A world where cost of ownership means nothing

I suppose it is quite topical to talk about the obscene money earned by even the most mediocre of premiership footballers as we watch the odious Marlon King deprived of his privileged lifestyle for 18 months (although in reality probably just a long weekend). This outrageous reward is never better illustrated by the money that these players are happy to fritter away on their cars.

Look in the car park at any premier league club football training ground and you will be sure to find a sumptuous collection of Bentleys, Ferraris, Range Rovers, Porsches, Mercedes and Maserati to name but a few.

This in and of itself is hardly surprising seeing as one weeks wages for a top flight player would easily cover the cost of most of these cars, the funny thing is the fact they get so bored with their cars so quickly and they will often spend more on customising them than the car is actually worth.
I have a friend in the trade who now, almost exclusively, specialises in supplying cars to footballers and VIP’s and although he admits it is lucrative he certainly earns every penny, so demanding are these pampered millionaires.

He told me of a footballer recently to whom he had supplied a brand new, top of the range, supercar 2 years ago and who had now contacted him again wishing to upgrade it to the current model. When my friend went to appraise the car, to see what he could allow him in part exchange, he discovered that the car had done what appeared to be very few miles, and seemed as new as when he had supplied it but for the fact that it was covered with surface dirt.

On asking the player why he had such low mileage, the player replied that he had only actually driven the car twice and as he lived so close to the training ground he didn’t really use it!

So my friend, who was rather bemused, put a deal together on a new car which meant that the seriously minted player lost £25k in depreciation. Needless to say he didn’t flinch when my mate told him the supposedly bad news and is probably, as I type, in the throes of walking past his new acquisition on the way to the training ground being blissfully happy that it is haemorrhaging cash in front of his very eyes.

They do always say that vast wealth and a young, bored, unengaged mind is a very dangerous mix and it’s obvious that most of these people do not inhabit the real world. It’s a world where the mere ownership of a spectacular sports car is enough and leaves us mere mortals staring at the depreciating, dust gathering pile of glorious metal and leather in open mouthed awe.