Ferrari trumped by my Mark III!

[John Phillips]

4786

We stopped at a beach place for dinner while out cruising last night, and I talked the valet guy into giving me the last nice place to park. Get a beer, wait for a table, and I notice a Ferrari coupe sitting in front of my FFR...so I go take a picture. Another guy and his wife walked up, started talking about MY CAR, and ignored the Ferrari completely. He said he dug my car WAY more than the Italian. The guy was nuts about it, especially that I built it myself, etc. I love when this stuff happens...a little car I built in the garage blows folks away, sitting right next to a hyper-expensive supercar. Ferrari loses again!

[Jeff Kleiner]

Good story John!

Remember the kid in the yellow 355 who stopped by when he saw a pack of roadsters parked in front of the house during your Phoenix build? Remember also how he returned ashen faced with his eyes still bugged out when he came back from a ride in Dino's "Beast" :D

BTW---looks like Guanabana...yes? Great place. We'll be back in about 3 months; see you then.

Cheers,
Jeff

[md58]

A lot of great things happened for you the other night. A good parking spot, A guy that loves your car and your ego got a little massaged. You do have a great looking car. Remember though, there are a lot of people with a lot of opinions. Some will like yours, some will like the horse and some, like me, enjoy both. They serve two completely different purposes. Some won't like either and prefer some other type of hot rod or supercar. I'm not sure Ferrari lost anything in this situation. For your edification that 599 will more than likely kick your ***. It is 0 to 60 in 3.6, 0 to 120 in 10 and will cruise at 205. Top speed is a bit more. All while giving you the choice of taking control or distributing control for you while incredibly comfortable. Don't get me wrong the exhileration of a wide open FFR is nothing to shake a stick at or the fact that we have created them with our bare hands. I am merely pointing out that it is ok to respect and admire both without the need to bash. It been a long time since Henry tried to buy Enzo and war ensued.

[Movieman]

A lot of great things happened for you the other night. A good parking spot, A guy that loves your car and your ego got a little massaged. You do have a great looking car. Remember though, there are a lot of people with a lot of opinions. Some will like yours, some will like the horse and some, like me, enjoy both. They serve two completely different purposes. Some won't like either and prefer some other type of hot rod or supercar. I'm not sure Ferrari lost anything in this situation. For your edification that 599 will more than likely kick your ***. It is 0 to 60 in 3.6, 0 to 120 in 10 and will cruise at 205. Top speed is a bit more. All while giving you the choice of taking control or distributing control for you while incredibly comfortable. Don't get me wrong the exhileration of a wide open FFR is nothing to shake a stick at or the fact that we have created them with our bare hands. I am merely pointing out that it is ok to respect and admire both without the need to bash. It been a long time since Henry tried to buy Enzo and war ensued.
And lets also not forget that the roadster can match or better those 0-60 and 0-120 times with a vechicle that costs close to ONE TENTH the price.
The 205MPH "cruising" speed is not a factor as there's noplace in the USA that you could even get close to that without risking jailtime and fines that would bankrupt most of us.
Spend $57,142.00 each and you can have a different FFR roadster for every day of the week for the cost of that Ferrari 599...:D
Just so we're clear, the 599 is a wonderfull car, beautiful in looks and performance but not worth anywhere near the asking $400K figure IMHO

[John Phillips]

Thanks for the comments, it was a fun night. Jeff, right on, it was Guanabana's, and we scored a table right on the water, just at sunset. For sure, next time you're down we have to go! I'd forgotten that guy in the Ferrari during the Phoenix build...do you realize it was almost TEN YEARS AGO?

Ferrari & other exotics are my favorite eye candy when available. Here in Palm Beach County, that's pretty often, as there are a lot of guys who can afford to play in that league. It's always a nice thing when the FFR gets such rapt attention in the presence of other automotive royalty. I won't get to test it against that 599 on the street, as I don't fool around there, but next time I'm running an HPDE with the Ferrari's at PBIR, I'll see who's got game!

FWIW, I was still on a little high cause my FFR made a surprise appearance in Grassroots Motorsports Magazine this month. They printed a big pic of #52 in an article Randy Pobst wrote on driving technique...I almost fell out of my chair when I was leafing through the issue and unexpectedly saw me and my favorite FFR on the page!

P.S. Every time I look at that picture I am fascinated by the sail panel at the rear window of the Ferrari. What an elegant design element...wish I'd looked closer to see what other styling touches were on display.

[md58]

You are absolutely right about performance. No intent to offend you or anyone else. I over stepped the line a bit. It is not about $'s per MPH. It's great that everyone can chose to spend what they want to create or own the car and performance they desire. That's what makes the automotive hobby, sport and industry so great. To the guy in the 599 the cost has a different relativity than perhaps to you. To him it's worth the price and to every one else who has purchased one or any other Ferrari or Lamborghini or Pagani or Koenigsegg or Corvette or Honda or Toyota, etc. An item or product is worth what ever someone is willing to pay for it. If your not that's great.

Just so we're clear. You and everyone else are entitled to their opinion. I don't believe we are entitled to judge someone or someone's possessions because they are worth or cost more than ours. Life is too short for envy. We have just enough time to be thankful for what we are able to accomplish and enjoy

[Movieman]

You are absolutely right about performance. No intent to offend you or anyone else. I over stepped the line a bit. It is not about $'s per MPH. It's great that everyone can chose to spend what they want to create or own the car and performance they desire. That's what makes the automotive hobby, sport and industry so great. To the guy in the 599 the cost has a different relativity than perhaps to you. To him it's worth the price and to every one else who has purchased one or any other Ferrari or Lamborghini or Pagani or Koenigsegg or Corvette or Honda or Toyota, etc. An item or product is worth what ever someone is willing to pay for it. If your not that's great.

Just so we're clear. You and everyone else are entitled to their opinion. I don't believe we are entitled to judge someone or someone's possessions because they are worth or cost more than ours. Life is too short for envy. We have just enough time to be thankful for what we are able to accomplish and enjoy
Thats ok, we can disagree all day long and your still welcome to come for dinner!:)

[AC Bill]

After having worked at a Ferrari dealership for 20 years, I just yawn when I see them..:p

Your car looks fantastic..doesn't surprise me the guy was drooling over it.