Your first Ferrari purchase........

This is my parent's first Ferrari purchase.. not mine..

The purchase was a Ferrari 360. Parents have been searching for it for a while, reading the pros and cons about the car. They made a big profit from their real estate sales so they plan to get something for themselves.

Now the best part, ordering the car. They were looking for a used one but its way too expensive so they thought it would be a better idea to buy a new one for about the same price, just a bit more higher. Spec'ed it.. yellow exterior, tan interior. After that, all they did was wait for months, day and night thinking about it. Finally, after the very long wait, it finally came. I think it was Thursday when the dealer called and planned to pick it up on Satuday so it was another 3 days of long wait, it seemed longer than the months of wait since we know its already at the dealership just waiting for us to pick her up. Saturday finally came, woke up early and went to the dealership as early as possible, just in time when they opened. We are all really excited to see the car and there it is, the car we have been waiting for. We had so many sleepless nights but when we saw, all of them just faded away. Dad signed some papers and keys were handed to him. Turned the ignition on and saw the smile on our face after we hear the engine roar. We drove home, dad was driving the 360 while my mom and I at the BMW can't stop staring at the car. We got home, drove it more, invited some friends, took lots of pictures, and the car was cleaned. Sun sets and its already dark but we hung out at the garage, parents and some family members were in the garage while staring at the car and talking about it! That moment was one of the days I would never forget.

Its 2005, another year with good sales in real estate.. made another great profit.. but this time they aimed for an F430. Another long months of waiting, finally got it, and we did the same thing. Although not as excited as the 360 since it was our first ever Ferrari.

I don't know when the next purchase but be since real estate market is cooling down. Probably when they passed the immigration bill when immigrants can legally show their incomes and apply for loans.

Yes, we still have it. 9, 1XX miles (360), 3,XXX miles (F430).

The first car is always the best and most memorable experience.

 

Found my 'perfect' 348 after around 1 year of searching. Looked at a few 348's and they werent the best IMO. Found mine, booked the plane ticket and saw the car 1 month later. Car was perfect!! Always loved Ferraris since I was a little tacker and the 348 soon became my favourite.
After a little talk, we settled on the price. Got the car registered and windows tinted, then picked the car up at the end of the week. Drove the car from Gold Coast to Brisbane, Australia and loaded it onto the truck for the trip home. Almost brought a tear to my eye when the car arrived here and was being unloaded from the truck. Never forget my 1st Ferrari buying moment. Hopefully will have a few more stories to share in the future.
P.S-I love my car.
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Finally got the cash to buy it.
Had "gotta have it fever"
bought it sight unseen (did have PPI at an authorized dealer) several states away.
shipped it to my neighborhood.
Almost vomited on the way to get it (I can't BELIEVE I bought it without seeing/driving it!!!!)
Nearly 4 years ago....
Even cold, lonely and neglected in the back of the garage, she still turns me on!

 

I noticed you're from Chicago and you list skydiving in your interests... where do you jump?

 

Skydive Chicago in Ottawa IL.

 

Funny, you'd think I would know you... I spend most of my time there. Who do you usually jump with there? What kind of flying do you do?

 

My first Ferrari was a barely used ’86 3.2 Mondial I bought from Pozzi in Paris in 1988. It was black with crème leather. It used to belong to a Formula 1 team owner who had just killed his wife in a fit of jealousy (she wanted to leave him because he was unfaithful)…

Well, only in France I guess.

Great car. In 1989 I bought a “T” and sold the 3.2 before the delivery of the “T”, in May 1990.

“T” was custom ordered in Grigio with Rosso leather, sunroof and leather dash and headliner.

Shortly after, I Fedx’ed the car back to the US where I still have it.

I just got a new free flow exhaust for it and am planning to get new wheels/tires. Any suggestions welcome as to the best wheel / tire combo for that car?

Thanks.

 

First Ferrari was the 328 I still have, photo in my profile. I sold my Porsche 993 and banked the cash so I could buy immediately when the 'right car' came along.

It took 10 months. Sort of.

I looked at a couple of 328s early in '05, one turned out awful, the other was a nice driver but a bit tired. Then I found this black metallic GTS on Sport Auto's site and I thought it was gorgeous. But, I also thought I wanted a 308, and while I hemmed and hawed that 328 was sold to Steve Barney's neighbor. At that point, I knew it was the right car. No aftermarket alarms, no aftermarket radio (original blanking plate) - just a Tubi and some F355 pedals. It had to be the right car - because I missed it and the pics were stunning, the mileage was right (low but not scary low), and it was a southern car.

So I made a bunch of excuses to myself about how it probably wasn't the right one anyway.

Towards Thanksgiving time, Marshall Goldman in Cleveland had a pretty red/tan 308 QV in his showroom - overpriced for its 30K+ miles, but it looked nice. I was heading that way anyway. Fate? A week or two before I left, I surfed back over to Sport Auto's site and - voila - the black metallic 328 was back. I called Darrell Kimrey and asked him if he could hold it for me, and gave him a $500 deposit on my MC. Steve Jones sent me high res photos of every inch of the car, and Steve Barney put me in touch with its former owner and some other customers of his as references.

Enroute to Cleveland that November, I connected through O'Hare, logged on at the airport bar and noticed a "SOLD!" label by the car. Arrrghhh! Darrell actually called me in the airport and asked if I still wanted the car, and I said, yeah, but it looks like you sold it. "I put 'sold' on it because you gave me a deposit to hold it." So, this isn't Nordstrom.

But I was relieved. "Yes, I'm really interested, but I thought it was sold and I'm on my way to look at another car."

"What color is it?" he asked.

"It's a red and tan 308 up here at Marshall Goldman."

"You won't want red," he said. "But call me back and let me know." (They're low pressure at Sport Auto...)

Well, he was right. Red looks great, of course, but somehow for me black is irresistible and black metallic is simply the greatest color ever devised for a sports car.

So, I went over with my brother to see the 308, which was very decent but unfortunately priced $1K more (asking price) than Sport Auto's 328. On the way out of Marshall Goldman, I dialed Darrell back and, with some sense that I was destined to buy this specific car, I said I would buy the 328 and wired the money on my return to San Diego.

It was a very good Thanksgiving.
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Went looking on the internet every night for a red 308qv for 4 months,
finally found a metallic black & tan on Yahoo, fell in love .Called the guy,scheduled a PPI with a mechanic in his area ( referred by Tim Stanford ),done deal. Flew out to see & purchase and had her shipped back. Couldn't sleep the 3 days it took to get here. Sold her last year, I'm going through withdrawls.

 

My first one was a 330 (still have it). Didn't have a clue what I was doing so I bought one with a recently rebuilt engine. I then learned that the rest needed rebuilding and the restoration costs are the same as the expensive cars... Great experience (though sometimes a bit frustrating).

Now that the car is mechanically restored, it's a blast!



Regards,

Art S.


Here is an old picture that has been posted before:
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After working my butt off and gathering a chunk of cash, I decided to reward myself with a Ferrari. I could have bought a newer one but after looking at the different models, I decided the aesthetic lines of the 308 just spoke to me. Months of searching narrowed my focus to one in Boston, one in New York and one in Atlanta. Weighing all the pros and cons, I decided on the one in Atlanta. But what I did not know was this one was a Euro 308. I just liked the recessed bumpers and the smaller mirrors. I did not know there are only about 100 in the US, has a higher compression ratio, weighs 287 lbs. less than the US version and goes 0-60 in 5.9. With what I know now, I could never trade it for a US version. And after 5 years, I still get a thrill every time I take it out for a spin.

 

My story started in about Jan of 05' , I had made up my mind that at age 53 I wanted my Dream car, Magnum style. A Red-Tan 308 is what I had to have. I figured it's now or never, I couldn't see myself crawling under the car to maintain it in my mid 60's . I was divorced, so no family obligations(no kids) and I was liquid and willing to pay cash.
I searched from Jan 05' until August. All cars for sale either were beaters, heavily modified or I couldn't get owners to do PPI's, too much trouble, they said. I was very frustrated.
I was seriously about to give up, when I accidently stumbled on a moderators car from Ferrari-Talk. We worked a deal and two weeks later it was here. My plan was to keep her 3 years, so that my lifelong goal would be thoroughly staisfied, tons of pics and videos and then go back to something more conservative. My problem is, I'm now at the half-way point, scheduled to sell in the Summer of 08' (3 year point) and I love driving her so much, I don't know if I can let her go. I guess next year will tell. Here is a pic as I received her, before I went back to orig wheels and lenses.
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I hadn't thought about f-cars since the 70's and then my partner talked about buying one. I did some research for him and learned a little about the current models and found f-chat on the web. My partner then killed himself and then I woke up one morning a thought..what the hell..you don't live forever. I then read a lot of f-chat threads for several weeks and decided a 575M was the right car for me. My conditions for purchase were: color=red, fiorano pkg., stick shift, year '02 for my max price point, and finally a dealer car so I could get an FNA extended warranty. I found one car that had those criteria in Conn. I got work coverage for 36 hours, called the dealer and told them to have all paper work done, wired the money, got a one way air fare, took a cab to the dealer and was out the door in 20 min. I then, for the first time, sat in and then drove a Ferrari. I then drove 1475 miles through rain and then snow and got home within my time window. Two years and 57,000 miles later and I am ready for the spring driving season to start. I have a nice 6,000 miles trip planned. (Here she is, covered with bugs, going to California.)
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mine was a 348 TS - bought from ebay. since then , sold it and have been through 4 others- went to
360, , 328, 355- back to a 360 now looking for a 355 spider. and no - i didnt own them all at 1 time. i have none as of now but looking desperately.

 

I bought my first Ferrari (1988 328GTS) from a lawyer who needed the money. I had it inspected by a Ferrari technician who confirmed that the car was in excellent condition.

 

Great looking car!

 

Looks awesome in that colour.

 

Looking good as always mate.

 

A Berlinetta Lusso. It was especially satisfying, since it was the model that first seduced me into the Ferrai passion. I was 17 when I bought it and the car lived up to my every expectation.

 

What a youngster! I bought a 275 GTB/4 at twenty-seven. Those were the days my friend. - George

 

Such a young pup! Nice story.

 

yours is a beauty Pap...i like to try one just like it someday.

brett

 

As a teen in the 80s, I was hooked on the TRs and 3x8 series. Unfortunately, the boom hit right about then and as I worked through college I saw the price of Ferraris skyrocket. I pretty much wrote them off then.


The late 90s roll around and I'm surfing the internet. I run across a page on the 308GT4 (it's still up: http://members.tripod.com/~ferrari308gt4/ferrari.html) and start to read. To my surprise, he's talking about a Ferrari that only cost him ~20K. Apparently when I wasn't watching, prices fell hard. Further looking led me to Tom Yang's site, and then the old FerrariList.

My first house didn't have a garage, so I wasn't really in the market until August 2002. When I was, I was looking in the 40K range. I debated between a 3x8 and a 330 GT 2+2, finally deciding on the 3x8. (I love my car, but financially I wish now I had gone the other way...)

I heard of two local ones I was interested in -- a red/tan 328 at the local Ferrari franchise, and a Grigio one at an independent. I called to ask about the red one, and the sales guy that answered the phone gave me a snooty "We don't discuss that level car over the phone," followed by a click as he hung up. Needless to say, I was irritated. My next call was to the independent, where Jonathan Peck (jonathanp on fchat) picked up the phone, told me all about the car, and invited me down. I came down to see if I could fit in it (yes -- perfectly). Some discussion about money and a bit later I had my car. The very first time I drove a Ferrari was when I left the dealership!

Our local Ferrari club was having it's first Exotic Car Night that evening, and so I just showed up with it. October 26, 2002 --it was a good day
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As part of celebrating my birthday my wife arranged for an afternoon cruising in a chauffeured custom ’49 Mercury convertible. We had lunch at a Chinese restaurant, and the fortune in my cookie said “Whatever you want to do, do it. There are only so many tomorrows”. Later that day on a whim I asked the driver to stop at a local exotic car dealership. I walked in and there was a beautiful shiny black 308 QV. It really was love at first sight. Two days later I bought it. No PPI, no Ferrari knowledge, no clue as to what the price should be, nothing. It’s going on two years now and it is still one of the best decisions I ever made.