jon, i met an old schoolmate who just bot over HS's testa at Hiapli. will ask him to join us if this sat is on.
Yup he does, a 997 yellow convertible and one other car excluding the 355- man I could live in his garage. Was actually at his place the other day as his architect is the same as mine, and his wife graciously allowed my wife and I to view their house for finishings to be applied to our place.... man he has an absolutely STUNNING house!!!
Really hoping to catch up with you all soon. Can never seem to attend weekends either as family duties always beckon. Wilson, we need to do that drink soon.... and I need yr contact for the spoiler. Want to get it on the 348 asap. Jon, Speedster going into Stuttgart for inspection tom. Will await verdict from them and then see what to offer (if anything- want to make sure no accidents to this car).
Hello my friend, Was that your car at Sin Ming I passed ? Carburettors - have you had such a car before ? - They have their set of problems as I found out. Adjustment of air and fuel mix is (or can be) tricky. Have you done the factory visit recently? Your pics of the factory seem to be a bit old. New and old cars offer different experiences. Fact is GTO and F40 are nowhere as good as the F430. But I guess people buy them for other reasons, apart from performance. By no means the most expensive car you can buy right now, but the best car I think Ferrari has made todate would be the F599. Highly recommended. A "vintage" Mercedes under a classic plate ? Any hints as to what it is ? Saw some "comments" about the size of the Euro and HS stands at the car show and HS displaying a beautiful customer car at show instead of a new one - I thought car's performance is determined by the car rather than the size of the exhibitor's stand and that if HS has to display a customer's car, it shows that the cars have sold out whereas having new cars on display means cars are not moving as planned.
I agreed size of booth doesn't matter but something to point out that is HS is not the only one to display customer's car. Both the LP640 and the Gallardo Spyder belong to customers too. So meaning cars are moving as planned for both.
Ha ha why so defensive - there is no mention of whose cars were not moving in my post, only whose were.
I asked HSM when can I get a F430 Spider if I ordered one... mid 2008!! Of course can take over another customers order if they cancel. F430 coupe will mid to late next year. Heard from friend in London that F430 selling at Stg30k premium....and can only get a one year used 430 at full list price. Crazy! Lambo Spyder? Just checked with Eurosport...March next year for one with customised options. There is demand for all these cars...
All 3 HSM cars were customer cars... no stock as u said. It would have ben nice to have an Enzo there though.
Its not a matter of weather there it is customers or new stock. Looking at a bigger picture, its more like two different countries with two different production processes and cultures involved. VW like Toyota are ruthlessly efficient when it comes to churning out cars, as for Ferraris...they are always playing with the supply demand curve.
Not sure when I'll be going to Hap Li. Will probably wait for Rara355 to do his car first, then see the end results before I make my decision. But firstly, one of my 'to-do' tasks for 2007 is to get a new paintjob. Evenings are great, though family duties are always an ongoing thing.
As a replacement or companion to your current motorshow beauty? not that bad.. but izzit only for priority customers such as yourself? Hey CT, busy lately?
Hi Jon, this is my first post on this thread. Thanks, the 355 is a really great car, missing it now..... What's next? Thinking of a pearl white gransport but lets see what comes up. How have the testa been?
That must have been interesting! Beautiful house and cars.... Glad that my 355 found a great new owner and home.
Hi Leang, well I guess a car is just a car & they'll come again or the next one might be better. Always a different experience, looks like you've sampled quite a lot of Turbo stuffs huh? Think we're both thinking about the same white Maserati The Testa's been well, Q-ing up to renovate the interior but sadly no time to stretch it's legs @ all.
Hi, yes I heard about that as well & I believe he got a very fair deal too. Looks like a lot of Ferraris changing hands lately from across the age group. But the happiest people are probably Francis & partner, all of us are commissioning him for work. Michael, about the paint job. Just get it done as it's less than a month & no more than S$4K for a top job here. You may want to inspect it first with LTA, send it to the painter, then lay it off while you wait. Anytime within 3 months, you can pay tax & insurance again to put it back on the road. Save some road tax & tow fees. For insurance, you guys may want to speak to Philip the boss @ Anika insurance broker in IP. He does Melvin's & Stuttgart cars + some Ferraris as well. Super nice guy & I'm opening a coporate account so he gets us better deal on everything. Guy also insures some weapon systems!
Harold!!! Way to go man but what about the offer you made on the red one then? When are you guys free for a nice evening outing? A place with good parking, music, drink & maybe light meal.
meeting reddevil at hiapli this sat abt 3. gonna take a look at my friend's gts finished product there. will ask another friend who just bot the testa if he can make it. join us if you are free..
Good idea, Jon, will probably do so after CNY2007. Any workshop recommendations for a good paint job? Or should I just go back to HS?
Yes, Lung I'd agree with you on this. Although HS might have thought most of its customers have seen the Enzo ad nauseam (which is true, for me at least), its still considered rarely seen by the public. So having an Enzo would have been a thrill for many. I am sure HS could have shown their own car or arranged for a loaner and its a shame that they did not. Having said that, at least HS and Eurosports were nice enough to participate and so many who paid the entrance fee at least had something to see if they were expecting to see exotics. An M coupe, M5 or M6 would have thrilled the general public as would an advance R8 or new TT and since they are all production cars, there should be no problems getting them here. Jaguar could have displayed the XKs, coupe and convertible and Bentley, the GTC as they are now all in their show rooms. I know we are not a global car centre and so the car makers tend to see the show as nothing more than wasted expenses but its a shame that Porsche, RR, Bentley, Jaguar, BMW, MB, Audi, Volvo gave it a miss, despite the support Singaporeans have shown for these brands, esp BMW and MB. Glad the Japanese Brands local dealers decided that Singapore public was worth the trouble and expense and have to commend Lexus / Toyota for their great stand. Great looking lady showing the LF-A. I recognised her from some local advertisments (anyone knows who she is ? KDK perhaps ?) Coming back to my original grouse about people who criticised HS for their display stand and displaying customers' cars, glad to see many agree with me that its utter and complete nonsense.
Actually never but I've seen & heard a few. They sound good, "intoxicating" is that the word? I have a few bikes on Carbs though & I used to service my own carbs long ago, changing the jets, porting them etc. Got to choke them on cold starts & worry about overflow then tune with your ear. It's just old world kind of "fun". In fact, I'm still thinking about doing the individual throttle bodies on my 911, very responsive, makes you feel a 50bhp gain. Some guys convert it on pre 90s Ferraris as well. Those pics were vintage from another thread & I love them. I also have some orig. B/W 1950/60s Porsche assembly line photos as well. Yes, I do agree on the different experience of new & old cars but certain classics command such absolute cult status, no newer models comes close (IMHO). The old ones seems (to me) to have a soul & charm where the new ones are like "disposable tissues", look @ it, which connoisseur collects new normal production cars? Well, what Lung pointed out about premium on F430s is another story.... About the old Merc, I think it's an old ponton typeW120. A post war 1950s workhorse, I think the Khoo family has one. About those exhibits. I think many will agree that Lambo's stand is better conceived being simple, cheap & effectively showed off the car's lines. Previous car show was more exciting with the Enzo, Kwee's participation & if I remembered correctly some classics from Daimler Benz.
Yes, your right about controlling (i prefer that term to playing) the supply and hence demand but its not because of different cultural and production processes but rather because they are different products. Ferrari are every bit as efficient as VW or Toyota and if they wanted to, they could straightaway churn out more cars but they have publicly stated they will not do so to keep the marque exclusive. Look at Porsche now and I see the rationale in this. Ferrari currently make car components in 3 shifts of 22 hours (admittedly this includes Maserati components that are assembled in Modena) but assembles them in only 1 solitary shift of 8 hours. Per day, they make 5 x 599 and 15 x 430. That makes a total of about 5,000 cars per year or roughly 10% of Porsche's annual output or about 50% of Bentley's annual output of 9,000 cars. Thus, even though the car components are hand assembled and installed in each and every car, if they wanted to, they could also work 2 other shifts and also make cars in 3 shifts, which would at least double their output but that would be disastrous for the marque's exclusivity and appeal.
