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China’s First Ferrari Owner: Li Xiaohua aka Mr. Ferrari

A red 348 TS became the very first Ferrari ever bought by a Chinese man. In 1992, two decades ago, Li Xiaohua became the proud owner of his first Prancing Horse, a car which soon became a simple of the magical west.
First Ferrari in China 1 photo
Photo: magazine.ferrari.com
His car was signed by a number of foreign heads of state and dignitaries, including American Presidents Bush (father and son) and Clinton, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Russian leader Vladimir Putin, earning him the title “Mr Ferrari”.

“No one knew what it was. People only knew a little about Ferraris from newspapers and magazines, but had never seen one of them in the flesh,” Li remembers. “People thought, “It’s too short, it only holds two people!”

For Li, the Ferrari represented how “China had gone from poverty to become so rich and civilised that young Chinese could buy Ferraris. It made me the captain of the new self-made class. It was a symbol of China’s reform and openness: people were getting rich, Ferraris were becoming affordable for the average people.”

To find out more about the story of Mr Ferrari, just check out this issue of Ferrari Magazine.
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About the author: Mihnea Radu
Mihnea Radu profile photo

Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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