So You Want to Buy a Ferrari?

Hey you want a Ferrari (don’t we all) except in this cause you have the money, so shouldn’t it be as easy as buying a Honda? You’d think so, but you’re wrong. You can’t just walk into a Ferrari dealership and throw down a couple hundred thousand and walk out with a brand near Ferrari. In order to buy a Ferrari you must put your name down on a list, a long list. Some people wait up to 6 years to get in the driver’s seat of their precious new Ferrari.

MatteoSardi Public Relations Manager for Ferrari North America explains:

• We're still quoting a two-year average waiting list for North America. I'm afraid there are no ways around it. There's not a lot that can be done. For the past fourteen years, we have steadily increased the number of cars we import to North America. It's generally about five percent more each year [1635 total in 2006]. If you're a new customer and you want to become part of the Ferrari family, try to buy a pre-owned car. That's the best way to go. Ferrari North America always encourages its dealers and service managers to foster the relationship with owners of pre-owned vehicles, as they could become potential new clients. Ferrari North America has a policy of discouraging dealers from selling cars above list price.”

A perfect example of this is the LaFerrari. The carbon fibre-bodied LaFerrari teams a V12 engine with an electric motor. It makes 718kW of power - about seven times that of a small car, almost double that of some modern Ferrari road cars and more than the company's Formula One racers - and will be able to top 350km/h. This machine comes with a hefty price tag of just under 3 million dollars. But much like other Ferrari just because you have the money doesn’t mean you can buy this car.

Getting your hands on the world's ''most exclusive cars'' isn't easy, as more than a dozen wealthy Australians and New Zealanders have discovered.

The prospective buyers offered the $3 million price for the LaFerrari, but were knocked back - the seven cars will only go to the brand's most loyal customers who already own at least five Ferraris and agree to sell it back to the factory once they've had enough. Even then they won't be able to drive it on Australia's roads because the steering wheel is on the left.

"This is the most exclusive and most sought-after car in the world," said Ferrari Australasia president and CEO Herbert Appleroth, who admitted it's "really difficult" knocking back millionaire customers.

So next time you see a Ferrari drive past you on the street, know that whoever was driving it not only has enough money to buy it, but truly worked, begged and likely waited a long time to get their hands on that car, and sadly that means it’s even less likely you will ever be able to have one of your own.

Ian McTash has been playing around with rebuilt motors and transmissions for over a decade. His dream is to own a Car Junk Yard and spend his free-time fixing up scrap cars.