Lifestyle

Why can Ferrari not be driven daily?

My brother owned a 308GT. Identical to the one Tom Selleck drove in the TV series “Magnum P.I.”

Red, loud, low and sleek. A real attention grabber. People stopped and gawked when he drove by or parked in a parking lot.

He had the model that still had multiple carburetors instead of fuel injection. So if you didn’t start it exactly right it fouled the spark plugs and wouldn’t run correctly.

Then to change the plugs you had to drop the engine down to get to the ones furthest forward.

It was uncomfortable to drive because the seats weren’t supportive and the foot box was shifted slightly to the side. Oh, and the AC pretended to blow cool air while the engine sitting right behind the front seats pumped out intense heat.

Add to that he hated to leave it parked anywhere because he was afraid it’d be stolen or keyed. So it sat mostly in his garage while he drove his pickup to work.

Eventually he sold it to a collector in Europe who still owns it.

Cool car. Impractical as hell.

But then I doubt few people buy a Ferrari as their daily driver.

Or if they do they find out soon why few others do.


My uncle has one. I believe it is a 360 but I can’t remember; something from the early 2000s anyway. It’s way smaller than you’d expect. At 6′2, the driver’s seat doesn’t go back nearly far enough and there is zero headroom. I have driven it a short distance but it’s not comfortable.

The driving position is really cramped. The ground clearance is no more than a couple/few inches. And the pedalbox is very small so you really would need driving shoes … it’s extremely easy to hit the brake pedal while stepping on the accelerator … a bad thing.

The pedalbox is also a couple of inches to the right of where you’d expect … it’s not a big deal but it does seem a little wierd so sit at a slight angle relative to where you’re headed. The car is so low to the ground that getting in and out is a bit of a production.

Based on this limited experience, it seems to me you’d have to really, really want to drive this car to justify having it. It does sound absolutely heavenly though. Being bright yellow and very loud, it’s not what I would call subtle!


A friend of mine bought a 1984 F308 GTS Quattrovalvole in 1988 with 11,000 miles on it.

It was his daily drive until it reached 110,000 miles and was retired to ‘weekend’ status in around 1998.

It was (mechanically) fuel injected and started on the first touch of the key every time. Apart from routine by the book servicing, the only ‘extra’ thing he did was to have a spare set of Koni shocks which were rebuilt and swapped over every 20,000 miles.

The car was regularly red-lined and on one trip through Germany sat at 160 MPH for several minutes.

At the yearly MOT check at 100,000 miles its emissions were still at the same level as when it was built.

The only time it broke down was when emergency braking from 150 mph the engine moved forward on the mounts enough to pop a hose off, A set of Jubilee clips sorted that.

It was significantly more reliable than his 550 Maranello which itself was a daily driver and racked up 120,000 before it was sold.

This was in the UK where 8,000 a year is average mileage for a privately owned car….

So yes, you can use one as a daily driver, but the ‘by the book’ maintenance is NOT cheap.


There isnt one single reason that a Ferrari isnt suited to daily driving, its an accumulation of things, some of which have already been covered by others.

1)Attention. There are times or places where you just dont want to draw attention to yourself/your car. It could be inappropriate for work (clients for example feel like they may be overpaying for your company’s products/services if they see employees with exotic cars), sketchy neighbourhoods etc.

I have heard of some owners getting harassed by SJW’s who accused them of everything from being 1%ers to environmental terrorists (Most Ferrari owners I know, work or own their own businesses. We’ve done well, but that has come with sacrifices. I went 15 years without taking a vacation.

Most of my clothes are from outlet malls or Costco. I just dont care about these things. In terms of the environmental impact of my car, well, every 2nd house in my neighbourhood has a big pickup truck in the driveaway which pollutes about the same as my car, and I rarely see them used for more than commuting.

Many of them also own boats, Waverunners etc which are also notoriously bad on fuel consumption with no purpose other than personal enjoyment. We can all rationalize our choices while judging others, if we choose. Most of the time it just comes down to jealousy, sanctimony.).

2)Practicality. Most Ferraris are 2 seaters with limited space for passengers, dogs, bags of groceries, hockey bags or stuff from Home Depot.

3)Driveability. Most of these cars are not fun to drive in bad weather or on rough roads. Possibly even unsafe.

4)Wear and tear. All those stone chips, parking lot dents, ingress/egress on leather seats, mechanical wear etc can be frustrating and has a cost associated with it. Additionally, resale values are very negatively associated with higher mileage.

Mind you, these cars perform most reliably when used regularly, so as cool as a garage queen with 2k miles on it in 10 years is, its likely going to need more sorting out than one with 20k miles on it.

But the resale market values collectability more than drivability. In truth, I think non-owners overvalue the concern of costs. Most Ferrari owners can afford whatever maintenance needs to be done. We just dont like the wear and tear because its annoying. Ferrari designed these cars to be driven, not only stared at.

We have to remember that Enzo never cared that much about car bodies…they were a vessel to hold his true love, the engines. Other than the “halo” models, most Ferraris arent that collectible, so by not driving it, you are only preserving a few thousand $ of value.

And, theres an opportunity cost to buying something expensive if only to never use it so it will be easier to sell later. Thats like never sleeping with your supermodel wife so that her next husband will appreciate her more.

5)Fun factor. Driving your dream car is simply a better experience when its kept as an occasion. Familiarity breeds contempt. Its simply more enjoyable when taking out the car is an occasion. I think of it like I wouldnt want to eat filet mignon every day for dinner. Nor would I want to wear a tuxedo everywhere I go.

There’s no fixed reason to not do those things, I just wouldnt want to. My best memories of my car arent of driving it to pickup groceries on a Tuesday night (which I have done…sometimes you just need milk and bread and its too nice a summer night to not take your favorite car), its for example, taking my neighbours kid to his Grade 8 graduation so he could make a grand entrance to his classmates, many of which he may never see again. He even bought a matching suit for the occasion. I think he looks great!

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