Dealership representatives say, however, that the shift is merely a new name and a new affiliation and does not affect the vehicles kept in stock.

"Effectively, for the consumer that comes in here, there is no change," said General Manager Scott Coté. "To anybody in town and anybody who drives by, it will appear the same."

"And it will be the same," added owner Marc Chase.

The E. Main Street business will continue to maintain its inventory of used Ferraris, service the vehicles and deliver backordered new Ferraris but will no longer be able to take orders for new Ferraris.

Coté says the dealership sells 200 to 300 Ferraris each year, less than 20 of which are new. Coté is just now delivering the new vehicles that were ordered in 1999 and 2000.

"New Ferrari sales are so incrementally small and [the distributor] has been so difficult to deal with," Coté said, that allying itself with Bentley and Rolls-Royce just seemed to make sense.

Chase plans to steadily build up the inventory of Bentleys and Rolls-Royces and hopes to have hundreds in stock within the next two years.

The termination of the franchise agreement between Ferrari of Los Gatos and Ferrari of North America (FNA) dates back to 1994. Previous owner Brian Burnett filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after the dealership was shut down; Burnett was subsequently arrested for bank and bankruptcy fraud.

Chase, the owner of La Jolla-based Symbolic Motors Ltd., was the highest bidder for the dealership in a 1998 federal bankruptcy court auction. FNA then attempted to block the sale; FNA had made the lowest of the four bids in the auction.

Although the court ruled in Chase's favor, Chase says the "fight" in bankruptcy court will continue for at least two more years, until 2005. As a result, Chase negotiated a deal with FNA to end the franchise agreement on Jan. 31.

In late 1998, Chase acquired the Bentley franchise but never fully made a shift until now.

"They've made very strategic changes to their product line," Coté said. "We saw what the future has in store and that is our future."

More specifically, Bentley is coming out with the Continental GT, which is "reasonably priced" at $150,000—significantly less than typical Bentleys, which range from $200,000 to $400,000, Coté says. According to Coté, the Los Gatos market is the third best in the country for Bentleys; Coté started taking orders for the Continental GT on Jan. 23 and had filled up one sheet within a week.

Chase added that Bentley is spreading its focus to include sports cars and is making "more mass-produced rather than boutique cars."

Bentley will deliver more than 100 new cars to Los Gatos in the next year, Coté said. "It's five, six times what we were receiving from Ferrari."

In addition, Chase says, he aims to develop the back room from a display for Ferraris to a Rolls-Royce showroom. Rolls-Royces are beneficial because sales of those vehicles result in a larger profit margin, Chase says.

"We're the only new car dealer for Rolls-Royce in Northern California," Coté said.

The dealership also will continue to carry Lotus automobiles and other luxury cars.

"I look at it as, this is the first time that we have a manufacturer behind us that will support us," said Coté, who has been with the dealership since 1979 but left briefly when the business was under Burnett's management.

"What's nice is, now we're well-funded and we have a great deal of factory support and we have a full range of vehicles," Coté said. "It's really a blessing."