Italy is one of the most important car manufacturers in Europe and in the world. Italian cars have built a reputation for delivering stunning exotic cars with premium luxury, pure performance, and ultra-high prices reserved for the rich. Driving Italian cars provides a feeling of prestige hard to find in cars anywhere else in the world. If you’re not careful, you might start to think that you are better than the rest of the common people.
But all is not magic with Italian sports cars. It seems they too have skeletons in their tiny, inconvenient trunk spaces that their owners don’t want the rest of the world to find out about. Stick with us and we’ll let you know about things your Ferrari owner friend will never tell you. You might also end up enjoying your good old Toyota more.
ten Most do not belong to Italians
What is the difference between an Audi R8 and a Lamborghini Huracán? Not much, really. They share the same powertrain, the only difference coming in a few tweaks to make one civilized and more capable for everyday driving, read R8, and the other a beautifully accelerating and powerful monster. Both are well-designed cars built by the Volkswagen Group, a German company.
Foreign companies have acquired most of the Italian brands, and while that doesn’t take away the Italian punch, the sheer authenticity is diluted by outside influences from their parent company. Even Fiat, the giant, is partly owned by Chrysler.
9 Ferrari is not the biggest Italian automaker
When the subject of Italian automobiles is brought up, the first word that comes to mind is usually Ferrari. Most imagine the sleek engineering masterpiece in red with a prancing horse logo as the most Italian thing after spaghetti. But Ferrari is not the biggest Italian car maker. Long before Enzo’s arrival, Fiat dominated the Italian automotive industry and still does today with its predominantly consumer model lineup.
Fiat also owns the premium brands Alfa Romeo and Lancia and the exotic Maserati, which directly competes with Ferraris and Lamborghinis.
8 Not all Italian sports cars look good
Without a doubt, Italian cars are a true symbol of exquisite style, with many Ferrari, Lamborghini and Maserati models being the epitome of automotive beauty. And while they’ve produced some of the finest cars ever made, they’ve given us ugly products that don’t match the Italian way through the decades.
Good examples include the Ferrari Dino 308 GT4 Rainbow, the Ferrari 330GT Navaro, the Alfa Romeo SZ, and the Lamborghini Jarama. Some time ago, the $ 4.5 million Lamborghini Veneno was called the ugliest car ever made by the authoritative US auto site Edmunds.
seven Expensive to keep on the road
It turns out that to enjoy the luxurious and exotic style offered by the Italian auto industry bet, you’ll be spending a ton of dollars from the moment you leave the showroom. They are not only very expensive to buy, but also to maintain.
Usually, many Italian sports cars are low production models, which means that every part is low production. Without economies of scale, parts are expensive, hard to find, and the few specialist mechanics will charge you every penny in your pocket to fix your car.
6 They are notoriously impractical
With Italian cars, you have to trade the exotic looks and excellent performance for an embarrassing and impractical set that sometimes leaves the driver helpless. Everyday things like getting in and out of the car next to a curb can be a problem as it gets in the way of the door, or having to back up with very limited visibility, or even just racing the car wide.
Most being two-seater, forget to carry two buddies, not to mention your family. Trunk space is also nonexistent, leaving room for only a handful of groceries. And we haven’t even reached the cramped interior yet. However, no one has ever bought a Lamborghini for its convenience, right?
5 Attention magnets
If you’d rather stay under the radar and go about your business incognito, you’d better leave your Italian sports car behind. With their unique looks, these cars are better off with celebrities thriving in the limelight, okay, if you like the attention they are a great choice.
The sight of a Ferrari brings up a lot of uncomfortable conversations, with people asking you personal questions they would never ask another stranger. Ultimately, you realize that people will care about your car more than they will ever care about you.
4 Italian sports cars catch fire
While not a common occurrence or mass reporting of these cars catching fire, we’ve seen plenty of videos of Ferraris or Lamborghinis being burnt to the ground in front of their helpless owners. So why are they catching fire? Certainly a solidly built vehicle should withstand enthusiastic driving, even if you occasionally put the engine in line. The fault lies mainly with the manufacturer and sometimes with the mechanics who work on the cars.
Most of these fires are preventable as they are often caused by fuel hoses not being replaced after major maintenance or improper connections causing them to burst in heat. Sometimes manufacturers take responsibility and recall vehicles if there are many incidents with a model.
3 Not all Italian cars are very expensive
The all-new, cheapest Lamborghini or Ferrari will set you back over $ 200,000. They just don’t make cars for people in trouble. Fortunately, Ferrari and Lamborghini aren’t the only Italians making exotic sports cars. Some, like the Fiat 124 Spider, are available for around $ 30,000.
In addition, the used car market is full of the best that Italy can offer at affordable prices. So if you can’t afford a brand new Italian car, you can buy a used one like this Lamborghini Gallardo which sold for $ 88,000 at Barret-Jackson auction.
2 Bad reputation for being unreliable
Recently we wrote about Italian cars which are surprisingly reliable, but they are the exception, not the rule. Yes, reliability has made huge strides in recent times, but the spot is there, and even with improvement, they still produce unreliable cars.
Besides the high maintenance costs, you will find a moat that can test even the calmest and most patient owner. There’s an unreliable rustproof bucket for every high-performance Italian sports car, with bad electricity, poor mechanics, and shoddy build quality that dominate complaints. This is something Italian car owners will never tell you.
1 Most Italian cars are overpriced
Of course, luxury and exoticism come at a high price, but the Italians have taken it a step further with the surprisingly high sticker prices on some of their cars. We’re not talking about the $ 222,000 you pay for the Ferrari Roma or the $ 214,000 for the Lamborghini Huracán. Although they are still expensive, their price is relatively reasonable since it is close to $ 200,000 for a Porsche Panamera Turbo S with a few options. We hear those models that cost over half a million or more without any justification.
For example, the Nissan GTR, Corvette ZR1, and Dodge Viper ACR cost a fraction of Ferrari Enzo’s $ 600,000, but they are faster than the Italian car on the Nürburgring.
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