Having driven a MB diesel to 480K miles on the odo, I have an issue about referring to a 25+ yr old auto with 60K or 70K as "high mileage".
Drive it much, Billy. These gems thrive on miles and revs. I love it further blowing open the "fragility" myths about these cars.
133k miles on my 85 GTB -- she likes to rev to 7k+ and stretching her legs to 120mph -- no problem! Amazing cars indeed.
The mileage numbers posted here show that "Ferrari" means substantially more than performance and glamor. These are tough cars. It's a shame so many F-cars spend their days bedridden; hovered over and polished while on trickle charger life support, and how the corrosive "collectible" syndrome is relentlessly pushing priorities from driving these marvelous thoroughbreds as intended, to fawning over decal authenticity and tool roll completeness. Rant over.
Some the numbers posted here are truly amazing. Good to see that there owners out there who have realized what is the best way of enjoying these cars
+1 It's inarguable that driving the cars long and hard is much closer to the spirit of Enzo and the marque than the garage-queen concourse-pedant approach. I think it's like most religions; the true original intention of the founder is utterly lost in a swathe of made up liturgy spouted by false prophets.
The decision to buy my 308 was in part influenced by the idea of a practical Ferrari, that would be insurable as a DD with the regular full-use coverage that I'd been unable to get for the predecessor 330 2+2. Turned out to be a good call...since retiring, I don't drive nearly as much a I used to on a daily basis, but when I do go out, 90% of the time it's in the 308, even for short round trips to the store or gym. Life's too short to drive a boring car. My old BMW 635CSi made the daily work trip fun, and were I to go back to work now, I'd take the 308 provided the parking facilities were good.
I just got my 84 308QV back from the shop (hopefully the last time for a while) having replaced the 28 year old hoses and trans/ oil pan gaskets. It has just under 60,000 miles on it now. It had 56,000 when I bought it last June and has spent about 5 1/2 months getting her brought back to nearly new. Runs like a champ now! Amazing what having the fuel pressure regulator actually hooked up does for a car! She will not spend much more time in the garage now that all is well.
But these cars aren't Daily Drivers. They are special to be enjoyed on weekends less they loose their specialness - IMHO. Mine is an '83 with 91K on her. I've had her for 10 years & 60K miles. She had her engine pulled to find a work drive spline shim and all her hoses replaced. All of 'em. It seems most Ferrari as casual drivers average 3K/year.
Mine is just a few kilometers short of 100K. - engine has never been pulled; - clutch and water pump are about 12 years old; - all hoses replaced; - timing belts and tensioner bearing done 4 years ago - smokes a notch during hard acceleration; - oil consumption about 1 quart every 1000 kms. - a few oil leaks. Fires up and idles like a charm. Just drove her all afternoon, mostly highway. Ran beautifully.
Thanks for that! I have a M-B turbodiesel (84 300cd) with "only" 170,000 miles on it. Think I'll keep it a while longer. As for my Ferrari, I've got about 103,000 miles on it now - but I plan to keep her forever! Never any engine or tranny problems so far, never any smoke, no trouble starting, never had the famous "second gear" issue. But I am due for a belt change soon. . .
No rant at all, far as I'm concerned! Couldn't have said it better. (But I do have two complete tool rolls. . .
I've all the original tools, books, accessories, and service records, but am obsessing over where to find a proper sticker to replace the wrinkled-up one on top of the left wheelwell, next to the engine.
+1 - I was roaring into the sunset just this evening in my '85 with the top off and couldn't have said it better. A couple of kids, maybe 13 years old were looking closely at the car today in a parking lot. I said "hold on, guys...I'll open it up". I opened the door and asked one of them "want to jump in there and check it out?", and he did. Later he says to me "this is maybe the second Ferrari that I've seen in my whole life.....what model year is that, 2002, 2003?" I told him "1985, it's going on thirty years old".....he paused a second to contemplate the years. kid: "no way...I'll bet you never drive it, huh?"...me: "I drive it all the time, just keep it cleaned up and maintained".....kid: "wow...". Not so much about some amazing job that I do keeping the car up, but it was more about the quality, durability and "staying power" of these cars. Fun conversations
I just saw a local 1985 308 GTS (Nero) that was about to hit 100k miles and no open engine work... (QV with nikasil liners.) I'm at 47k on my 328. Here's the 328 thread: https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/high-mileage-328s.141145/