Tampa Bay area Ferrari dealer welcomes buyers, browsers

Forget the Super Bowl, the Tampa Bay area has a new yardstick for the Big Time.

Its own Ferrari dealership.

Ferrari of Tampa Bay had a soft opening last week in Palm Harbor. The 27,000-square-foot facility, which is still undergoing finishing touches that include a permanent sign, is just off U.S. 19 at 2420 Tampa Road.

General manager Chris Warren says the stylishly remodeled former insurance building is only the second "free-standing" store in North America, which has some three-dozen authorized Ferrari dealerships. Warren has about a dozen cars in a showroom that includes both pre-owned Ferraris and a few vintage autos. There is no standing inventory of new cars. After placing an order, Warren says, a buyer can expect to take delivery of a Ferrari, which can cost well over $300,000, within a year.

That begs the obvious question: Why try to sell exotic Italian sports cars in a recession?

"I wouldn't say it hasn't hurt," Warren says of the economy. But he adds confidently: "The affluence of our clients tends to insulate them."

The statistics bear him out. Ferrari's U.S. sales, for example, were down just 3 percent for the first 10 months of the year, compared with an industry decline of 14 percent, according to recent Autodata figures reported by the AP.

Still, Warren says that Ferrari owners transcend stereotypes of the wealthy and his job is to help them enjoy their cars.

"We are in this business to build relationships with people and to free up time in their lives. Our main focus is not to say 'no.' "

Warren says he is in a relatively convenient destination for the area's affluent customers, whether they be in Tampa or north Pinellas. Those Ferrari owners had to send their cars to Orlando or South Florida for service until the Palm Harbor location opened last year to do only repairs. New Jersey businessman Onofrio Triarsi, who owns Ferrari Maserati of Central Florida, is the owner of Ferrari of Tampa Bay, according to Warren.

"This is a brand that evokes emotion," Warren says of Ferrari and its famous Prancing Horse logo. "People who have the money want to buy them, people who cannot afford them want to see them."

Indeed, the showroom already is getting a steady trickle of passers-by.

One of those recently was Mike Hadlock, who stopped by after work. "I could stare at these cars all day," says Hadlock, 25, who works at Morton Plant Hospital in Clearwater and whose daily vehicle is a Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle.

Warren emphasizes that he wants everyone to feel comfortable in his showroom, which features an espresso lounge and a $10,000 reception desk covered in the same fine leather found in a Ferrari interior. Just want to buy a T-shirt in the boutique? You're welcome.

Sales manager Tom LaPointe says there will be special events, such as viewing parties for Formula One races on the showroom's high-definition TVs. There is even a driveway that resembles a race-track chicane.

Says LaPointe: "It's the ultimate testosterone home."

Times staff photographer Douglas R. Clifford contributed to this report.