To own a Ferrari would fulfill the fantasy of many car enthusiasts. The famous Italian automaker excels in delivering luxury sports cars that bear a signature and unique exterior without sacrificing performance. This is only half of what makes the cars special, though.

UPDATE: 2023/10/13 By Ron FP

Ferrari has several written and unwritten rules for both its customers and workers. You may agree or disagree with some of these rules, but they need to be followed nonetheless. We've updated this article to give you more insights into the rules that Ferrari owners and employees need to abide by.

Ferrari's culture separates the company from other automakers in huge ways, affecting both its customers and the workers behind these miraculous machines. Although the company is one of the most valuable, it cares about something more than just earning money: it’s about making special cars that offer a driving experience unlike any other. When examining Ferrari cars and the people who own them, it’s clear the company has achieved this milestone, even after all these years.

Ferrari enthusiasts have to go to great lengths if they want the latest and greatest cars Ferrari churns out. Employees have to follow rules and regulations if they want to uphold the most important thing to Ferrari—which transcends just making cars, but more about the outlook of the brand itself. Whether one is a Ferrari owner or an employee who works at their factory plant, everyone has to follow the "Ferrari code."

23 Ferrari Owners' Rule: Befriend Your Local Ferrari Dealership

First-time buyers don't just go into a Ferrari dealership with a bucketload of cash and walk out with a brand-new Ferrari. If you want to own your first car from the revered Maranello-based ultra-luxury brand, then you need to build a good relationship with your local Ferrari dealer first. As your first point of contact, the Ferrari dealership will act as the first gatekeeper for your entry into the highly exclusive Ferrari family, as you will need to go through a stringent vetting process. Only after the Ferrari dealership ticks all the right boxes and deems you worthy to be a candidate for a brand-new Ferrari will you be able to buy a "regular" model. Ferrari's vetting process entails an extensive background check about your credit history, social standing, legal history, and many others.

And we're not even talking about special-edition Ferrari models. We'll get to that later in this article.

22 Ferrari Owners' Rule: Don't Flip Your Ferrari

Nowadays, people become bombarded with agreements written in fine print, and most don’t have the time or patience to read all the agreements in detail, yet they often decide to sign on the line regardless. Ferrari makes their customers sign a contract upon purchasing a new vehicle.

In that agreement is a clause that prevents owners from reselling their cars in the first years. The automaker makes buyers sign this in an attempt to discourage owners from flipping their cars. This is both a reminder to read the fine print and further demonstrates the automaker’s stringent protocol placed upon new owners.

21 Ferrari Employees' Rule: Forbidden From Buying New Cars

Last 2021, Ferrari unveiled the 296 for the 2022 model year. Offered as a GTB coupe and GTS roadster, the 296 is a sports car that long-time employees can appreciate. However, even if the employees want the cars, and can afford them—tough luck. Notably, Ferrari owners are not allowed to order their own cars from the factory.

One of Ferrari’s executives, Enrico Galliera, had this to say about employees getting dibs on new cars: “The philosophy is that with such limited production and clients waiting so long to get their car, it's not nice if the car is delivered to employees.” The only exception to this rule is Scuderia Ferrari F1 drivers, who can buy one from the company.

20 Ferrari Owners' Rule: Leave The Logos Alone

Ferrari believes that as soon as their car rolls off the production line, it's perfect as is. There’s no shortage of Ferrari owners who feel differently, though; here’s photographic proof of owners who took their Ferrari rides for granted. If Ferrari had it their way, they’d opt for owners to leave their iconic logos untouched.

Electronic DJ and artist Deadmau5 got in trouble for covering up his Ferrari logos with custom ones. His 458 Italia “Purrari” sports a blue vinyl wrap that has the internet meme, Nyan Cat, painted on the side. It’s a move Ferrari supposedly issued a cease and desist order over.

19 Ferrari Employees' Rule: Communicate On Their Terms

Ferrari has gone to extremes to sell cars before by tampering with some odometers on used cars, so it’s only natural they’d apply radical policies in the workplace as well. It appears that too many employees were reaching for the keyboard on too many occasions instead of opting for old-fashioned face-to-face communication.

According to The Guardian, the executives at Ferrari advised their employees to “talk to each other more and write less.” Since it should be pretty easy for supervisors to monitor their employees’ computer activity, it's safe to assume workers adhere to this directive in order to stick around.

18 Ferrari Owners' Rule: No Pink Ferraris

Ferrari isn’t fond of pink Ferraris. That’s what Executive Lifestyle reports, despite the company tolerating some customer paint jobs. The disapproval of pink came directly from Herbert Appleroth, the Former President and CEO of Ferrari Australasia. “We do reject the exterior color pink,” Appleroth said, as per the same source.

He went on to say that Ferrari would never produce a pink car. Without a doubt, red is the most iconic color they wrap their cars in. At the same time, the company promotes the idea that no two Ferrari rides should be identical, they just wouldn't go so far as to stand out with a pink paint job.

17 Ferrari Employees' Rule: No Discounts On Cars

Working for certain companies has its perks. For one, it allows employees to buy products made and sold by that company at a discounted rate. This luxury, however, is too generous to bestow upon Ferrari employees.

Notably, should Scuderia Ferrari F1 drivers choose to purchase a personal Ferrari, they're required to pay full price for it. That puts them in an awkward position, considering it’d be hard to spot team members driving in anything else but a Ferrari; in a way, it forces their employees to invest back into the company without a price concession if they want to properly represent the brand.

16 Ferrari Owners' Rule: Accept Ferrari’s Right To Buy Back Car

In an earlier entry, we noted that Ferrari in the US has made buyers sign a special contract. While that contract discouraged owners from selling their new Ferrari, it also added another stipulation: the automaker can buy the vehicle back. If someone wanted to get rid of their LaFerrari Aperta, for example, it’s pursuant for Ferrari to purchase the vehicle back from the owner. It would appear that on the surface, Ferrari would rather the car go to someone who wants it instead of someone who doesn't. This is all part of the special contract owners may sign at the time of their purchase.

15 Ferrari Employees' Rule: Sworn To Prevent Security Leaks

Whether someone is an actor in an upcoming Avengers movie or an employee at Apple, the bigwigs in charge want to keep details under lock and key—that includes any plot spoilers and future product releases. Ferrari is a similar company that’s always making new vehicles while wishing to work in secrecy.

To maintain a level of mystery, the whole operation depends on trustworthy employees. According to Kaspersky Lab Daily, something as simple as copying data to a USB drive has to go through an approval process. This in turn discourages employees from going down routes that may lead to a security breach and exercises a higher level of caution.

14 Ferrari Owners' Rule: Must Love The Ferrari Brand

The world is full of sides, clubs, and camps. Those who are outside of them get picked on unless they join a team, while those inside a base pledge undying loyalty. Ferrari is no different. It’s more than just an automaker—it’s a special culture with its own philosophy, style, and following. This loyalty must reflect in all things concerning the brand, as anything less might put you on Ferrari's blacklist.

13 Ferrari Owners' Rule: No Lamborghinis

If you're looking to buy a new limited-edition Ferrari, your chances of being on the VIP list of people who will be allowed to do so may not be good if you own a Lamborghini. Sure, you may still be able to buy the "regular" new Ferraris, or you may even get a limited-edition Ferrari from a used car dealer.

The Ferrari and Lamborghini rivalry is one of the most legendary ones in the industry. Lamborghini founder Ferruccio Lamborghini, who made his fortune by building farm tractors, was once the owner of multiple Ferrari cars. However, after Ferruccio criticized the clutch assembly quality of the Prancing Horse cars, Ferrari patriarch Enzo effectively told his nouveau riche customer to go back to his farm and tractors and not criticize the "perfect" Ferrari cars. Out of spite and vengeance, Ferruccio built the Lamborghini car company, and the rest is history. The Ferrari and Lamborghini rivalry, which started in the 1960s, is still as fierce and as bitter today as it was 6 decades ago.

Ferrari may not stipulate it exclusively in their legal documents, but according to FerrariChat, the Maranello brand prevents Lamborghini owners from getting on their VIP lists for limited-edition Ferrari cars.

12 Ferrari Employees' Rule: Prohibited From Sending Certain Group Emails

Expanding further on an earlier point, Ferrari went to great lengths to crack down on employees emailing more instead of talking to each other. As a means to curb digital communication so that employees would talk to each other directly, they added terms to sending emails.

As per The Guardian, a spokesman for Ferrari said, “From now on, each Ferrari employee will only be able to send the same email to three people in-house.” This must have been a wake-up call for employees at the time and discouraged them from falling into old habits of copying everyone in the whole company on a single thread.

11 Ferrari Owners' Rule: Buy Not One, Not Two, But Multiple Ferraris

Owning a Ferrari isn’t exactly enough to be a part of the "Ferrari VIP Club." As the site Car Guy points out, it’s more suitable to own several Ferrari cars before one feels part of the bunch. That narrows down the list of potential owners to only a handful around the world, with how much they cost.

Furthermore, this also increases your chances of acquiring new exclusive Ferraris, as the company often prefers selling to old loyal customers. The more Ferraris a customer has in their fleet, the better the chances of a successful new Ferrari order.

10 Ferrari Owners' Rule: Don't Tarnish The Ferrari Brand

Since its birth as an automotive company, Ferrari has always taken pride in the superb quality and performance of its cars. As you may have gathered by now, Ferrari is very careful in keeping its brand's value as pristine as possible. Any person who puts the Ferrari brand in a bad light - in just about any way possible - will likely get into Ferrari's blacklist.

One such example is Top Gear automotive journalist Chris Harris, who got banned from driving Ferraris due to his negative remarks about Ferrari. Another example is rapper 50 Cent, who went as far as calling his Ferrari a "lemon" after it didn't start due to a dead battery.

Who Has Ferrari Blacklisted?

Here are some of the other celebrities that have ended up on Ferrari's blacklist. They have different reasons for being on the blacklist, but suffice it to say that they didn't follow Ferrari's written and unwritten codes.

1. Nicolas Cage
2. Floyd Mayweather, Jr.
3. Kim Kardashian
4. Justin Bieber
5. 50 Cent
6. Tyga
7. Deadmau5

9 Ferrari Employees' Rule: Required To Wear Red And White Uniforms

An amusement park can make its employees wear costumes that match the park’s theme; a restaurant may have its employees wear a vest and bow tie; an office requires business casual attire. Ferrari is similar, requiring its employees to adhere to a dress code.

According to the Detroit Free Press, those on Ferrari's manufacturing campus must wear red and white uniforms. They have the company’s iconic yellow logo stitched on, which unites all the employees under the same banner and purpose. There are plenty of people around the world who would love to wear these uniforms, but only a select number ever get to suit up in one.

8 Ferrari Owners' Rule: Be Older Than 40

Despite Ferrari being one of the most famous car brands today, many people aren’t aware of the Prancing Horse's history or the automaker's philosophy. There are so many facts about the legendary automaker that we dedicated a whole piece to things most people don't know about Ferrari.

It’s not unusual for potential owners to go through a rigorous process that feels commensurate to a background check. According to reports, Ferrari won’t hesitate to request a customer’s history of ownership for review. Even more, some Ferrari enthusiasts suggest that Ferrari dealers are more likely to sell a car to a new owner who’s over the age of 40.

7 Ferrari Employees' Rule: Formula 1 Team Must Win

The Scuderia Ferrari Formula 1 team is the most decorated one in the prestigious race's history. When Scuderia Ferrari struggles, it affects the whole company. The site News.com.au reports that despite being the “most iconic team” in Formula 1 racing, Ferrari was unable to secure a Grand Prix win in 2016. The team only has one remedy when this happens: winning.

As F1-Fansite points out, they were able to bounce back in early 2017, with Sebastian Vettel winning the first race of the season and securing five race wins. The Ferrari Formula 1 team not only represents the automaker but carries the pride of the entire brand. It’s important that they do well for the brand to continue thriving.

6 Ferrari Owners' Rule: Treat Fellow Ferrari Owners Like Family

Buying a car from certain automakers, such as Tesla, Porsche, or Ferrari, feels like joining a family. When customers buy a Ferrari, they enter into an exclusive club - like a brotherhood or sisterhood - alongside fellow owners. As such, entering into the Ferrari fraternity means that owners help each other when the need arises.

This is one of those unspoken rules the automaker hopes and expects its customers will follow. Even outsiders who don’t own one may find it easy to support someone who does as an expression of their admiration towards the brand. Ferrari owners stick together.

5 Ferrari Employees' Rule: Must Adopt The “Formula Uomo” Philosophy

The company not only cares about its customers but its employees too. They recognize that these are the people who make it all possible. Ferrari launched a project called “Formula Uomo” in the 1990s, which lays down many of the tenets employees live and breathe by.

This philosophy deals with the working conditions, one’s professional growth, and personal benefits. Each individual is important and must embody these principles for the whole enterprise to work properly. As a Ferrari employee, “Formula Uomo” lays the groundwork for one’s success while working there.

4 Ferrari Owners' Rule: Must Have Fame, Fortune, And More

To own some of the world’s best supercars, all it takes is a lot of dough. If that wasn’t enough though, Ferrari raises the bar on what they expect from their owners. Part of what makes their cars so exclusive is the limited number they make. Take the LaFerrari, with only 499 units in existence.

In order for their cars to get attention, Ferrari has to sell them to owners who can both afford them and put them in the spotlight. Hence, sometimes, even high-profile buyers who applied for the vehicle weren't able to land one.