Angry Manchild Denied LaFerrari Spider, Sues Ferrari

[Napoleon the Clown]

Preston Henn is quite cross

Normally the headline would be “Florida Man Files Hilarious Lawsuit Against Ferrari.” But this isn’t just any Florida Man. This is Preston Henn, the Sultan of Swap, flea market baron, champion race car driver and famed car collector. And he’s so pissed that Ferrari denied him the opportunity to buy the LaFerrari Spider, he demands a trial by jury.


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First brought to light by Autoweek, this is truly a great story of a scorned and hot-tempered Florida Man against Ferrari’s famously, er, picky customer approval practice.

Henn is suing Ferrari North America for in excess of $75,000 because:

The publication of the statement that Preston Henn is not qualified to purchase a LaFerrari Spider is an untrue statement which harms Henn’s reputation, and holds him up to ridicule, disrespect, and disrepute in his profession, trade, occupation, avocation, and among his friends and business and social associates.

Henn, in other words, contends that not letting him buy a LaFerrari Spider hurts his stature as a Ferrari collector.

And apparently Henn fancies himself the Ferrari customer. He’s been a member of the Tifosi for six decades, was buddies with Luigi Chinetti and owns or has owned the Ferraris on this impressive list:

1965 275 GTB
1971 Daytona Spider
1972 BBC 512
1985 F 40
1986 black Testarossa
1986 white Testarossa
1995 F 50
2003 Enzo
2005 FXX
2015 458 Speciale
2015 488
2015 LaFerrari
550 Barchetta
599
BBLM
Maserati MC 12
Super America
Schumacher Ferrari Formula 1

The 275 GTB 6885 Speciale, in particular, is the car that Sergio Marchionne supposedly once told Henn was his “favorite Ferrari.”

When Henn first heard about the LaFerrari Spider, he went over to his local Ferrari dealership, intent on buying it to join the hardtop LaFerrari that he already owns. A reasonable desire for any serious Ferrari collector.

Ferrari didn’t think so. It told him he was “not qualified.”

Henn was confused. Surely this was a mistake, given his credentials in Ferrari’s little black book! Autoweek says he got busy, writing a bunch of letters to Ferrari and other FCA higher-ups, including Marchionne himself. In that particular letter, Henn included a $1,000,000 check as a deposit on the car.

The check was later returned, along with a message, telling Henn that he really shouldn’t be mailing large sums of money like that, it could get lost.

Henn’s lawyer writes:

By deeming Henn not qualified and publishing to third parties that Preston Henn was not qualified, Ferrari, acting through its employees and agents, uttered to unrelated third parties a false and defamatory statement, harming Henn’s reputation in the universe of Ferrari aficionados.

Publicly insulted, Henn is retaliating.

We’ll see how this all shakes out.

You can find the full court document here.

tl;dr - Henn claims that Ferrari tarnished his reputation by saying he didn't meet the requirements to get a LaFerrari Spider, an extremely limited production car that I've seen claims as low as only 70 to be made. He's suing for over $75k, and because the defendant company's headquartered outside of Florida it is a federal case.

I asked a friend who recently graduated law school about it, and she expects the case to be tossed before the jury ever even needs to waste their time on this frivolous bit of bullshit. Henn's definitely never going to get the chance to buy a new Ferrari again, though.

[Archinist]

Why can he never buy one again, though? Ferraris can be sold from both car yards and private sellers. There is nothing stopping him from purchasing one from a used/new car yard or a online car store, such as eBay.

[Terralthra]

He can certainly get a used Ferrari, but he's unlikely to be able to buy a new Ferrari, which is what Napoleon the Clown said.

[Napoleon the Clown]

Why can he never buy one again, though? Ferraris can be sold from both car yards and private sellers. There is nothing stopping him from purchasing one from a used/new car yard or a online car store, such as eBay.

Oh, he can buy one used just fine. But I specifically said new. Because at this point Ferrari's going to update their policies to say "Do not sell to litigious asshats."

He's not after to plebeian models. He wants the models that are so rare and valuable that nobody fucking drives them. Models that, if sold, would be sold at an auction that Ferrari would approve, and would promptly make sure is by invitation only. In short, he's not going to ever own another "collectible" Ferrari.

He may also get his ass chewed out by a very annoyed judge.

[U.P. Cinnabar]

The very definition of entitlement mentality.

And, what the media would call a first-world problem.

[Broomstick]

I wonder why Ferrari thought him unqualified to buy at the beginning of all this?

[Lagmonster]

Probably because when they give out only 70 of something, their reputation is at stake based on what the people do with them.

[Broomstick]

Well, yeah, but did he lose a lottery for buying the car? Some specific incident? It doesn't seem to be a problem of lack of money. Was he doing something icky with the Ferraris he already has?

[Dominus Atheos]

The simple explanation may be that there were 70 even more enthusiastic Ferrari collectors in the world, and he was only the 71st.

I don't know that that's what happened, but that would be my guess.

[Archinist]

Why can he never buy one again, though? Ferraris can be sold from both car yards and private sellers. There is nothing stopping him from purchasing one from a used/new car yard or a online car store, such as eBay.

Oh, he can buy one used just fine. But I specifically said new. Because at this point Ferrari's going to update their policies to say "Do not sell to litigious asshats."

He's not after to plebeian models. He wants the models that are so rare and valuable that nobody fucking drives them. Models that, if sold, would be sold at an auction that Ferrari would approve, and would promptly make sure is by invitation only. In short, he's not going to ever own another "collectible" Ferrari.

He may also get his ass chewed out by a very annoyed judge.

Ermm.. what if a car yard is selling brand-new models, as they occasionally do? Or what if either a private person who gets a rare collectible Ferrari dislikes it and sells it on eBay when it's still brand new?

[Elheru Aran]

Why can he never buy one again, though? Ferraris can be sold from both car yards and private sellers. There is nothing stopping him from purchasing one from a used/new car yard or a online car store, such as eBay.

Oh, he can buy one used just fine. But I specifically said new. Because at this point Ferrari's going to update their policies to say "Do not sell to litigious asshats."

He's not after to plebeian models. He wants the models that are so rare and valuable that nobody fucking drives them. Models that, if sold, would be sold at an auction that Ferrari would approve, and would promptly make sure is by invitation only. In short, he's not going to ever own another "collectible" Ferrari.

He may also get his ass chewed out by a very annoyed judge.

Ermm.. what if a car yard is selling brand-new models, as they occasionally do? Or what if either a private person who gets a rare collectible Ferrari dislikes it and sells it on eBay when it's still brand new?

Car yards don't sell Ferraris. You want to buy a Ferrari, you go to the *special* car dealers or to Ferrari itself.

And in your second case... sure, could happen. Odds are it'd get snapped up by another person with more money than sense before this guy could get to it, though, because rich people don't bother with EBay (usually).

[muse]

Ermm.. what if a car yard is selling brand-new models, as they occasionally do? Or what if either a private person who gets a rare collectible Ferrari dislikes it and sells it on eBay when it's still brand new?

What if a tornado drop a cow through your roof and it poops all over your face? What do you do?

[Starglider]

Ferrari can simply ban him from getting his vehicles serviced at their authorised dealers, which means his cars will no longer have perfect service histories, which will make their value plummet. He'll find it hard to even buy high-end models second hand, because the high end of this market is essentially a social club trying to curry favour with the manufacturer, and the majority of participants don't want to do anything that might annoy Ferrari. He should just sell everything and collect Lamborghinis instead; better match with his personality.

[U.P. Cinnabar]

I wonder why Ferrari thought him unqualified to buy at the beginning of all this?

Because he's a greasy little oik?

[U.P. Cinnabar]

Ermm.. what if a car yard is selling brand-new models, as they occasionally do? Or what if either a private person who gets a rare collectible Ferrari dislikes it and sells it on eBay when it's still brand new?

What if a tornado drop a cow through your roof and it poops all over your face? What do you do?

Grill steaks, brisket and ribs.

[Archinist]

Oh, he can buy one used just fine. But I specifically said new. Because at this point Ferrari's going to update their policies to say "Do not sell to litigious asshats."

He's not after to plebeian models. He wants the models that are so rare and valuable that nobody fucking drives them. Models that, if sold, would be sold at an auction that Ferrari would approve, and would promptly make sure is by invitation only. In short, he's not going to ever own another "collectible" Ferrari.

He may also get his ass chewed out by a very annoyed judge.

Ermm.. what if a car yard is selling brand-new models, as they occasionally do? Or what if either a private person who gets a rare collectible Ferrari dislikes it and sells it on eBay when it's still brand new?

Car yards don't sell Ferraris. You want to buy a Ferrari, you go to the *special* car dealers or to Ferrari itself.

And in your second case... sure, could happen. Odds are it'd get snapped up by another person with more money than sense before this guy could get to it, though, because rich people don't bother with EBay (usually).

eBay is just an example. It could be carsales.com, it could be trading post, etc etc. As for car yards not selling Ferraris, there are these car yards which do indeed sell them.

http://www.carsales.com.au/dealer/detai ... 7995/?Cr=2

http://www.carsales.com.au/private/deta ... 815/?Cr=17

A question, why do people actually buy these cars? They only have moderately increased HP from a much cheaper and probably safer high-end electric vehicle, and they use far more fuel and if you treat them as extremely rich people are stereotyped as treating them then you also have to pay millions of $ every month to get them oiled and polished and shined and whatnot.

[Elheru Aran]

....did you just say they have 'moderately increased HP'? And that getting them oiled and polished costs millions of dollars?

Where the hell do you live? Second Life?

[Vendetta]

A question, why do people actually buy these cars?

The status of owning a thing which is so rare and exclusive that most people will never even see someone who has seen someone who has seen one in real life.

I mean the guy already has an FXX which they only made 30 of and which when you buy it you don't even get to have it, Ferrari keep it and will bring it to a race track for you to play with and then take it home again.

[Archinist]

A question, why do people actually buy these cars?

The status of owning a thing which is so rare and exclusive that most people will never even see someone who has seen someone who has seen one in real life.

I mean the guy already has an FXX which they only made 30 of and which when you buy it you don't even get to have it, Ferrari keep it and will bring it to a race track for you to play with and then take it home again.

Well I 99.99% of the world will never see the individual grains of dirt in my computer case. They are not worth millions of dollars and lawsuits. How safe is a standard Ferrari? With all that "carbon fibre", wouldn't it be grinded into a fine dust whenever it hit anything?

....did you just say they have 'moderately increased HP'? And that getting them oiled and polished costs millions of dollars?

Where the hell do you live? Second Life?

Well, a mid-range performance vehicle such as the Chevrolet Camraro has about 450 HP, and is only about $35,000. The super duper secret exotic Ferrari La Spider has about 900 HP, so that means it would probably only be about $120,000, which is definitely not super high-end, probably just low-medium end.

[muse]

A question, why do people actually buy these cars?

1) Because they can
2) Because you touch yourself at night

[Zixinus]

Archinist, you don't buy a Ferrari because you need a car. You don't buy a Ferrari because you need a fast and nice car. You don't even buy a Ferrari because you want the nicest and best car you can get. You buy a Ferrari because you are buying premium brand, you are buying a privilege, you are buying an exclusive status symbol, you are proclaiming yourself of a certain class and probably a bunch of other stuff. The car is is almost a mere token by comparison, except you can still drive it.

They decided that this guy was not worthy for whatever arbitrary reason. That's part of the point with this kind of product for the super-rich, it's not about quality anymore, it's about exclusivity and appeasing ego.

2) Because you touch yourself at night

How's that have to do with anything? Most people masturbate. Or does that mean something else?

[TheFeniX]

2) Because you touch yourself at night

How's that have to do with anything? Most people masturbate. Or does that mean something else?

It's a jab when people ask either a stupid question with an obvious answer, when something is completely unexplainable, or when they just don't want to deal with your bullshit. It is a very old quip, coined from family guy. Although, we used derivatives of it way before then because making fun of masturbation has been a thing forever.

"Why did the dinosaurs die out?" Because you touch yourself at night.

A line from when we were kids and didn't even know what "jerking off" meant. "Why didn't you guys invite me over yesterday?" "Because your mom said you were too busy jerking off."

Anyway: Asking why someone wants to own overpriced bullshit is like asking why they buy anything when cheaper and more useful alternatives exist: Because they can and it sometimes gives them e-peen. Same reason people buy Macs, BOSE, or any other similar product. And this isn't just for super-rich trendy assholes. Just trendy assholes can apply here.

[Zixinus]

Ah, thanks. I suspected that it was just sarcasm but also thought it was a reference to something or had a hidden meaning.

[Starglider]

The quality and desireability of a car is not determined by its engine power output. That is just one factor out of hundreds of quantitative measures and non-quantitative qualities. It is not that difficult to make a car with 900hp peak engine output; low-end sports cars can be tuned up to that for ~60K USD and GM sells a turnkey 700hp car for the same price (Challenger Hellcat). The price of hypercars like this is even further disconnected from quantiative metrics, being essentially collectible engineering art rather than practical vehicles. You might as well ask why people collect first-run comics or limited edition figurines. Human psychology does not change between a geek with $5K/year disposable income trying to impress their peers, or a business tycoon with $5M/year disposable income trying to impress their peers.

[Napoleon the Clown]

This level of Ferrari isn't truly meant to be driven, even. It can be driven. Quite spiritedly.

But when you're dealing with a car this expensive, exclusive, and collectible? Involving the levels of ego that are seen by the people who would want a five million dollar car? It'd be like going out paint balling in a custom tailored suit made of the finest materials. The 70 lucky fuckers who get one of these will have them in the garage most often than anywhere else. They will likely be getting washed and waxed more than driven. Literally.

Nobody who knows jack about cars chooses a Ferrari to be the fastest guy on the street. They do it to flaunt their wealth, show how "awesome" they are.

Something like this would never be listed on eBay. Ferrari would promptly send a letter telling the person who listed it to remove the listing at once as it tarnishes Ferrari's image and failure to remove the listing will result in an immediate lifetime ban on any future special production vehicles. Ferrari would allow a by-invitation auction for something like this, and explicitly note people on their Shit List are not to attend.

It's hilarious, honestly, how big a mark-up people are willing to pay for a fucking Fiat* if it has a horsey on the badge.

*As of some point in 2016, Fiat no longer holds a controlling interest in Ferrari. However, FCA and Ferrari have the same guy as their CEO and FCA shareholders got the shares so the separation is largely academic.

Starglider, the Charger and Challenger Hellcat are an FCA product, not a GM product...