Ferrari apologizes to China for burnout on 600-year-old relic

What good is a publicity stunt if no one notices? We can only assume that's what a Ferrari dealer in China thought when he arranged for a $958,000 special edition Ferrari 458 to do burnouts atop the historic 600-year-old stone gate in Nanjing on live television, leaving rubber marks on ancient stones that workers haven't been able to remove. If Ferrari wanted Chinese residents to think of its drivers as overweening jerks, mission accomplished.

Ferrari's China arm started apologizing profusely this week after the stunt set off a wave of anger across China, and came just weeks after Ferrari rolled out the dragon-emblazoned special edition in Marco Polo Red for 20 fortunate buyers. It said local distributor Kuaiyi Automobile had arranged the drive and a related half-day party on the structure without Ferrari's input, and that the company "deeply regretted" the stunt and had "great respect" for Chinese culture.

The Zhonghua Gate was built during the Ming Dynasty to protect Nanjing, the former capital of China. According to state-run Xinhua news, cleaners were unable to remove the tire tracks from the Ferrari earlier this week, and archaeological experts worried whether the car's vibrations hadn't damaged the gate's internal structure. Ferrari should be so lucky to get away from angering customers in its largest market with just a few black marks.


/Yahoo/