[billybob_jcv]

Those videos just made me cringe. Just more proof that there is no God, and that money does not make you smart. Gravel roads and mud holes? What is wrong with that guy? Not giving a cr@p how he treats a car does not make him cool - it makes him a bloody moron.

The family fortune will not survive to be passed to the children of that twit.

 

[Magick Man]

Yeah, that skirting on the F50s? That's not carbon fiber, it's plastic and it does pit when abused. Sure, he can get it replaced, using daddy's money, but it'll never be original again. I'll hoon a car with the best of them, drift an F1 around a circuit, chew up a set of $1500 Michelins, but there's a time and place for everything, and an owner with common sense knows that.

 

[veyrongatti]

Those videos just made me cringe. Just more proof that there is no God, and that money does not make you smart. Gravel roads and mud holes? What is wrong with that guy? Not giving a cr@p how he treats a car does not make him cool - it makes him a bloody moron.

The family fortune will not survive to be passed to the children of that twit.

I think he can afford to replace the parts with the amount of views hes gained 

 

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

And at least the cars aren't garage queens IMHO Cars are ment to be driven not collected . Apparently the son is an race car driver or something 

 

[billybob_jcv]

There's a difference between *driving* a car to appreciate it, versus destroying it and then tossing it in the bin. You could do what he's doing to the cars in an '87 Ford Taurus and get the same cheap thrills. IMHO, using a Ferrari to sling gravel around has no redeeming values.

 

[customcoco]

  Cars are ment to be driven not collected . Apparently the son is an race car driver or something 

Sure, driven like they were meant to be. Bowlers go to the Paris-Dakar, rally cars go on gravel, and street cars go on tarmac.
 
"The son is a race driver". Doesn't mean anything. To be a racing driver, one only needs money (loads of it actually), to be successful at that is another thing.
 
And with such a piece of mind and disrespect for the cars he drives, I highly doubt that he'll get anywhere...

 

[billybob_jcv]

I raced solo II in college - I was in a club that set-up a bunch of cones in the college library parking lot, and we had two guys with stop watches and one guy with a flag. Afterwards, we all went for pizza and beers and gave out $5 trophies. Am I a "race car driver"?



We had a guy in the club that raced his Mom's early 70s Ford station wagon. We always gave him a trophy just for making it around the course without hitting any cones...

 

[Magick Man]

I don't have any garage queens, all the cars are driven (if not by me, then someone in the garage) regularly. Collecting them is for preservation, so future generations can appreciate and enjoy them. That's why I don't just collect exotics, but also great examples of "drivers' cars" of all marques and values (I have 6 Corvairs, seriously). I get just as excited over a mint RX-7 FD or *Z32 TT as I do over a new Ferrari (probably more, because they were the "hero" cars of my youth), and I don't abuse those either, but we do give them a good workout just to keep them in shape. Anyhow, it's all about those guys wanting attention and trying to look cool by beating on cars that most people will never even see in person, when the more responsible and generous thing to do is to take them to shows and track events so all car enthusiasts can have an opportunity to enjoy them.


*We got in a gorgeous Z32 SMZ last week; 20k miles and moderately tuned further by Stillen (beyond the regular SMZ package), translating to 415bhp and a 1/4mi in the high 12s. I was still rather pissed off and distracted by the whole stalking/threat thing, so I didn't mention it. It was another Cars and Coffee buy, man I love those things! My only gripe is that he lost the original wheels, how do you lose a set of wheels?

 

[ssrock64]

I'm sure law enforcement in town is very aware of your collection, since you get out and drive them often. Are they a friend or a foe to you, generally?

 

[billybob_jcv]

how do you lose a set of wheels?

Depends on the neighborhood...

 

[veyrongatti]

I don't have any garage queens, all the cars are driven (if not by me, then someone in the garage) regularly. Collecting them is for preservation, so future generations can appreciate and enjoy them. That's why I don't just collect exotics, but also great examples of "drivers' cars" of all marques and values (I have 6 Corvairs, seriously). I get just as excited over a mint RX-7 FD or *Z32 TT as I do over a new Ferrari (probably more, because they were the "hero" cars of my youth), and I don't abuse those either, but we do give them a good workout just to keep them in shape. Anyhow, it's all about those guys wanting attention and trying to look cool by beating on cars that most people will never even see in person, when the more responsible and generous thing to do is to take them to shows and track events so all car enthusiasts can have an opportunity to enjoy them.
 

Yeah thats a better approach I guess Wait a Z32 or an FD? Wow you are a lot younger than I thought you would be 

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

 I always thought that you were an wise old man with a white beard for some reason 

 

[SP Wild]

Yeah, that skirting on the F50s? That's not carbon fiber, it's plastic and it does pit when abused. Sure, he can get it replaced, using daddy's money, but it'll never be original again. I'll hoon a car with the best of them, drift an F1 around a circuit, chew up a set of $1500 Michelins, but there's a time and place for everything, and an owner with common sense knows that.

You guys are right. If you're able to afford a supercar you're able to get it on a circuit to enjoy. I guess them videos appeal to poor buggers that will never see that kind of money and if they do have access to such cash...generally it'll be gone real quick because the subconscious believes enjoy now cause this ain't happening ever again.

Sure, driven like they were meant to be. Bowlers go to the Paris-Dakar, rally cars go on gravel, and street cars go on tarmac.

"The son is a race driver". Doesn't mean anything. To be a racing driver, one only needs money (loads of it actually), to be successful at that is another thing.

And with such a piece of mind and disrespect for the cars he drives, I highly doubt that he'll get anywhere...

I agree. As much as i try to believe that the f1 drivers in the are the best available in the world...my instincts tell me motor racing is a daddy boys sport. There are probably many people in the world if given the opportunity with financially stable and supportive parents that could possibly be better than the entire f1 field and evey single legend ever.

 

[Hutnicks]

You guys are right. If you're able to afford a supercar you're able to get it on a circuit to enjoy. I guess them videos appeal to poor buggers that will never see that kind of money and if they do have access to such cash...generally it'll be gone real quick because the subconscious believes enjoy now cause this ain't happening ever again.
I agree. As much as i try to believe that the f1 drivers in the are the best available in the world...my instincts tell me motor racing is a daddy boys sport. There are probably many people in the world if given the opportunity with financially stable and supportive parents that could possibly be better than the entire f1 field and evey single legend ever.

You could not be further in error if you tried.

 

[billybob_jcv]

I tend to agree with Hutnicks on this one. An F1 team (or any top racing team) is going to find the best - they could care less whether the driver is the son of the Emir or a hayseed from the Arkansas hills. If they can go fast, and do it at every race for the entire race, then they want them to drive their cars. The teams will make the great drivers rock stars. If a rock star drives a car slowly, then they are just clowns.

It's no different than other pro sports - the scouts will pull a kid from a dirt-poor village in Honduras and make them a star - as long as that kid can throw a 105 MPH fastball.

Now, with all that said, having a pile of Daddy's money will certainly help to create a great young driver. It takes both a ton of skill AND a lot of experience to reach F1. And getting all that experience before the age of 30 is going to cost someone A LOT of money. But the really wealthy kid that always ends-up at the back of the pack or DNF is NOT going to get a call from Ferrari, Williams, Mercedes, etc to be their hot new F1 driver.

 

[Hutnicks]

I tend to agree with Hutnicks on this one. An F1 team (or any top racing team) is going to find the best - they could care less whether the driver is the son of the Emir or a hayseed from the Arkansas hills. If they can go fast, and do it at every race for the entire race, then they want them to drive their cars. The teams will make the great drivers rock stars. If a rock star drives a car slowly, then they are just clowns.

It's no different than other pro sports - the scouts will pull a kid from a dirt-poor village in Honduras and make them a star - as long as that kid can throw a 105 MPH fastball.

Now, with all that said, having a pile of Daddy's money will certainly help to create a great young driver. It takes both a ton of skill AND a lot of experience to reach F1. And getting all that experience before the age of 30 is going to cost someone A LOT of money. But the really wealthy kid that always ends-up at the back of the pack or DNF is NOT going to get a call from Ferrari, Williams, Mercedes, etc to be their hot new F1 driver.

For every Lauda (who was actually given a choice of a one time payment from his parents and disenheritance or dropping racing and going into the family business) who bought his way in. There are a thousand who, like pro cyclists, or olympians, come from nothing.
Jim Clarks parents were farmers. Stewarts car dealers,  Hamiltons Father was an IT manager who went consultant and worked 3 contracts at a time to support his kids racing habit., Andretti's parents landed in America with 125 bucks to their name.
F1 is a big money business and yeah you get Russians in there now with huge money backers. But as you say they are in backmarker teams. Way too much at stake to put some scrape in a 10 million dollar car and hope for the best. Winning brings sponsor money and TV share money to the tune of hundreds of millions and even the wealthiest of no talents cannot pony up that kind of money.
Next off, it's HARD to drive an F1 car. Unless you happen to be the next freak of nature called Kimi who was dropped into F1 after less than 40 total races in your life, you are not going to be able to handle that car. I mean Martin Bumble who ran F! damn near wrote himself off driving a current gen car. I wouldn't set foot in one without about a million hours in a simulator. The Alonso's and Ricciardo's of the world can make it look real easy, but you are in a vehicle that accelerates to a hundred most likely in less time than it takes Magicks pride and joy to hit 60, requires 180 kg of pressure to brake and when it does creates 7 or 8 g's under breaking, has enough lateral acceleration to wear your skin down to the bone if you have a misfit seat and reacts to vector changes so quickly you have to specifically train your neck muscles to take the strain. The cars are split second lethal to an incompetent driver. Even to get a superlicence and get on the grid or be a test driver in there is an accomplishment of such magnitude within that trade that it would equate to getting to the top .01 percentile of whatever field you are in. Of that there is another tier entirely of drivers who can actually win a race.
They are like any other athlete, most of them don't get spoiled until they hit the top and start making money. Up until you hit that strata you pretty much are in debt, your parents are in debt and anyone else you could beg money of off.

 

[customcoco]

   

I agree. Even though I'm "saddened" by the lack of diversity in F1 drivers' profiles...
 
Go kart before 12 (which can already cost a fortune), then debut in single seater (Formula Ford, BMW etc...) which will empty your bank account by another 100K$,  then GP3/formula Renault (half a million) etc...
 
We'll never see another Jim clark, even though racing talents are imho not really related to age (just look a Loeb's fantastic career).
 
Skills perhaps are, but there's always a way to get them if you're willing to work harder than the rest of the field.
 
With all that said, money's still a very important factor.
 
Being an amateur Kart racer, I've seen way too many talented drivers (national level champions) fail because of lack of money.
 
On the other hand though, I've many terrible driver graduate into single seaters.
 
Will they reach F1 ? I hope not, but they didn't deserve to race SS in the first place.