I feel the 430 will be a highly desireable car to have down the road. The 360 is no question a modern classic, but lacks the power and refinement found in the 430. IMO the 430 is a future classic. Is there anything missing in the 430 package? What else could you want from a car. Other than CS type weight and suspension. More power would be too much for most. It's the perfect balance of super car performance on the street or track. It may be the last model w/o Nav and the like. The lines are very 21st century while maintaining classic design from the past. The next iteration will most likely be awsome, but when you drive a 430 it's just perfectly balanced, powered, a precision type feel. Of course it can be improved on, but probably not much as a % compared to the cars that came before it. I'm happy to own one. As a Ferrari owner, it seems easy to always look foward to the next, newer, improved version of your car. I'm happy with my 430.
Many people felt this way about the 360 before the 430 existed. I doubt Ferrari will go downhill on the next model.
Some people still think the best Ferraris were built before the FIAT deal. Who cares, buy what you like.
Are most 430 owners happy with the exhaust sounds in the stock car? I know it has been considered a big improvement over the 360 factory exhaust but I think a 360 with Tubi sounds considerably better than the stock 430. Just my opinion. What have others decided?
It looks like it might be from a size standpoint, but it hardly matters...when the throttle is open the muffler is bypassed completely anyway. Gary
I am constantly asked if my exhaust on my F430 is after market because it sounds so good. In fact, a person on F-chat PM'ed me the other day because I had passed him on the road earlier in the day. He was shocked that it was stock. Take a listen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-j8hmLHMYo P.S. Who knows if the F430 will be a classic or not...doesn't matter to me, it's the best car on the planet as far as I'm concerned.
The classic of the 360/430 line if you want to call it that would be the CS imo, as for collectibility, none of them have it, too many produced.
430 to be a classic? .....get real. Badly proportioned, too much of a 'busy' design, horrid back-end...list goes on. Stock 430 exhaust is a tubi?? ...are you serious? your dealer is talking out of his anus
How long of a road are you talking? IMO, the 550/575 will be more prized than the 430 in 30-40 years... Just my opinion.
The mass produced cars probably won't ever be classics, just too many of them produced. However, each new model, at least to this point, is better than the last model. At some point diminishing returns ought to come into play, but given the huge performance increase in the 430 over the 360, I just don't see it happening anytime soon. The replacement for the F430 needs a lot more power, etc., to make it as big an improvement, but with almost 500HP I wonder how in the heck the average driver of one of these cars is going to keep it on the road. I suspect, that like the Enzos, a large % of them are going to get wrecked, big time. Art
Although your comments might ruffle a few F-car enthusiast feathers, I think they sum up my feelings exactly; this is why I switched to Lamborghini and the Murcielago. As noted above; The real classic in this line will be the 360 CS (IMO the best looking production car every produced by Ferrari coupled with high performance)
I have owned both. I traded in my beloved 2003 360 Modena 6 speed for a 2006 F430 F1. In my view thet are both specatcular cars. I liked the look of my 360 and was honestly turned off a little about the back end of the F430. I like the front of the F430 better. I like it now so it is growing on me. In my view the driving is great in both. The extra power is nice but not a show stopper. My view is as time goes on the lack of the drive belt service will set this and the cars that follow apart. It is not the belt replacement cost but rather the issue of the belt letting lose and destroying the engine. The F430 drives a little better and the interior has superior ergonomics. If I was told I had to go back to a 360 I would be happy. The F430 still feels slow compared to my Ford GT yet the ferrari has a panache that is not there in other cars. Lee
The 430 isn't pretty enough to be a classic. Something like the Stradale would be a better candidate, though my V8 nominee would be the 355.
IMO when they are all said and done there will be more than 20,000 430's. Hardly classic type production numbers. Very fast, well engineered, even good looking to some, sounds great, beautiful to drive, etc, etc, but hardly the makings of a classic. It is very derivative of the 360, and if not for a couple of tweaks in the rear and the front grille, is indistinguishable from a 360. Add in the 20,000 or so 360's and you have way too many cars for it to ever be a classic
Absolutley right. The 360 was a quantum leap forward from the 355. The 430 is an evolution of the 360. The 599 is a quantum leap over the 550/575 but it will not be a classic as it will also have big production numbers but small in comparison with the 430. To put it in perspective there is a school of thought that the F40 has limited future as a classic as there are too many
I love the OEM pipes and sound. WTS: I wouldn't change the OEM exhaust simply because I appreciate the technology that goes into system integration within an F430 F1. Now, if it were a "lesser" brand (specially w/o computerized everything) i'd mod the heck out f it .... just because. <lol> Richard.
I think the 599 has more chance of being a classic. It is very similar in timeline and development relative to the Daytona. The 275GTB was modified into the 275GTB/4, very similarly to the 550 developing into the 575. The Daytona represented a great leap forward over the 275GTB/4. Similarly the 599 represents the same leap forward over the 575. I don't claim original authorship of the this idea. I read it in Auto Aficianado and I agree wholeheartedly with it. Both the Daytona and the 275 have become admired and universally regarded as classics. I think the same outcome will happen for the 550/575 and 599, but it may take 30 years before it happens. In the meantime the 599 is such a magnificent machine that it puts every other current Ferrari in the shade. It is clearly the male lion of the Ferrari pride.
as already said , there are too many 360s and 430s around for them to attain cult status. CS excepted , of course
If the 430 ever becomes a classic, I'll probably be dead by then anyway, so I think I'll just drive the crap out of mine while I can. BTW, no one has mentioned that the 430, unlike the 360, has real racing cred, more than any other V8 Ferrari based on a road car anyway. Dave
I could see that, the 355 does have that sleek "timeless" styling. The newer v8 models look a bit "stocky" at the rear and too rounded in front IMO.