Ferrirus Ownerus - A Classification

Ferrari Owner Classification

Ferrari owners come in many forms, from loud and obnoxious to quiet and thoughtful. As part of my one year with a Ferrari I decided to try and classify the different types of owner I have met. While there are exceptions most owners fall within one or a few of these groups. This is my first pass. I reserve the right to make changes later.

The Enthusiast – Most of the owners I have met are enthusiasts. They bought the car because the love cars and driving and for them a Ferrari represents pinnacle of driving machines. Most enthusiasts perform some work on their cars and take them to the track. The enthusiast is likely to own more than one Ferrari, either simultaneously or over time. There is a slippery slope between Enthusiast and Geek.

The Attention Seeker – This group bought their Ferrari because they want to be in the spotlight. These are the red and yellow spyder owners who add fancy rims and park in front of coffee shops. Well to do attention seekers always need the latest Ferrari. The Attention Seeker shares traits with The Competitor. If they were birds they would be peacocks.

The Geek – The Geek bought the Ferrari because they are totally in love with the nitty gritty details which make a Ferrari a Ferrari. They know everything about the cars, they work on their cars, and are partial to the older cars. Cars with carburetors which, in The Geek’s mind need constant tinkering. The folks are a blast to talk with but only for a short while. These folks are likely to be engineers.

The Competitor – Competitors buy cars to keep up with friends, family, or the Joneses. They like to have the latest car, or if not the latest one which is more current than those folks they are competing against. These folks show up at track days and events but only because they feel obligated. For them the Ferrari is an accessory. They are the most likely to have a Ferrari hat.

The Compensator – This group contains the insecure Ferrari owners. These folks bought the car to compensate for something missing in their life. This group contains the people who bought the car to gain entry into a semi-exclusive club but when they get in they stand around at the edges.

Keyword Searches

I am not working today, hence the large number of posts. For grins I was reviewing the search terms that brought some of you to this blog. I have picked out a few I like.

#1 “Will I get more dates with a Ferrari” – Probably not.

#2 “Ferrari Slow Down Light” – It really does mean slow down, it also means take the car in for service as your catalytic converter temperature is too high or the sensor reading it has malfunctioned. This is one of the most popular searches that lead people to the blog. Not a good sign.

#3” Bird struck Ferrari Enzo windshield” – don’t know how to help you with that one. I had a pigeon fly into my truck antenna once. No damage to either party.

#4 “Can a tall guy drive a Ferrari” – I am pretty tall and I can drive the 355. 360s and 430s are more comfortable.

#5 “Does a Ferrari have frunt of wrire drive” – This is my personal favorite. No, anyway I don’t think so.

#6 “Ferrari and mid life crisis”- All I can say is they go perfectly together.

#7 “Ferrari leather thing” – I searched in my car and could not find one. I will ask other owners.

#8 “Ferrari Melt” – I have tested it and they do not melt in the rain or snow.

#9 “fritter machine” – Can’t help you with this one. I assume you did not find anything helpful in my blog.

#10 “How to make a maserati sound like a Ferrari” – trade it on a Ferrari.

Next Track Day

I have signed up for another track day. While I felt I was finished tracking the 355 watching Dad do his Pro Drive day made me want to get back on the track so when the opportunity to do another Ferrari track day presented itself I took it. I am planning on bringing both the Porsche and Ferrari. I will drive the Porsche during the slower early sessions then shift to the Ferrari as things pick up. The mechanical grip provided by track tires on the 911 is fantastic and I am looking forward to seeing what it will do on the track.

My goal with this track day is to work on breaking and car balance. In my past two track days I consistently applied the brakes too early and too soft. I want to work on braking hard then rolling off the brake as I transition into the turn. I also want to work on carrying more speed into the turns.

Car Show and Wine Drive

Ok, I admit it, the car show was fun. It was nice to talk with friends there and look at some of the cars. I also enjoyed the parade of moms and dads with their kids in jogger strollers who were engaged in some sort of criterium through the shopping center. At one level I can understand why a shopping center like Bridgeport Village presents a good workout space for parents with small kids. It is clean, safe, and there are several coffee shops, but it still strikes me as wrong. Get out of the shopping center and exercise in one of the great parks that litter Portland.

On Saturday and Sunday Dad got a chance to drive the Ferrari. Once he got used to the width of the car it was not too scary for me and we did not hit any curbs or bumps too hard. On Sunday we took the car on a nice drive into the Oregon wine country and Dad had a chance to put the skills he learned during his Pro Drive class to work. The change in his driving was clearly apparent and reinforced my decision to send my kids to driving classes when they are old enough.

Ferrari Ownership Experience Take 1

Time to try and encapsulate my Ferrari ownership experience into one sentence. Without me telling you there would be no way for you to know that I typed that sentence then sat and stared out the window for quite some time. That did not work so I wrote a bunch of words on a white board. Here is what came from that exercise. Scary, eye opening, hopefully repeated, exhilarating, fulfilling, gratifying, exclusionary, frustrating, disappointing, embarrassing, and expensive. My Ferrari experience has been like riding on and living in a super exclusive rollercoaster. Ultimately, after the rush, after all the hyperbole owning a Ferrari has its ups and downs, pluses and minuses. For me the pluses outweigh the minuses, not by a huge margin but by enough that I want to repeat the experience.

For me no “Ferrari Lifestlye” emerged. Honestly, I am grateful, if my character was so shallow as to be redefined by a car I owned for a year I would be disappointed.

29000 miles on the Ferrari

Went on an ice cream run last night and watched the miles in the car turn from 28999 to 29000. The miles rolled from 27999 to 28000 during the Ferrari track day. I know there is nothing special about 28000 or 29000 but I am glad I was doing fun trips in the car when those non-milestones were hit. That said, my original goal was to put about 6000 miles on the car this year. I am not going to be even remotely close. I might rack up 3000 but who knows.

My dad will be in town next week and I expect we will drive the car around a bit. He has said he wants to buy it even though he has not see it, sat in it, or driven it. I suspect that after driving it he will want to buy it but will find the cockpit too uncomfortable and the ride too stiff. It’s OK with me either way. If dad buys it he gets a great fun car and I will sell it to him at a bargain price. If dad does not buy it I get to keep it longer and sell it to someone for more money.

If you are in Portland and you read this blog I am planning on bringing the car to the Bridgeport Coffee and Cars event next Saturday. I am going to go this Saturday but think I will take my 911. Say hello if you can stop by.

Coffee and Cars

I know I have been neglecting my posting recently. Two reasons, first I have done nothing to merit note taking for the book. Second, I have been focusing my writing efforts on the book. On Saturday I went to a cars and coffee event in a suburb outside Portland. I took the truck as Christina and I were going to a nursery and there is little room in a Ferrari for plants.

What struck me most about this trip was not the fancy cars but the lack of traffic on the way there. Sure red Ferraris and Lamborghinis in every color of the rainbow are wonderful but open roads on a Saturday morning in a major metro are vastly, galactically better. I know this is an unpopular view and if I were running for president I would not be able to say it but I think our current gas prices are great. I know it is more painful to fill up not but think of all the good things that are related, directly or tangentially, to high gas prices.

1. Fewer cars on the road
2. Reduced green house emissions
3. Fewer traffic accidents
4. Increased investment and innovation in new sources of fuel
5. A fitter happier population
   

Ok so I am stretching on the last one but if people walked or rode bicycles more they would be incrementally fitter. I am just guessing they would be happier.

I hope gas prices stay high. I hope both presidential candidates abandon their sillier ideas to decrease gas prices and focus the conversation and their efforts on renewable sources of energy.
Ok enough of that. So the coffee and cars event was a nice chance to look at some beautiful cars while drinking a coffee. I am planning on going next week and taking either the Ferrari or the Porsche. I still do not fully grok the purpose of the event it was fun to be there with my daughter.