New 328 owner

Hello all, first post! Just thought I'd introduce myself as a new UK based 328 owner (and yes, a female one at that!)

After wanting a Ferrari ever since I found out what they were as a little kid I have finally taken the plunge and picked up last weekend a 1987 328 GTS in Rosso (of course!) with Nero interior. The car used to belong to fellow FerrariChat member geofflowe and I all I can say is that he has looked after it with the utmost care and attention, since for its 50K miles it is in fantastic condition and drives beautifully! I've already done 300 miles in it which is getting on for a significant chunk of my limited mileage insurance policy and I am hoping to take the car touring in Europe next year, including of course that trip to Maranello I have always been promising myself but which of course can only be done in a Ferrari!

I am a bit of a petrolhead altogether having also owned a TVR Chimaera and also currently own a Caterham Seven, which is now likely to be used mostly on track days, but owning a Ferrari has always been my ultimate petrolhead dream and now I've finally achieved it

Apologies in advance for all the dumb questions I am sure to be posting on here as not having owned a Ferrari before I'm sure (like Caterhams) they all have their own idiosyncrasies and individualities

Oh...... and while I would hardly be able to make a living as a car mechanic, my experiences with Caterham ownership mean I do actually know an alternator from an anti-roll bar - so while I may be blonde and female I also hope I will be able to get something out of some of the more technical discussions too!!!

 

welcome from across the pond! plenty of good info for you here !




michael

 

congrats. enjoy it in good health.

 

Congrats on your purchase! I live in Lancashire and bought an 88 in black with tan and I love it to bits. With this good weather I have also done about 400 miles in a week! Part ex'd my TVR T350 for it privately from a guy down South. I frequent Pistonheads (aka Barefoot) so hopefully we might bump into each other at one of the meets. The next one I will be at is Cars in the Park at Bolton Abbey.
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Welcome aboard!

There is a fine group from the UK here...

And, about mileage.....I have HEARD that sometimes the speedos quit working......

*tap on the glass lens*

That could get you more range, on that insurance policy.....LOL!

 

Congratulations FastLady - I bought mine last year after a lot of researching and have enjoyed it immensely. Just keep on top of all its periodic little (hopefully) needs and you'll love owning it.

Rubbish, Ferrari speedos are infallible. <cough>

 

Congratulations and welcome aboard to Ferrari Ownership.

 

Hey Rhett......how are you?

Did you ever get the history of your Special Car???

 

Speedos? The Ferrari has speedos?

The tach is the important gauge. (Oh, and the oil temp. and press.)
And pretty soon you get to where the engine note doubles for the tach.
Like small aircraft: you "fly" it by the power settings, not the airspeed.

Or did you mean something else? I can understand special driving shoes for the Ferrari, and once or twice I've carried a replacement shirt when it's hot out and the top is off. But wearing "speedos" to drive the Ferrari?


Congrats on the new ride. Try to ration yourself to two or three trips a night to look at it in the garage.

Limited miles insurance? I could never do that. I put 15K miles on mine in the first two years.

Besides: People yawn at a lowly 328 in exoticar meets.
But they go crazy over it at the Kentucky Fried Chicken drive-thru.

 

In my humble opinion you have picked the perfect Ferrari for the "Ferrari sensation" of driving: voluptuous appearance of the car, maneuverable size, controls exactly as responsive/resistant as they should be, the right sounds, the right look out the windscreen over those rounded fenders, the right top-on/top-off environments ... not to mention that ownership will be relatively practical & inexpensive [in Ferrariland!].

As I have commented to other new 328 owners here, I think you will want [if it hasn't been done already on your car] to upgrade the headlights, other exterior lights, and instrument lights from the dim factory originals, and the source for this is:

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/home.html

I learned about this from elder/wiser FChatters myself, had one of his kits installed, and was suddenly able to see everything. Always useful when driving a car, especially at night.

There are lots of other great ideas on FChat, but this one I'd do first.

 

Welcome... now where are the pics....
Im planning a trip to Maranello next year, via Porsche, VW, lambo etc. I was going to coincide it with the Imola Gp, but I guess not now.

 

Thanks all for the very warm welcome!

I posted one photo on the UK board but as I couldn't find a way of reposting it here without uploading it again here's a link to that thread:

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=121086

Certainly hope to be posting a lot more pictures over the coming months as I'm a keen photographer at the best of times and now I have a beautiful automotive work of art to take pictures of too!

Yeah.... limited mileage - I'm not sure how easy it's going to be to stick to that - I always manage to end up going over with several months to go when I've had them before! Hmmm.... best hope I develop a dodgy speedo then I guess!!

 

Congratulations on your 328 and welcome to FChat.

 

A Catherham! Even fewer women own one of them than a Ferrari. In fact, you may be unique with that. You have the Lotus TC engine in it I hope?

Ken

 

Ken

Love your car I used to own one of the Last Europas made a 1975 reg 7 FLY in white with Oatmeal interior. Have you got any pics you can send me? I had an Elan Sprint DHC reg OYG 236 in the early 80s, a 4 speed Plus 2S reg SHU 13M in 76 and I have recently just restored a 69 Elan Plus 2 2 owners full history with a very genuine 56,000 miles still on it's original chassis which is totally rust/accident free!

I suppose I shouldn't be posting pics on a Ferrari forum but :
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Do those photos bring back memories! In Vietnam I decided that if I got back to the World in 1 functioning piece, I was gonna get an Elan +2S. Which met me on the San Francisco docks.

(1) Driving highspeed on the freeway, my wife said "What's this switch in the glove box?", switched it, and everything instantly died - except, fortunately, ourselves.

(2) Thoroughly inadequate radiator and imbecile tiny whirry minielectric fan on it. Had to have an entire new radiator built for it, and fortunately discovered that the mechanical fan from an English Ford Cortina would bolt on.

(3) That gorgeous single-plank-wood dashboard. Window switches stopped working. SF BMC said, "To replace those switches, we'll have to take the entire dash out, disconnecting & reconnecting everything. You can pick up the car in about a month."

(4) Vacuum-driven pop-up headlights. Park the car for half a day, come out to find one headlight up & staring at you.

Other than the above, a thorough delight to drive.

 

Congrats on a fine looking car. Drive and enjoy it as often as you can, what do you have a 2,500 mile/year limit? I was looking into some of those limited milage policies, but ended up going with an unlimited one. Good thing as I've put 6,000 miles on my car in 9 months, just love to drive it.I also have a red/black one. The black interior shows the dust/dirt more than a tan one (just like the exterior paint) but handles the wear on the seat better. Drive it in good health and post here often.
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Awesome purchase Congrats!

 

Congratulations and drive it in good health.

Barry