Ferrari Collector Banned from Buying New Ferrari – It’s Pretty Hard to Get a LaFerrari Aperta
If you’ve ever heard about the process for getting your hands on one of the latest and rarest of Ferraris, it isn’t an easy one. For the benefit of their business model, Ferrari won’t let just anyone with a bundle of money get behind the wheel of one of their cars. In many situations, you have to prove that you’re “Ferrari enough” to get your hands on one of their cars. Some of the criteria that’s said to be included in this process are your track record of owning the company’s cars and just how well you fit into whatever other unrevealed criteria that it takes to pry the brand’s fingers off of one of their machines.
For David Lee, the Instagram famous jewelry entrepreneur who is better known for his Ferrari collection, it came as quite the shock when the Los Angeles Times reported that he would be turned down for the purchase of a LaFerrari Aperta. With $2.2-million on tap to spend for the car’s asking price and a dozen Ferraris under his belt already, it would look like Lee would be a shoe in for the new car, but it turned out that the sticky fingers of the Italian automaker would prevent that from coming to life.
Even though the LA Times reports that Lee had amassed $50 million worth of Ferraris, had a “solid relationship” with the local Ferrari dealer, and even went to the lengths of buying four more Ferraris recently and visiting the Ferrari driving school in Italy for the sole reason of boosting his position on the list of Ferrari elite, it simply wasn’t enough to break the code that is Ferrari’s strategy to make their machines one of the most exclusive on the planet that cash alone simply won’t break down.
You see, it might not make sense at a glance, I mean, why would a company offer cars at such a high price and not use the incredible demand to simply crank out more cars and bankroll off of everyone who wants one, especially those who have seemingly limitless bank accounts?Well, according to those who have taken the time to break the strategy down, Ferrari wants to use a trickle down effect, using these super high exclusivity cars to lure people into the brand, reading
Well, according to those who have taken the time to break the strategy down, Ferrari wants to use a trickle down effect, using these super high exclusivity cars to lure people into the brand, reading into stories like this and gawking at these incredibly rare machines that make them want to hop into the lifestyle for themselves with one of the more readily available models that, in turn, can help the brand push the sales on their components and give the brand more demand, hopefully building up a base that will then strive to purchase the super exclusive and high-dollar models.
It’s definitely a strategy that may cause some jealousy and anger among the most touted of collectors who can’t get their hands on certain cars, even with the cash in hand, but Lee seems to be taking it all in stride. Ferrari declined to comment on exactly what was missing from Lee’s resume but for some reason, I don’t think that this little hitch in his journey to become a preferred Ferrari customer will stop his future efforts at becoming a member of this truly exclusive club.
