Ferrari’s Fat Margins
Laughing all the way to the bank In recent years Bloomberg and others have reported on Ferrari’s very healthy profit margins, which average in the region of $70,000 to $80,000 per car. Ferrari alone in the automotive world reports adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization in the 25% to 30% range. These margins […]
Reliving The Moment
Our story begins in 1984 at a time when Ferrari North America had their headquarters on Katella Avenue in Los Alamitos, a suburb in Orange County. At that time California Highway Patrol officer Bruce West owned a 308 GTS and, in a time when FNA was more client-friendly, Officer West would often drop by FNA’s […]
Supercars by the Sea
The shift to Supercar Sundays I’ve been going to collector car shows since the early 1970s, having traveled to shows across the US, Canada, Mexico, Europe and Asia. Over those four decades it’s interesting to note how the demographics of the attendees and their concept of what’s a collector car has evolved. The cars are […]
Australia, Asbestos and the International Maserati Gathering
Readers of this column might remember “Australia, Asbestos and Collector Cars” from July 15th of last year, click here for the link. That column explained that in 2003 the Australian government issued a zero-tolerance ban on any-and-all asbestos products. This was aimed primarily at new cars built by the Chinese Great Wall car company which, […]
Jumping Through Hoops
Our story begins with 2011 MBZ AMG SLS GT3 s/n 079 which we sold in late Nov. of last year for a client in Brisbane, Australia to a client in Victoria, BC, Canada. Upon arrival in Vancouver in late Dec. the not-so-friendly-folks at the Vancouver offices of Transport Canada decided that MBZ AMG SLS GT3 […]
Abarth/Lancia Classiche
From Ferrari Classiche to Abarth/Lancia Classiche Readers of this column will be familiar with Ferrari Classiche which began with a minimalist single page Heritage certificate in 2002. The certificate was easily obtained online by submitting the model, the chassis, engine, trans and diff numbers, no inspection required. In the same time period the FIA was […]
Alfa Romeo and Maserati Return
Alfa Romeo is back On 02 Dec. 2017, FIAT Chrysler Automobiles CEO Sergio Marchionne launched a new partnership between Alfa Romeo and the Sauber F1 team at Alfa Romeo’s Arese headquarters, with Alfa Romeo returning to Formula 1 as the branding sponsor to the Sauber F1 team for the 2018 season. The 2018 cars will […]
The Autonomous Car
Cars 2.0, a brave new world Over the last century the highly competitive, multi-trillion dollar global auto industry has been defined by ever-evolving styling, performance, comfort, innovation, safety standards and utility, but is now entering a brave new world of ultra-high-tech. In only the next few years every new car sold in the US will […]
In Defense of Fossil Fuels
Where we left off In my previous column, The Death of Fossil Fuels, I pointed out that politicians in Norway and Holland have pushed to eliminate ALL new gasoline and diesel-powered cars by 2025, England, Germany and India by 2030 and France by 2040. The threat of climate change, the desire of politicians to be […]
The Death of Fossil Fuels
The rush to be green In only the last month politicians in Norway and Holland have pushed to eliminate ALL new gas and diesel-powered cars by 2025, England, Germany and India want to eliminate all new gas and diesel cars by 2030 and France by 2040. Four major cities including Paris, Madrid, Athens and Mexico […]