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Ferraris are among the most desirable of supercars and hypercars on the planet alongside Lamborghini, Aston Martin, McLaren, and Pagani. They offer sportiness and comfort, speed and acceleration, and can make anyone stand out from the crowd.
With these prestigious and extremely desirable vehicles comes an air of sophistication and wealth – and sometimes confidence, even if it is often misplaced. Ferraris – whether vintage, retro, or brand new – offer something for everyone. Automotive enthusiasts enjoy them because they are meticulously tuned, both in chassis and engine, while people who show off simply like them because ‘it is a Ferrari’.
Updated April 2023: Luxury is often the exclusive preserve of the rich and wealthy, and when the luxury is Italian, like the Ferrari cars, even being wealthy isn’t a guarantee to own one. We’ve seen this play out severally for diverse reasons, hence, we’ve updated this article to keep you abreast of more things that can make you lose your right to own a Ferrari.
Ferrari has very carefully curated their reputation to sell vehicles to a certain type of person who will help elevate and improve its status – which can sometimes backfire with spectacular effect. Many celebrities who have owned Ferraris are now banned from purchasing them as they did something to upset the Prancing Horse.
So, whether it be modifying their cars too much, selling them too early, or publicly criticizing them on social media, famous people have lost their Ferrari-buying privileges for the foreseeable future. In an attempt to help stop this from happening, here are nine reasons why people got banned from buying a Ferrari again.
9 Modifying The Cars Too Much
Ferrari has a clause in their contracts that state that the owners may not modify their new Ferraris before a certain amount of time has passed. This doesn’t mean new owners are not allowed to touch it at all, but modifications such as wide-body kits are a big no-no.
The clause apparently also applies to certain colors as Ferrari has reprimanded several celebrities for the color of their cars. One such famous incident involved DeadMau5, who wrapped his 458 Italia in a Nyan Cat livery. Ferrari sued him over it and in response, he sold the ‘Purrari’ and bought a Lamborghini Huracán – on which he put the same livery since Lamborghini has no such restrictions.
8 Selling Them Before The Contractual Time Has Passed
In the purchasing contract, Ferrari put a clause that states that new owners need to own their Ferraris for a certain period of time before they can sell the cars. This amount of time differs, but is usually around 12 months, although it can be as long as 18 months.
One celebrity who did not adhere to this rule was Floyd Mayweather, the famous boxer. He has a tendency to buy expensive cars and keep them for only a few months, before moving on to better vehicles. This didn’t sit very well with Ferrari, so they banned him from buying limited edition cars again.
Criticizing cars is an almost everyday occurrence and we motoring enthusiasts do it all the time. Unfortunately, this does not sit well at all with the bosses in Maranello. Ferrari has a reputation to uphold and cannot afford to have their cars get called ‘lemons.’
One such incident occurred with the famous rapper, 50 Cent, who had to get his 488 GTB towed to a garage because the battery went dead. After the incident, Ferrari banned 50 Cent, and he now has to pose with someone else’s new Ferraris if he wants to look cool.
6 Accepting Ferraris As Gift From Dodgy People
Accepting any car from someone you don’t know is a bit weird, but when you accept a 458 Italia from a financial fraudster, then it gives Ferrari’s PR department a reason to get involved. This is exactly what allegedly happened with Kim Kardashian when she received a wedding gift.
While we cannot confirm or deny this rumor, there is a possibility that it happened as the delivery company confirmed the delivery of the car. This put Kim K on Ferrari’s blacklist for many years, and it is unknown if she is still banned.
5 Suing Ferrari Will Do It
Preston Henn, an avid Ferrari collector in North America, sued the Prancing Horse as they refused to sell him the rare LaFerrari Aperta, even though he fulfilled all the ridiculous prerequisites Ferrari set up to be able to buy one. Mr. Henn argued that the refusal by Ferrari has damaged his reputation as a Ferrari collector, but he eventually dropped the case. He never got his LaFerrari Aperta as he, unfortunately, died a year after he dropped the case.
4 Criticizing Ferrari Automobiles In Road Tests
Chris Harris is currently one of the presenters of the famous Top Gear motoring show, and he has had some trouble with the Prancing Horse. Before his Top Gear days, he wrote motoring reviews for various publications and had his own YouTube channel where he drove some pretty amazing vehicles.
The reason Ferrari banned him from reviewing any of their cars again is that in 2011, he wrote a piece about how Ferrari tuned their press cars to be the best possible version of the car, while the production versions weren’t nearly as good. Ouch!
3 Losing Your Ferrari For An Extended Period Of Time While Still Paying It Off
Purchasing a Ferrari should be a momentous occasion and driving it about every other day should make the owner feel special. Unfortunately, many celebrities do not quite share this enthusiast’s viewpoint.
While we can’t confirm the rumor, Justin Bieber allegedly ‘misplaced’ his 458 Italia after a night of heavy drinking, leading to his assistant taking three weeks to recover the car. Ferrari got wind of this and while they never publicly released a statement, Bieber was immediately prohibited from ever getting a new Ferrari.
2 Changing The ‘Prancing Horse’ Logo
While Ferrari allows subtle modifications to new cars, just to make them unique, they do not like big changes while the car is still under contract and getting financed. However, one subtle modification they do not allow at all is when new owners change the Prancing Horse logo on their cars.
This happened on multiple occasions, with DeadMau5 changing his horse to a cat to fit in with the Nyan Cat ‘Purrari’, and Justin Bieber who not only changed the Prancing Horse logo but also put a wide-body kit from West Coast Customs on his 458 – two massive breaches of Ferrari’s terms. So, if you ever buy a Ferrari new, do not touch the horse on the back, otherwise, it will kick you.
1 Illegitimate Use Of Ferrari Trademarks
Ferrari doesn’t take it lightly when the brand gets portrayed in “bad lights.” Now, whatever anyone considers as bad light is subject to diverse interpretations, but in Ferrari’s case, it’s anything the company deems could tarnish its image. In 2020, Ferrari won a protracted legal dispute again Swiss designer Philipp Plein for copyright infringement.
Plein featured the Prancing Horse as props in his fashion shows and on social media posts, showcasing what Ferrari claimed is “a lifestyle totally inconsistent with [Ferrari’s] brand perception, in connection with performers making sexual innuendos and using Ferrari’s cars as props in a manner which is per se distasteful.” For receiving a cease and desist from the brand, and for the protracted legal tussle, Plein surely wouldn’t be getting his hands on a brand-new Ferrari anytime soon.
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