"Shady Balkan Subject, Drives an Alfa" (bularmy)
08/14/2013 at 10:02 • Filed to: RIP ENZO FERRARI
1
3|
"Shady Balkan Subject, Drives an Alfa" (bularmy)
08/14/2013 at 10:02 • Filed to: RIP ENZO FERRARI | 1
| 3 |
I am not the biggest fan of Ferrari as a brand. Actually I really love only three of their models - the 288 GTO, Testarossa and F430. Yeah, I know, I am not a true Jalop, because no love for F40. But the man behind the company is another thing. Enzo Ferrari is a person which has my utmost respect. 25 years after his death, today 14th of August 2013, Ferrari is on one hand the same old company about the most exclusive and fast cars and on the other just a brand that somewhat lost its identity in the wasteland of things that are slapped with the Prancing horse logo and name.
But back to the Enzo, his successor Luca di Montezemolo says:"It is impossible to describe with few words what Enzo Ferrari means to me. I owe so much to him, his courage, his talent always looking forward in the future. He did it, in the worst moments in professional and personal terms. I often think how lucky I was to know and work with someone like him. Extraordinary man who made Italy shine throughout the world. When I have to make important and difficult decisions I find myself instinctively looking at him, and wonder: what would he do in the same situation?"
Ferrari is a controversial person, he had always something to say: "Aerodynamics are for people who can't build engines", he replied to driver Paul Frère as to why his Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa had a limited top speed on the Mulsanne straight at Le Mans. Or:"The client is not always right . " Actually he hated in some way his road cars. For him they were just a mean to earn him money for the F1 program where his heart was. And he really did it. Ferrari is the most successful F1 team and the motorsports would not be the same if someday they leave. And for some strange reason, I think, if Montezemolo could do it, he would leave F1 and pump the money to do another really fast Ferrari to sell to his useless asshat clientele.
And in my mind this is the problem with Ferrari today. Enzo would have never allowed Ferrari to fail so miserably in F1. He would have died trying to be the best at the track. Luca does not seem to care very much. He is happy that every year he is selling more and more Ferraris to persons that will never bring them to a track and will drive them with 40 km/h down the street to show that they have the money to afford one and in the rear case when they try to go fast, most probably will end up crashing them. Because they have more money then skill.
And back again to Enzo Ferrari, if he resurrect in some way he would be very displeased with the reality. Everything that he stood for has changed dramatically. And then again there is serious criticism that he put psychological pressure on his drivers on purpose, to encourage intra-team rivalries and foster an atmosphere of intense competition for the position of number one driver. “He thought that psychological pressure would produce better results for the drivers,...". "He would expect a driver to go beyond reasonable limits...You can drive to the maximum of your ability, but once you start psyching yourself up to do things that you don’t feel are within your ability it gets stupid. There was enough danger at that time without going over the limit.” recalled Ferrari team driver Tony Brooks.
Rest In Peace il Commendatore, what you gave to the world will never be forgotten.
eNZo288
> Shady Balkan Subject, Drives an Alfa
08/14/2013 at 10:23 |
|
Nice post. In the first paragraph do you mean 250 GTO or 288 GTO? Sorry to be picky, but as a Ferrari obsessive I can't help myself.
|
Shady Balkan Subject, Drives an Alfa
> eNZo288
08/14/2013 at 10:34 |
|
F**k, yeah I meant the 288 GTO. Sadly I wrote that after a very boring day at work and I my mind is wandering...
Mikeado
> Shady Balkan Subject, Drives an Alfa
08/14/2013 at 11:01 |
|
I don't think the current situation is as bad as you think it is. In terms of F1, if you look through the Scuderia's WCC history , you'll find pockets of failure here and there, some as big as the current one. What's more, I believe that there's a true, enthusiastic, track-visiting Ferrari owner for every douchetacular poseur that gets posted about on t'Internet. I'e volunteered at a charity supercar event (where supercar owners volunteer their passenger seats for a spin around half the TopGear Track) two years running and the Ferrari turnout has been very strong both years. They're good people, too, willing to talk about ownership and whatever else.
Of course, the Ferrari Stores and Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi Doo do show their bad side, where they've sort-of become the Disney of cars.