Why Are There So Many GTS's For Sale And So Few GT's?

I was just looking at Hemmings. Ferrari 246GTS for sale | Hemmings Motor News

There are 14 GTS's listed and no GT's. Being that the GTS is more rare, I am curious why so few GT's are ever for sale in the U.S.?

Freeman

 

Everyone is trying to get rid of their gts so they can buy a gt...

(I may be slightly biased)

 

GTSs are white hot on the market now and people don't want to risk missing the peak?

I did have a friend ask me after the ca 1990 peak if I had wished I had sold my GT then and bought again after the bubble burst. I said no because I would have missed having the car too much.

 

Me too!

 

I was told that the majority of Dinos officially imported to the U.S. were GTS. It's not all that surprising given that GTS was developed specifically with the U.S. market in mind (as was the case with a lot of open versions of other European sports cars). That explanation sounds even more plausible when one looks at what's for sale in Europe - few GTS and a lot of GT.

 

There might be a couple of issues at play. I think the GT is being coveted more and more for the pure design. With that, the value gap to the GTS in the States may decrease meaning there is still more growth for the GT. As a result, GT's are disproportionately not on the market.

 

I don't think it's anything new.

It seems there are always more GTSs on the market going back as far as I can remember.

 

When I was looking for a Dino GT in 2005, there were so many GTSs on the market and only occasionally a GT. And I was looking all over the world for months and months. So that seems to be norm.

Andrea

 

Me too! (again)

It is hard to find a GT - I spent a lot of time and effort to track one down.

And in 2008/09 (?), as you know, I tried to buy your GT - little did I know that it had been sold to you until I called Cooper Classics and they told me it had been sold and shipped to the PI.

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/139352904-post46.html

A GT in blue. A perfect car - when you can find one - just ask Freeman and Wayne Carini!

 

the very first Dino I drove, 1969,
blue, never forgot that drive.

 

I'll tell you what's interesting.

In the 80's everyone wanted a GTS because the Dino is pretty hot inside and generally had no AC (or worthless AC ). And, the 308 GTS was also popular as was the Porsche targa. Targa's are an "80's" kinda thing.

Now, it seems like people want coupes because they look better (they always have IMO).

Earlier cars were GT's, later cars (and in higher numbers sent to the US) were GTS's.

 

Andres' AC works well, from what he has told me. And I have a NOS complete AC system ready to be installed, but I haven't needed it yet. Besides, a prioi, blue is cool by definition!

[From wikipedia: "Galen Stawson wrote an a priori argument is one in which 'you can see that it is true just lying on your couch. You don't have to get up off your couch and go outside and examine the way things are in the physical world. You don't have to do any science.'" - Sommers (2003), p. 15.]

 

Because....like the Daytona, the GTS isn't loved

(flame suit on)

 

you mean like this one?
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

That's the ticket!

 

Perfection!!! Chassis number?

Freeman

 

i think so....but then again, what parent thinks their child is unattractive?..

01704...

 

When I was looking for my first Dino in the late '80's there were several GT model Dinos that had been crashed and scrapped, being sold for parts. When you need that hard-to-find part and accept a good, used one from T Rutlands, GT Car Parts, etc. where do you think they come from?

The GTS model has historically commanded much higher prices and in the past when it comes to restoring Dinos, the GT model was not the one selected to be restored, rather it was the GTS. For example, how many high end restorations have you seen or heard about where a GT was selected over a GTS as their ultimate restoration candidate?
Not many
In fact you see strange things in GTs like the Dino with a roof cut off to replicate a GTS targa top as a cheap alternative to the GTS out of a GT model.

 

You could be right Scott. So now'a days ... not only are GT's more desirable but more rare too.

 

I think the GTS is a beautiful, emotional car. For me though, from the moment I saw Danny Wilde in the Persuaders, the GT was it! Growing up in car capital Southern California , a Dino was a rare, memorable sight. It would be of interest how many GT's and GTS's were sold new in the U.S. I'm really baffled by how many GTS's I often see for sale and rarely see a GT. I'm even more baffled at the price difference!

Freeman

 

I think this summarizes why there is a price difference. When i asked my Architect friend which he preferred he the gt was " prettier" but he "wants to be seen" in a gts. Thus he would buy the gts.

 

!?

 

it's all about aesthetics for me...i'd rather sacrifice comfort/pose value for the purity of design....i know we've all gone over this numerous times, but the gt is such an extraordinary example of the uninterrupted designer's pen-the car ebbs and flows, it's entirely harmonious..it's VERY hard to have a successful design that works from all angles (freeman?)

taking off the roof is like misplaced punctuation-it changes the flow entirely..

having said that, i've never driven a gts, so i AM slightly talking out of my arse! i'm sure it must be nice to be exposed to the sun (and admirers) but i'm too hung up on aesthetics to give in to trivial concerns like comfort and enjoyment...

 

From the perspective of vehicle architecture, packaging and design the GT is perfection. It is heart, soul and mind.

Freeman

 

Remember, too, that the Dino did not come to the States until Fall 1971 as 1972 models (mine was a Dec 71 car), and the GTS appeared within about a year. Many of the 2487 246 GT coupes were produced before that time for the rest of the world, and 488 of those were RHD.