A Dose of Reality in Your Ferrari Dreams

When I get requests for Ferrari race cars I always ask: What do you want to do with it? The response is usually a long silence

by Mike Sheehan

Recently, one early-morning caller wanted an “F1 Ferrari.” That afternoon, another emailed wanting “a race car,” and a later caller wanted either a 246 GTS or a 550. While buying a Ferrari is an inexact science, I start by explaining that all Ferraris are in some way “mission specific.”

To the first-time buyer who wanted a Ferrari F1 car, I simply asked “Why?” and followed with a series of questions:

• “Have you every driven a Formula car of any kind?”
• “Do you have any racing experience?”
• “How tall are you and what do you weigh?”

With the response that the client was over six feet tall, on the wrong side of 220 pounds, and had never driven a race car, the answer was self-evident:

“You will not fit, and you’re over your head.”

Not for the faint of heart (or wallet)

Modern F1...