It's often proposed that those who own pricey supercars live on another planet compared to the unwashed masses like you and I.
But, in practice I've found that the logic does have occasional fault. An example would be last year's McLaren Epic Drive, where I was lucky enough to bump into McLaren owners that were also true dyed-in-the-wool petroleum heads.
However, for every tale about passionate McLarenists and Lamborghinistas, there's another 10 about owners that crash their cars while leaving flash high-profile parties, or who lose their cars in fraud battles, or — in this case — simply leave their cars sitting on the street to die.
Yes, this 1995 Ferrari 456, painted in Tour de France Blue and equipped with a 5.5-litre V12, has been sitting on a Knightsbridge street in the UK for more than two years — idle and clamped. It sits there because the taxes on the car lapsed in 2015, and the owner has supposedly not done a thing about it since.
This 456 in its current form is just about as distanced from the Ferrari brand identity as is physically possible. There's no shine or presence; just grime on the ground and dirt on the car. The left wing mirror has been damaged, and a Ferrari badge has been pried off the body work. There's even a few comedy penises drawn onto the bonnet by passersby.
The Daily Mail, who reported on the Ferrari initially, speculate that it would be worth in the ballpark of £70,000 in the right nick, which is about NZD$120,000. That's not bad value considering that the four-seater 456 is one of Ferrari's more unique projects from over the years, and helped kick start future 'family friendly' ventures like the FF 'shooting brake'.
Oddly enough, it appears that the front wheel of the limp Fezza isn't actually padlocked anymore. Which means that it can probably be hot wired and driven away by young buck brave and dumb enough to give it a go.
Hopefully this 456 will one day be rescued from its dismal current situation, perhaps into the arms of someone who can see it for what it is. But for now, it looks like its V12 has a long way to go before it can sing on British streets again.