Is Marchionne in town, or is Ford testing a Ferrari, or.....?

[XDCX]

I was having dinner last night and when I entered the restaurant I noticed a red Ferrari convertible pulling in to the Hampton Inn parking lot across the street. When I finished dinner I noticed that the red Ferrari was still there but now it had its hardtop roof in place.

I haven't kept up on the Ferrari product line and was somewhat surprised to see that they offered a hardtop convertible. I decided I'd pull through the parking lot and I was surprised to see that the Ferrari was sporting Michigan Manufacturer's Plates.

Is Marchionne in town and he's staying at the Hampton Inn? - Seems pretty unlikely. My bet is the Ferrari is owned by Ford and it's being tested at their nearby test facility. Or, maybe there's another explanation.

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[steve_biegler]

He's lucky the curb wasn't a couple inches taller!

[XDCX]

Originally Posted by steve_biegler

He's lucky the curb wasn't a couple inches taller!

I didn't notice that until you mentioned it but you're right.

I just did a quick Google Image Search and determined the car in the photo above is a Ferrari California. It could be yours for a mere MSPR of $198,190.

[XDCX]

For those who are thinking the Ferrari probably belongs to FCA and they're doing some warm weather testing, I think that's unlikely because FCA has a Proving Grounds in Yucca, AZ that's several hours away.

[79LilRedExpress]

Humm and I thought it was a future Viper in "corporate camo" LOL!

[57years]

Is it true the next "VIPER" is going to be called the "SERGIO"? Oh, wait, Fiat already has a viper called that....

[DealerEx]

Originally Posted by steve_biegler

He's lucky the curb wasn't a couple inches taller!

Yep!! Have buddy that went out to California to pick a Ferrari up and drive it back to Texas. He made it fine until he pulled into parking spot at a convenience store and got too close to the parking "curb" and said he heard a "pop" noise. got out and looked at the front air dam and it had a about an inch wide chunk that shattered on the bottom edge. Turns out the air dam is a carbon fiber composite. Cost for part only was over $4k !

[XDCX]

Originally Posted by DealerEx

Yep!! Have buddy that went out to California to pick a Ferrari up and drive it back to Texas. He made it fine until he pulled into parking spot at a convenience store and got too close to the parking "curb" and said he heard a "pop" noise. got out and looked at the front air dam and it had a about an inch wide chunk that shattered on the bottom edge. Turns out the air dam is a carbon fiber composite. Cost for part only was over $4k !

Wow, a $4,000 repair bill for hitting the front air dam with a curb - and that doesn't even factor in the labor expense and sales tax.

I guess I'll stick to driving my trusty Jeep Wrangler.

[XDCX]

I was thinking of this thread this afternoon and remembered that I saw a Tesla Model S with a Michigan Manufacturer's Plate a few months back.

My guess at that time was the Tesla was owned by Ford and they were doing a competitive benchmark test. I spoke with another person who thought Tesla likely owned the vehicle and they were using a sub-contractor that Ford uses to do some warm weather testing.

If Tesla did own the Model S that was being tested, I'm not sure why it would be running on a Michigan Manufacturer's Plate.

[XDCX]

The article in yesterday's Automotive News about the demand for Ford's upcoming $400,000 GT Supercar reminded me why the Ferrari pictured above likely belonged to Ford.

Ford indicates they'll only build 250 of the GT Supercars in the first year due to the capacity limitations of building the carbon fiber parts.

It would make sense that Ford would want to benchmark other Supercars to ensure their new GT Supercar met or exceeded the competition.