder why there's so many retail stores selling clothes when above a certain income it's just better to get almost everything bespoke.

arethuza 2y ago

It's probably because of this "nonsense" that people see these cars as exclusive and therefore worthy of putting up with the nonsense...

technothrasher 2y ago

Having dipped my toes in the Ferrari world, there are three very different groups of Ferrari buyers- Status people, car people, and super rich people. The status people play the silly game with the dealers. The car people buy used from the status people after the new model isn't flashy any longer. The super rich people buy original era cars (before Fiat bought out the company in the 1970's) and use them as investments.

rsynnott 2y ago

Well, the main reason that you'd buy a Ferrari in the first place is status signalling, so if it's extra-difficult to get, that makes it _better_ at status signalling. Kind of a variant of a Veblen good; the presence of whatever the special model is in their driveway indicates that the person has completed the rich-person equivalent of throwing a ring into Mount Doom, so is impressive to people who are impressed by that sort of thing.

jajko 2y ago
Well, I've driven one basic (458) on a track circuit and let me tell you... If TCO would be below 1% of my net worth, I would buy it in an instant. It literally puts a smile on your face. And its a marvel in engineering compared to cars for regular Joes. But completely useless in regular traffic, in fact much much worse than normal cars. And all kinds of idiots want to semi-constantly race you. So sort of great deal on the paper, actual reality not so much.
- theideaofcoffee 2y ago
  Same, I drove a factory-fresh F140 v12 GTC4Lusso straight off the line in Maranello while they were still being produced, and having background in German-built cars, it’s light years of difference. If I could have bought that same day I 100% would have. They’re that good.
  - gedy 2y ago
    They are amazing cars, but damned if they don't look like a hatchback Corvette
    - kjs3 2y ago
      I see it as the Corvette looking like (copying) the Ferrari. I've got a friend who drives one of those 'high-end' wishes-it-was-a-Ferrari Corvettes. Every time she drives up I say "shoulda bought a real car", and I get a dirty look.
- gambiting 2y ago
  Not a ferrari, but I had a Mercedes AMG for a few years and it was exactly like that too - put a stupid grin on my face on the track or on the autobahn(5am drive at solid 160mph for like 30 minutes near berlin will always remain my favourite driving experience), but day to day it was awful - loud, uncomfortable, ruinous on fuel, and people wanted to race you constantly, every now and then people wanted to take pictures as well etc - which I imagine with a Ferrari it's even worse. Nowadays I settled for a completely inconspicious family car that no one would even look at twice, but which still has enough power to go fast if I want to. But owning "flashy" cars is definitely not for me anymore.
  - kjellsbells 2y ago
    I confess to having a soft spot for sleeper cars. Dont know what the equivalent term would be in Germany. But anything that looks convincingly like a family car but can do 0-100kph in a flash would qualify. Example: Volvo V60 Polestar wagon, or the legendary Ford Taurus SHO Im sorry to say that in my corner of the US, an AMG Benz screams man-child rather than car enthusiast, because they tend to be driven by idiots. Ditto any BMW M.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]

alistairSH 2y ago

I guess an urge for status signalling is very hard to resist. Buyers who just want an exotic don't have to jump through Ferrari's hoops. There's the used market. Or, it's relatively easy to buy a new McLaren, Lotus, etc.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

TacticalCoder 2y ago

> In my book the whole point of being rich is the increased freedom which surely includes not complying to idiotic requirements... That's precisely why there are people flipping Porsche and Hermes Birkin bags for a living. There are certain rich people who have absolutely zero patience and won't deal with that car configuration/salespeople/six months of wait bullshit. So what do they do? They buy the car now, the day they see it brand new but second hand, at a price above MSRP.

bubblethink 2y ago
I think the parent's point is why would a rich person care about these items at all. If I were rich, I would hire my own artisan to make me a bag. Kind of like a bespoke suit.
- JCharante 2y ago
  Yeah I'm not rich but most of my clothes are made by a third generation tailor. Sometimes if I see a style I like at a retail shop I buy it and bring it to them to duplicate. You get to completely customize everything and having control of the fabric and literally everything is so nice. It kinda makes me wonder why there's so many retail stores selling clothes when above a certain income it's just better to get almost everything bespoke.