Ben Gilbert: commitment

Transcript context

…Ultimately, I control the budget. Right. So Enzo, of course, hates this. And in dramatic fashion, he blows up the deal right at the finish line, all while the papers had been reporting, you know, the information leaked that the Americans were about to buy this Italian national treasure. Makes big headlines when the deal blows up. You can imagine why this is in Ferrari's public relations interest based on everything that we've been describing about their business strategy. Of course, then Henry Ford II is absolutely incensed and he has this great quote. In May of 1963, he goes to his lieutenants and he says, we will go to Le Mans and beat his ass. We're going to race him. And Enzo is probably like thinking dumb Americans the whole time. There's this great quote in the Bracchietti book about Enzo and his opinion of the Americans, which is something like, he realized the fundamental truth to selling European luxury goods to Americans: treat an American like a hick and you'll own him for life.…

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