First, I think that Ferrari road cars are generally the most beautiful and well engineered pieces of machinery to grace the planet (period).
And, when I was young and until I learned to know better, I was a huge fan of Scuderia Ferrari (the racing team). Nike Lauda and Clay Regazzoni were the drivers then and would be two of my favorite racing drivers for the rest of their careers (specifically because they had been with Ferrari).
When I attended my first Grand Prix and saw my all time favorite racing driver, Gilles Villeneuve, take the lead of an F1 race for the first time, I was in the Ferrari grand stand at Long Beach.
Strangely, that would also be the location of the crash that would end Regazzoni’s career (two years later), and Villeneuve would also crash out of the lead of that 1978 race while lapping Regazzoni (I was always slightly irritated with Regazzoni about that…).
The real reasons that I am no longer a Ferrari “fan” are kind of beside the point here, however. Sitting in the grandstands near a sea of red and the ever present waving prancing horse flags (God help you if your seat is behind them), while the Ferrari cap wearing hordes clap politely (as if observing a putt for birdie at the British Open) does make me feel terribly embarrassed for them – okay, stupid. Hint – sit with the Dutch or Welsh F1 fans, they’re a bunch more fun… But, this is about a specific example:
Today I came across this and nearly lost it… – Ferrari Bike Technical Specs. They claim to sell out of these painfully overweight, $2,700 bicycles. They claim to sell over 2,000 of them!!! Who, but a lunatic Ferrari F1 fan would pay that for this kind of POS??? And then, what word would best describe the new owner..?
Here’s the deal – if you’re some kind of euro-poseur wanna-be and must have a cool Italian bike, go pick yourself up a DeRosa or Colnago (for example). Guido (who proudly pedals his ass around on a Colnago), doesn’t try to buy a Colnago car (even if Fiat did a spectacular job with the paint). So, stop being a bunch of dorks – do it for Gilles.
But, hey, you say, it’s got (from the advert) “Pure Leather PEDALS” – well that changes everything…
Proof, again, that Ferrari fans are stupid. Don’t shoot me, I’m just the messenger.