Yes, John Carmack Was Barred From Buying A Ferrari 1
Image: Sega

When the video game industry was beginning to explode in the '90s, one of the companies which benefitted the most was id Software.

Creator of the groundbreaking Wolfenstein 3D, Doom and Quake, id was arguably at the vanguard of 3D gaming during most of the decade, and its success turned two of its co-founders – John Carmack and John Romero – into household names with gaming fans.

Such was Carmack's fame that a story has risen up about his love of fast cars, a direct benefit of his commercial success at id Software. The tale goes that Carmack was actually barred from purchasing a Ferrari F50 because of his desire to modify sports cars in the past.

Twitter account Motor Car Tidbits posted about this story recently, noting that Carmack would take his Ferraris to Norwood Autocraft, a Dallas-based tuner, for modification. Because Ferrari prohibits such modification, he wasn't allowed to purchase a shiny new F50.

One Twitter user took issue with this tale, claiming it couldn't be true "because if the manufacturer can stop you from modifying "your" car then it isn't really "your" car: it's really their car by definition and you're only renting."

At this point, Carmack steps in himself to attest that the story is actually 100% true:

The local Ferrari dealer refused to put me on the waiting list for the F50, despite my having bought three Ferraris, two from them. They strongly disapproved of the turbocharging Norwood had done on my other cars. I wound up getting one of the first private sale F50 in the US when it came off lease.

So there you go; another video game "myth" becomes a solid fact.

[source x.com]