1984 400i Auto Convertable Chassis 45357

Rare car ,that one................................mine has timing chains...

 

This vehicle certainly presents a few noteworthy observations... Before seeing that it was for sale at a Volvo dealership, I want to say that the shifter in this convertible was (likely) sourced from a Volvo - can anyone confirm? I have heard from others that the shifter Ferrari used on our automatics were readily installed in any number of other cars, so replacing it should not be a problem. Then, I saw that the seller only has had 4 transactions on eBay, so I took a look at their other offerings, and was surprised in realizing that they have quite a nice selection of used but cool cars - 30 on eBay alone and more at their website:

Volvo Used Car Dealer in San Luis Obispo CA near Morro Bay CA

Rolls, Porsches, Astons, other Ferraris, etc. I wonder if the previous owners of these used cars took a new Volvo on trade?

Anyhow, I had never noticed before that convertibles, with the required removal of the B pillar from the coupes, can only have lap belts! Am I correct that all Straman conversions are accounted for? Is there a registry or paperwork that usually follows the convertible conversions by Straman? I recall there being 2 other convertibles listed for sale in Hemmings a few months ago, both which were in the higher price bracket than this one - wonder what happened to those?

The car looks nice - swapping the turn signals back to their proper placement and sorting the front bumper shouldn't deter potential buyers. However, at the top of the driver's side A pillar, there either seems to be rust present (at least a potential source for it) or the rubber seal has been problematic in the past.

As always, it will be interesting to see how the market takes to this one.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Turns out that this car is being listed on The best vintage and classic cars for sale online | Bring a Trailer - always amusing to read the commenters there. As to the shifter, its a Corvette item, not Volvo.

Straman Convertible: 1984 Ferrari 400i | Bring a Trailer

 

to $69,995. with less than 24 hours left on eBay:

1984 Ferrari 400i | eBay

 

Yep Simon, it truly is a rare bird to have those belts, mine only has timing chains also.

 

Belts and CA BAR sticker... rare indeed! If it were a 5sp on top of it all, we'll, that would definitely ultra SUPER rare!

Ruben

 

That shifter looks like crap.

 

I emailed them asking about the "belt" service. Here is the reply I received:

"sorry we have our ads written for us and they are not Ferrari experts. The rear shocks were replaced with new ones , all fluids were flushed, new spark plugs and wires, transmission service, and new vacuum hoses along with a AC service for a total cost of $9835.00 Please let me know if you have any other questions.​

I'd sure like to know what they "replaced the rear shocks" with.

 

So ask them....

 

Duh, " new ones"!

 

Just to add a belated note, my 1974 has three point belts. It was just up to the builder as to how much effort they wanted to put into the conversion.