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Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Enzo Ferrari Part 5 of 5

Although the price tag on the Enzo Ferrari puts it out of reach of all but the super rich (or the super obsessed), you'd still think Ferrari would be able to sell more than the 399 that rolled out of the factory at Maranello, Italy. Why did they sell so few? Because that's how many they made -- and that's how many they will ever make. When the Ferrari people call something a "limited edition," they're not kidding.
Part of maintaining Ferrari's prestigious heritage is making sure that not everyone can have one. Only a privileged few can buy a Ferrari, and only the most elite owners and collectors in the world will drive one of these limited-edition production cars. That helps explain why the company can charge a lot for their machines.
And just how much is "a lot"? In the Enzo's case, $652,000.



The money doesn't stop flowing once the Enzo is in your garage, either. According to a 2003 Car and Driver article, replacing the brake pads costs $6,000, and the carbon-ceramic brake rotors go for $24,000. A special oil must be used (or else Ferrari will consider the warranty void) -- the oil costs $60 a quart.
A stack of cash alone will not get you an Enzo -- Ferrari has traditionally made potential buyers apply to buy one of their limited-edition cars, placing various restrictions on what may and may not be done with the car. They enforce these restrictions by threatening to withdraw perks like factory tours and the chance to buy future Ferraris -- a serious threat to the exotic car collectors of the world.
Previous Ferraris were even harder to get than the Enzo. For example, the Ferrari F50 wasn't sold, it was only leased. Ferrari could yank the lease at any time, and one of the stranger restrictions was that journalists were not allowed to use the car for performance testing (Car and Driver, Aug. 2003). The Enzo is far easier to get into by comparison. All approved Enzo buyers had the option of traveling to Italy to have the seat and pedals custom fitted.


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