Ferrari to Vatican: There's no sin in a little fun

Ferrari would like to set the record straight for those devout Catholics out there who have an extra $200,000 kicking around.

Its cars are by no means mere symbols of enviable status and power. Most people who buy Ferraris have an appreciation for the fun of driving, Amedeo Felisa, vice general manager of Ferrari, told Reuters.

The Ferrari GTB Fiorano at the New York International Auto Show.

(Credit: Candace Lombardi/CNET News.com)

"Unless having fun has become a sin, I don't believe it" is wrong, Felisa told Reuters from an event in Milan celebrating the company's 60th anniversary.

The luxury carmaker, it seems, felt it had to respond to the fifth rule in the Vatican's 10 driving commandments issued last week. The fifth commandment states that "cars shall not be for you an expression of power and domination, and an occasion of sin."

A 36-page document called the Guidelines for the Pastoral Care of the Road put out by the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People contains within it the full list of the 10 driving commandments.

[Battleshipagincourt]

When Ferrari has fun, others will recieve less

There is a lot of harm in obtaining expensive possessions. The
same money that went into a ferrari could have provided a family of
four with all they needed for years. Whenever huge sums of
resources are squandered, there will be less for others. If we live in
a world with finite resources, why should the rich waste huge sums
of money? It deprives others of the opportunity to have what they
need.

[RMarino]

Others will get.

Should they just give what they have away then? This way they're paying for a service and the money will trickle down to the employees who will spend it elsewhere and it will fall into the hands of the people who need it. If you believe that people should not waste, then I ask if you live in a house that could adequately support more people, or if you make money beyond what you need to support your family. If you have room for more people, wouldn't it also be your duty to provide those with no home a place to stay, and take your excess funds to help them? You're drawing a strange line in the sand.

[BrandCowboy]

Are you sure?

The damage to the planet is caused by consumption. I won't engage in a debate about the politics of wealth, but I will question the logic of damning products like this. For one thing, there are precious few of them, relatively speaking. For another, the majority of Ferraris ever built are still in service and well cared for, as opposed to being used up, junked and replaced every few years. So, summarizing: Here's a product produced in limited numbers, purchased very infrequently, and cared for and used sparingly by its owners. Compare that to the legions of smoke belching, mass produced, constantly obsoleting conveyances that choke expressways the world over, and you have to wonder if maybe we aren't attacking the wrong brands. Take the politics out of it and look at it from a pure sustainability point of view...

[baldguy61]

Ferrari and the Vatican

When the Vatican sells off some of its trappings of incredible wealth and enormous power, I'll pay attention to the Pope's directives concerning what I should drive. He should perhaps concentrate on things spiritual and leave the driving to us. If it were up to him, we'd all be driving Yugos, or even worse, Fiats! After all, the Cardinals are the ones who took vows of poverty! A little less hypocracy might go a long way toward bringing parishioners back to the Church.

[terrillterry]

Ferrari and the Vatican

Quite right on the Vatican trappings. Accounting wise they are valued at $0.00. The Cardinals and the Bishops by and large, except those that are from orders have not taken a vow of poverty. Once I saw all the bishops come to a celebration all in new Chrysler 300s with HEMI engines.

The Vatican has two levels it looks at. It and it's member leaders and the rest of us. They just don't get it.

[make_or_break]

Fun? That's a good one.

I suppose that's why Ferrari [i]intentionally[/i] limits their production quotas each year. People aren't allowed to have too much of that fun?

Bull. (oops, sorry...that's Lamborghini...)

Ferrari in the past has clearly stated that the primary reason [i]why[/i] they don't build more cars--while clearly having the production capacity to do exactly that--was rooted in the premise that they didn't want the valuations of their older cars to plummet when the next new model year's range is brought to market. If that's not snob appeal, I don't know what is. People willing to spend a couple of hundred grand (US dollars) [i]to start[/i] on one of those prancing horses are supposedly less likely to do so if the things drop in value like, say, Porsches, who will build as many 911s, Caymans, Boxsters and Cayennes each and every model year as the world is willing to absorb.

Ferraris have [i]always[/i] been pitched towards the well-heeled and those with way too much discretionary finances. Ferrari's response to the Pope's pronouncement is merely spin and damage control...because (gasp!) far too many of wealthy DO INDEED like to rub our noses in it. For instance, just ask Paris, the po' little rich jailbai...er, jailbird. Or any other such nouveau riche celebrities.