It was a Ferrari show to remember on Wall Street. The initial public offering will be a «big moment» in the history of the legendary sports car manufacturer from Maranello. These were the words of Sergio Ermotti, chief executive of UBS, one of Ferrari's advisers on the IPO - and he'd better not have uttered them.

The U.S. on October 12 is celebrating the arrival of Christopher Columbus in America in 1492. This year, Wall Street welcomed one of the most famous carmakers, Ferrari.

To ramp up interest during the roadshow, the salesmen give their all: UBS investment bankers took two Ferraris for a spin to their headquarters on Sixth Avenue, as the «Wall Street Journal» observed.

Marchionne and the Red Beauty

Sergio Marchionne, head of Fiat Chrysler, of which Ferrari is a unit, put one of the red beauties on display on Wall Street, letting the public hear the famous supercar roar (see video).

A big moment indeed: Fiat Chrysler hopes the sale of Ferrari next week will raise as much as $10 billion and fill the coffers of the U.S.-Italian car group. For UBS, the lead manager of the IPO, who will sell some of the shares, the IPO is doubly important.

Ermotti's Passion

To be appointed lead manager at this year's most important IPO is a boon for the investment bank, which has been cut to size. And UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti is taking a personal interest in making the sale a success. He teamed up with Riccardo Mulone, head of the UBS investment unit Italy, to work on the project, as finews.ch reported.

It was a question of passion for the Italian-speaking Swiss and owner of a Maserati. A passion that showed during a presentation in Milan recently. Ermotti called the IPO «un grande momento» (a big moment) for Ferrari, according to the «Financial Times» (by subscription only), adding it was almost impossible to believe it wouldn't be a success.

«Quiet Period»

The UBS boss would better not have said those words, because he violated the U.S. stock market rules of «quiet period». Public comments by involved parties after the filing of an IPO are forbidden right up to the registration.

Ferrari was forced to file a document containing Ermotti's comment to the U.S. stock exchange regulator SEC on Wednesday past. The price range for the proposed sale followed on Friday. Ferrari aims to sell 17.2 million shares at a value of $48 to $52, valuing the automaker at about $10 billion.

SEC and UBS didn't comment on the story, according to the «Financial Times».