Monday, May 24, 2010

Enzo Ferrari: Pope of the North

Enzo Ferrari came to be known as the "the Pope of the North." The more he won, the more movie stars, business leaders and politicians gravitated to Maranello, as if by pilgrimage. His clients--he always called them clients, not customers--included Nelson Rockefeller, Jimmy Stewart, William Holden and Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands.
Appointments with Ferrari were as coveted as a papal audience. The clienti entered an archway in a low ochre block and sat waiting--and waiting--in a bare cubicle outside Ferrari's office. They delay was his passive aggressive means of expressing his disdain; in his view, the clienti rare deserved such exquisite cars.

1 comment:

  1. Bernard Cahier said once that Enzo Ferrari used to brag about this, specially wheh he kept waiting the ex - King Leopold of Belgium for more than two hours. He said also that one day he would do a sort of momument "to the unknown man, that died waiting to receiving me!"

    In a way, like you tell, it's Commendatore's way to show disdain to certain people.

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