Buy a F1 Ferrari .... what does it takes?
 

From Autoweek.com


Scuderia You: Want to own an F1 Ferrari? All it takes is money
PETE LYONS
Published Date: 9/27/04You’ll have to wait until 2006 to take delivery, and the drivers themselves get first dibs, but Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello’s current stable of Formula One Ferraris is about to go up for sale. Grab yours, and the factory will happily throw in driving lessons. You even get free Bridgestone groovies for it. That’s right, free.

Is anyone still in the room? Okay, here’s the deal. Traditionally, Enzo Ferrari didn’t like outsiders driving his old Grand Prix cars. Company policy was to sell them for display only. But that policy was relaxÂ*ed after the Old Man’s passing in 1988, and in 2001 the factory set up a unit called Corse Clienti (“Racing Ownersâ€�) specifically to help private enthusiasts fully enjoy these most exotic of automobiles.

Four such F1s were describÂ*ed in a sales packet handed out to potential Clienti at the recent Monterey Historic event. Newest on the list was the F2003-GA in which Barrichello won last year’s British GP. Price was €1.5 million (about $1.82 million), not including tax. That car was still under a two-year “technological moratoriumâ€� designed to keep Ferrari secrets away from Minardi and Jordan, but it can be released next Jan. 1.

The other three were 2002 models, which could be taken home right away. Prices were €1.4 million apiece ($1.7 million) for two that had each won a single Grand Prix, and €1.5 million for a two-time winner. Note an extra victory is worth another $120,000 on the résumé.

The red missile comes with a complete set of the ancillary equipment needed to make it work—tire warmers, coolant and oil pre-heaters, pneumatic-valve air compressor, hydraulics unit, even a set of jacks.

Not bad. Look at it this way: Rather than clutter your garage with three or four plain old Enzos, you could just as easily get into something really special.

And standing by, helping hand extended, is Andrea Galetti. A former race engineer who worked with Mansell, Alesi, Berger and both Schumacher and Barrichello during his 10 years in pit lane, Galetti now runs Corse Clienti in a facility literally across the
Via Abetone Inferiore from the modern racing department. His 12-man staff refurbishes retired cars and prepares them for sale, then caters to any of the new owners’ needs, be it maintenance, overhaul or repair, ongoing training, or just storage (Schumacher and Barrichello keep theirs here). There’s even an arrive-and-drive program for Ferrari track-day events. We hear they throw some grand dinner parties.

As Galetti puts it, “We are fully dedicated to customer service; whatever is the necessity of our customer, so we are there.� Sounds like he was well trained by his pampered F1 drivers.

To cover administrative costs, Ferrari Racing Owners are charged annual dues of €1,000, about $1,200. This entitles buyers to have their cars custom-fitted, and to drive shakedown laps at the factory’s Fiorano test track. Owners can send their mechanics through service training, too—the rumor is not true that a factory tech must be on-scene whenever the car runs. Once they learn how, Galetti says, anyone can operate an F1 Ferrari. “It’s not a space shuttle, it’s a car.�

To prepare a car for civilian life, Corse Clienti installs suspension setups and gearing that should suit most tracks it is likely to visit, and “we choose aerodynamic downforce that is on the safe side.� Also, the 3.0-liter V10 is detuned by lowering the rpm limit, purely to make it last longer.

“As you probably know, this engine doesn’t have a very long life, about 600 kilometers [372 miles],� Galetti admits. “So we always suggest to be quiet on revs, because maybe the life is going to be bigger.� He reckons that short-shifting by 1000 rpm can at least double the distance-before-overhaul, something a private owner is more likely to notice than the relatively modest decrease in power. “And everything is adjustable by master switch on the steering wheel. Whenever the owner wants to do a proper lap, he can just turn the switch and he has the car in a racing condition.�

Of course, before you turn that switch think about what happened to F1 client (and Dutch Ferrari dealer) Frederico Kroymans at Laguna Seca. For some reason, his 1999 model speared into the Turn Six wall, burying the nose in a tire barrier as the car rotated. The entire front end of the monocoque snapped off, leaving his feet sticking out. He escaped with only a sore knee, but...

“I was really surprised,� Galetti commented. “We normally have no chassis damage. Just a wing, maybe a suspension. This chassis is going to be analyzed by our engineers in the structural department and all the laboratories. They can get information from it.� He added that an effort would be made to repair the tub.

Fortuitously, Kroymans and his fellow Ferrari F1 owners benefit from a ready supply of factory-made spare parts—where else are you going to get those? Other Corse Clienti selling points include official documentation of your car’s history and provenance, complete with computer downloads of every lap it ever turned.

Really, don’t you think a factory-certified, pre-owned F1 Ferrari is one red-hot, screaming deal? Won’t you kick yourself if you don’t move on this? Come on, man, you deserve it! The heck with “Be like Mike.� Be like Enzo.

ferrari has been selling their cars for years, this isn't new news.

I think we all know that dude :wink:

What's good is that this article is recent, and quite interesting too :D

Apart from rare, quite an interesting article

that should of been posted in the media section :mrgreen:

LOL... i guess its better....

Yeah, I knew it has been mentioned before (and also the video posted somewhere in JW) but this time the article did revealed the ballpark figure of how much it gonna cost.

If I only had the money...I would buy them all! I'm sure if minardi buy these cars it will still be beter than their old buckets of scrap metal!!!

Free tyres and driving lessons, im sold :D

You would have to take it on the streets once!! Driven style haha :D

Please have a look at my thread http://www.motorworld.net/forum/show...=262251#262251

There is a pic of a private owned F1

hahah sweet, there is only 400 enzo's produced but how many race cars!!!

awsome, the ultimate rich boy racer's toy!

anyone seen the fifth gear episode where that guy buy's schumacher's car? i think it was the F2001

when he took the car out on the track for the first time he immediately stalled :D

Thanks ... they didnt mention the maintenance costs - I assume it is above the 1.5MM purchase cost and UKP1000 admin expense...

yeah isn't really new news. There was a relatively recent article in Car Magazine which was a little better than this, but still, very interesting ;)

but who buys Car magazine :P

evo is where its at :mrgreen: