Brand Spotlight: Ferrari
Via 1000 Logos
P1 Exotics finds a love for every exotic car brand, but Ferrari holds a special place in Antonio Unanue’s (founder of P1 Exotics) heart. Ferrari itself inspired Antonio’s love for cars when he saw his first exotic car as a kid in Miami, Florida. Arguably, Ferrari is the most well-known car brand through the history of Formula 1 racing. How did Ferrari build this reputation for itself, which many people will refer to as the quintessence of a luxury car, and how does Ferrari manage to stay so iconic?
Via Formula 1
Antonio admits, “in a way I feel bad for rooting for Ferrari so much because it’s like rooting for the New York Yankees. They have by far the most number of Formula 1 world championships of any manufacturer.” In fact, Ferrari drivers have won over 5,000 sanctioned races. Compared to Lamborghini, who have actively spoken out about their distaste in racing, Ferrari commits their brand wholly to racing. Of course, this is beside the fact that Lamborghini was created in retaliation to Ferrari (basically meaning Ferrari was the blueprint), which will be discussed in a future blog post.
Antonio affirms, “I like them because they have ultra high performance, beautiful, sleek designs, and amazing innovations when it comes to their engines.” Instead of focusing purely on being eye candy for people to drool at as you drive by (although an added bonus), Ferrari is constantly trying to improve their speed and performance on the track. At its most basic form, Ferrari is truly a race car.
Via Phaidon: “Niki Lauda, The Man Who Saved Ferrari”
Scuderia Ferrari is one of the oldest and most well known Formula 1 teams, competing in every world championship since 1950 while bagging some of the most skilled drivers, including Niki Lauda. Ferrari was also the first to make the racing-style gearbox with paddle shifters, which was incredibly influential on their performance in Formula 1 races. Scuderia became the first team to reach 100 wins after the 1990 French Grand Prix victory.
From the P1 Exotics Inventory
There is no doubt that Ferrari’s have widely been referenced in music, books, TV, and general pop culture. One of these shows in particular includes the well known show Magnum PI. P1 Exotics is even selling the original Ferrari used in Magnum PI which was driven by Tom Selleck. Other notable pop culture references to Ferrari include Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Fortnite (a video game), and James Bond.
When discussing brands such as Pagani and Koenigsegg (photo via Car Throttle), Antonio feels that their extreme prices (over $1 million) and rarity (under 100 units produced) prevents the driver from fully enjoying the car.
Instead, the luxury vehicles are seen more as investments than anything else. Subsequently, many of these cars have less than 1,000 miles. Their rarity also means that you are unlikely to see the vehicle on the road within your lifetime, where you are much more likely to marvel at a passing Ferrari or Porsche. Plus, the affordability of Ferrari means that you don’t necessarily have to be a multimillionaire to have the brand in your garage.
Overall, Ferrari remains Antonio’s favorite because of their racing history, “great craftsmanship behind the cars that they build, great performance, [and] price point.” To conclude, “the brand identity for Ferrari is synonymous with the dream car.”
