Perhaps this is the wrong forum to ask...

I am considering an eighties Ferrari to park in the garage next to my '05 XK8. Something Magnum PI-ish. Or Don Johnson-ish.

Anyone with an opinion on these cars?

Thanks!

 

You'd better have a Buffet-ish wallet

Doug

 

Doug, the key word was "park". Well, yes, Tom that would sure make the garage impressive. A new "F" Jaguar would be better.


Wayne


LOL< You know we have trouble taking things seriously.

 

A fraternity brother and roommate of mine in the early eighties had one of those. It cost him a fortune, a lot of which was his own fault as he did not really know how to drive a manual transmission and burned up the clutch a couple of times.

A few years ago I was looking into them, as you are. I found out that to keep them running as they should run, they have to be re-tuned every three or four thousand miles at a cost of two or three thousand dollars. That is not even getting into whatever repairs need to be made, and can you imagine the cost of parts and labor on one of those, not to mention the cost of insurance.

If you have a LOT of money to burn to keep it up and running, then if your heart desires it, go for it.

 

diamond_tom,
Years ago, I also wanted to purchase a 308 or such. One of my closest friends had had a Testarossa (never liked the looks) which was replaced by a 512 bbi, a gorgeous car which he hid in my garage while he was going through a divorce. And finally, he had a 550 Maranello, so I wanted one too. I finally decided that I could squelch my desire for a midlife crisis red Italian sports car with a De Tomaso Pantera, which was far less expensive to buy and maintain (it has a Boss 351 Mustang engine in it that can be worked on at any Ford dealership), provided a much, much higher level of performance than the "Magnum" Ferrari 308, and if you're talking Don Johnson Ferrari, you're talking Daytona convertible (even though in the show the car was a kit car not a real Daytona), which is a seven figure price of entry, albeit one of the most beautiful cars ever created.

The truth is that since I bought my 2002 XKR, I rarely drive the Pantera, maybe once or twice per year at the track, because I get as much enjoyment out of driving it without the headaches. And now that I have a 5.0L XKR coupe as well, the Pantera won't even be going to the track again anytime soon.

But I just can't bear to get rid of it, it's just too beautiful and iconic. This week it is being changed from a (pain in the ***) Holley carburator to fuel injection to make it more driveable and easier to start. And we're doing a few more things to it to make it more driveable. Maybe then, I'll drive it a couple more times during the year.

Good luck with your decision and let us know what you end up doing. Just know that maintenance on the Ferraris is not for the faint of heart (or wallet)

 

Quite a few years ago, I was poised to buy a Ferrari 330 GT 2+2. They were MUCH more affordable then. Changed my mind at the last minute and on impulse bought an E-Type. Best decision I ever made! I loved that car and miss it even now.

I have owned Fiats and Alfas and the lure of a good running Italian car is very hard to resist. However, what makes our Jags affordable is that they can be worked on by someone with average mechanic skills. (I am walking proof of that.)

Parts costs on the XK8/R are not all horrendous, where as the Ferrari bits are often molded from pure unobtainium and priced accordingly. Routine maintenance on those exotics is rarely routine.

Ferraris are very reliable once running well. They just take extra maintenance to keep them in that condition. The main thing keeping me from pulling the trigger on a Maserati is the high cost of maintenance. Clutches in the cambriocorsa models wear out every 10k-12k miles and run around $3k to fix.

The Alfas on the other hand have not yet hit the stratosphere in cost yet. Hmm. You may have gotten me to thinking Italian again.

 

Never even considered a Ferrari way, way out of my league. Had an Alfa Sprint Veloce for awhile, sweet car but to many issues. As "they" say, your not a car guy unless you've owned an Alfa.

If ya can afford it go for the Ferrari, it's only money and happiness is more important.

 

Yep, I was all set to buy a 4200 but I did quite a bit of research and managed to talk to a few owners - it became apparent that I simply couldn't afford to run one as it would have to be my daily drive including a 50 mile round-trip commute around London. The horror stories about reliability and parts-chain issues were the killer.

IF I ever end up in the position where I could run another car then I'll go look at Mazzers again - there's just something about them, but I'm perfectly happy with the decision to go XKR instead and I think mine is a "keeper".

 

I have been following the Mondial forum on Ferrari Life for several years and would not be afraid to repair and maintain a transverse mount V8 of the mid 80's. But there is no question it would be more expensive than my Jags. Factory repair manuals, on line parts suppliers and helpful forums are all available.

 

My sister and brother-in-law own a red 1986 328 GT that they purchased new. I'm guessing that the car still has less than 30,000 miles on it. He built a gorgeous stand-alone garage a few years back to hold it along with his Aston Martin. It has been exclusively pampered and Ferrari dealership-maintained throughout its life at unquestionably wallet-busting costs. He loves cars and also has a BMW 7-series, a Range Rover, a Jeep Wrangler, a Smart Car, several Ford F-250 and F-350 pickups, and whatever their 17-year-old daughter is driving these days....

A couple of summers ago when my sister mentioned that they were thinking of downsizing their vehicles and upsizing their horses (they live on a 30-acre horse farm), I asked her what she would sell the Ferrari for. She said, "Probably $40,000 to $45,000."

I don't know what that figure would be today. Let me know if you're interested and I'll ask....

 

My buddies dream was to get a testarossa. Beautiful car. Takes 20 Minutes to warm up everytime he takes it out. Then there are all of the other issues.

Another friend has a magnum PI type ferrari, 308 I think it was. He ditched the engine and it now sports an all aluminum chevy motor. Looks just as good, sounds insaine, runs great.

Bottomline is those early fuel injected cars are issues. Ferraris are generally issues to begin with. Lamborghini came about because he was basically going to one up Ferarri an dbuild a sports car that actually worked.

ANYWAYS....Cant beat Ferarri styling. And
you can always trailor it everywhere:O)