Love it or hate it, the Ferrari is a symbol of economic prosperity

It is not hard to see why the Ferrari is loved. The car is a superb piece of engineering; capable of easily outperforming the average muscle car. Then there is the handling, the steering and, of course, the roar of the engine.

Sociologists will also tell you, as if it is a revelation, that it is a status symbol. The prancing horse logo marks out the owner as high achieving, wealthy and of superior status to mere mortals. The new Ferrari 458 Italia has a basic price of just under £170,000 – several times the average annual income - while Chris Evans reportedly paid £12m for a 1963 Ferrari 250 GTO. Of course for the Ferrari owner who has virtually everything there are plenty of associated items he can buy, including the £250,000 Scuderia Ferrari One watch.
 
It would easy to portray the hatred of the Ferrari as the flip side of the car’s symbolic status. The brand represents what the average person does not have. He may appreciate the car’s engineering as much as any Ferrari owner but he cannot afford to own one. Instead he is part of the vast majority who have to make do with lesser marques or perhaps even confine themselves to public transport.
 
Then there is the green lobby. Since environmentalists tend, at the very least, to be wary of ordinary cars it is not surprising they should hate the ultimate motor.
 
Naturally greens detest its high speed and high oil consumption, but probably what they hate most of all is that it embodies the sheer pleasure of driving. You really don’t need to be able to travel from 0-60 mph in four seconds for trips to the local recycling centre or farmers’ market. The Ferrari is also obviously lacking as a functional vehicle for the school run or trip to Tesco; despite its top speed of 200mph or more. It is, instead, about a pastime the green puritans can only regard as evil: driving for fun.
 
But it would be a mistake to end the story there. There is a peculiar twist to the tale of Ferrari hatred that has emerged in recent years.
 
Today’s consensus above all else calls for economic restraint. I call it ‘growth scepticism’ because it pays lip service to growth on one hand but is intensely anxious about it on the other. It says it supports growth in principle but subjects it to numerous caveats in practice.
 
Growth, it is argued, must be subject to numerous constraints. It should respect environmental, moral and social limits. The growth sceptics claim that unsustainable growth is destroying the planet, fuelling our greed, widening dangerous inequalities and making us miserable. The rise of environmentalism - the notion that human activity needs to accept natural limits - should be seen as part of this trend.
 
A related approach is to argue that prosperity should be redefined in non-material terms. Our focus, it is said, should be on well-being rather than accumulating wealth.
 
This outlook is much more dangerous than the tree hugging beloved of the deep greens. It has the support of all western governments as well as wealthy individuals such as Al Gore and George Soros. It is far more convincing than an approach that calls for no growth or even a shrinking economy.
 
Where the growth sceptic consensus goes wrong is to see only problems rather than solutions. For instance, it presents climate change as an insurmountable barrier that means growth must be restrained. It plays down the possibility of technological solutions to the challenge. It is reluctant to discuss investing in more nuclear energy, building higher sea walls and high technology solutions such as removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Nor does it see that paying for such measures will demand more growth rather than less.
 
The culture war against the Ferrari should be understood in this context. It symbolises everything the growth sceptics detest. The car represents aspiration and ambition rather than the acceptance of restraint. It embodies the embrace, rather than rejection, of high technology.
 
By providing a potent symbol of economic progress the Ferrari provides yet another reason to love it. Even for those not lucky enough to be able to afford one.
 
Daniel Ben-Ami is the author of ‘Ferraris for All’ (Policy Press). His personal website can be found at www.danielbenami.com