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No, it's not David Coulthard's latest girlfriend, it's "Ferrari Barbie and she's ready to drive off in style with the Ferrari logo emblazoned on the front of her jacket". Strictly speaking it's Ferrari™ Barbie®, since this is the legal minefield that is automotive licensing. And during the past ten years there's been none more assiduous when it comes to protecting its good name than Ferrari. For an auto company that wants to sell more than a few baseball caps adorned with its logo, the lawyers are often the first point of call. Ferrari reckons it took more than a decade to undo licensing arrangements for all kinds of tat. Jaguar, once a little freer with its favour, has only just begun to clear the shelves of Jaguar aftershave, spectacles and even soft furnishings (which someone in the North American office mistakenly saw fit to order for the operation's reception). Waiting in the wings is a line of new Jaguar-branded stuff. It's been created at some expense at parent company Ford's new Soho-based design centre, ingeni. Designed by Richard Rogers, ingeni is what would have been called a "temple of cool" in the 1990s but fails to make the grade because firstly this is the 21st century and "cool" is a 20th century concept; and secondly, the air-conditioning inside what will one day be a powerhouse of licensing is somewhat inadequate. Ford designers from all its brands occupy just three floors of the eight-level building; a hip new restaurant and bar is on two floors; a software company has another and the Beanstalk Group, the world's biggest licensing company, the remaining two. Handily enough, Beanstalk, which controls Harley-Davidson's licensing operation - generally regarded as the role model for all others - is also owned by Ford. So what can we expect from the ingeni/Beanstalk partnership? Well nothing too sexy for a start; Ford's Aston Martin division was obliged to withdraw a range of sterling silver handcuffs and leather shorts because their kinky innuendo was too much for the god-fearing Ford family. So that put the kibosh on a range of Volvo safe-sex toys the operation was rumoured to have planned. Good taste will probably prevent Aston Martin Barbie ever hitting the streets, which is the real mystery behind what's happening at Ferrari. The licensing department in Maranello is rampant right now and there appears to be nothing the company's boss, Luca di Montezemolo, can do about it. A man who knows a thing or two about licensing (he reinvigorated Webb sunglasses and Acqua di Parma perfumes in his spare time), you can't imagine him wearing some of the gear that now legitimately carries a Ferrari logo, preferring as he does the blazer and open-necked shirt look of the Euro-smoothie. But he's not finished yet. When Fiat, which owns Ferrari, first floated the idea of a limited public share in the world's most celebrated car company, di Montezemolo had his eyes on the proceeds. However, Fiat's deepening cash crisis means that the man Silvio Berlusconi wants as Italy's next minister for sport might go begging. And that could be a blessing because di Montezemolo plans to build the first Ferrari theme park in Maranello. Barbies, theme parts... cuddly Michael Schumachers can be only just around the corner. Click here to return to the Ferrari Happenings page.
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"Her
red faux-leather suit is complemented with black stitching and a gold
zip. Underneath she wears a black, faux-leather halter top laced up a
the front. Black boots and long, blonde air complete her look..."