It's no secret a lot goes into becoming a preferred customer of Ferrari, but the Italian sports car and supercar maker even sets some rules for its own employees.

In fact, Ferrari employees are barred from purchasing a brand-new Ferrari. Imagine slaving over an impeccable piece of Italian design, engineering, and performance, but at the end of the day you can't become an owner...at least not right away.

This strange factoid comes from Drive's interview with Enrico Galliera, Ferrari chief marketing and commercial officer, who said the only Ferrari employees able to purchase a new car from the marque are Ferrari F1 drivers. He insisted F1 drivers aren't offered any incentives, discounts, or anything of the like, either. Ferrari has a legacy of building exclusive sports cars for those who have the cachet and cash, and its F1 drivers aren't excluded from its practices.

The rule is actually, in a way, an effort to look out for its customers. By keeping Ferrari employees from purchasing new cars, the vehicles instead go to worthy customers first and foremost.

"The philosophy is that with such limited production and clients waiting so long to get their car, it's not nice if the car is delivered to employees. It is clients first," Galliera said.

However, sometimes piles of money or a long-time rapport aren't enough. That's evidenced by famed jeweler David Lee's denial by Ferrari when it came time to allocate the exclusive LaFerrari Aperta. The late, long-time Ferrari collector Preston Henn also filed a lawsuit against Ferrari after he was denied one of the couple hundred LaFerrari Apertas set for production.

Galliera's job is to ensure such limited-edition cars are not only allocated to good customers, they are "gifts" to Ferrari's best customers. And sometimes, money or vast collections alone don't qualify a buyer as one of the brand's "best customers."