Augustine - take us through all your 328's

I agree with the man, write a book.

 

You made my day again!

Afghanistan can really suck on some days, but these stories put the smile right back on my face...

Ciao!

Hannibal
Bagram Air Field , Afghanistan

 

WOW Aug Dog great recap on all your great cars and great experiences that is what it is all about after all cars bring us together and recall certin events good or bad in our lives and you have done a great job in doing just that. So glad to be a part of it and always in your debit for getting me into this crazy Ferrari culture. Great thread my brother!!!

 

WOW Aug Dog great recap on all your great cars and great experiences that is what it is all about after all cars bring us together and recall certin events good or bad in our lives and you have done a great job in doing just that. So glad to be a part of it and always in your debit for getting me into this crazy Ferrari culture. Great thread my brother!!!

 

+1

Black is a P.I.T.A., but it has always added drama to the 328s. I suppose I like 328s in any color, but a properly detailed black 328 GTS (with concave wheels) is the last really exotic-looking Ferrari, IMHO.

Well, except you don't have a black one... yours is better.

 

Will,

Thank you for the kind words. I'm so glad you enjoyed it!

And of course, THANK YOU for what you do every day! I certainly appreciate it.

 

Having done the drive from NJ to Florida (and back again) easily more than 20 times, I know how taxing that can be. I take a break half way through - you are a trooper doing that ride straight through in a Ferrari no less!

Great stories here!

 

Agreed, I think it would be a hoot to hear what she thought of all this - if it was me and my wife I could *feel* the eyes rolling - but it's all good fun.

Great read.

Audi(not_yet)328

 

What a great thread!!

I owned 70731 back in the early to mid 2000s and sold it to the guy on New Jersey that AJS bought it from. It was my first Ferrari and met my goal of "owning a Ferrari before I was 30". Got it when I was 29. I originally saw a black and tan 1985 308 in a DuPont Registry as a kid and needed to have one. After looking into them more, this car was the "better version" of what I'd lusted after in that DuPont.

The car came from Sausalito, CA and was owned by a gentleman who was a PCA driving instructor. Ironically, I bought the car when I was in
Wisconsin and sold it two weeks before I moved out to California - about 60 miles from Sausalito!

The car was in fantastic shape and drove like an Accord, reliability-wise. Never an issue. I purchased a Tubi exhaust and the Motovanti intake. Also was the one who had the wheels done in black, same color scheme as I have on my Lamborghini Diablo and my Hummer. What can I say, I love the look! ;-)

I've owned a lot of fun/exotic cars now and that is the only one I really miss. Just a great car.

 

Hey Augustine! What a incredibly cool thread. The other F-chatters are right. You should write a book. I also think there is a song there, "The Ballad of a Possesed Ferrari Owner." I'd write it, but my poetry stinks, and I have no musical ability. Any volunters? For the rest of F-Chat, I'm Steve McCarthy the present and hopefully future owner of Augustine's first 328. And, yes, I have taken good care of it. Three years ago, I had the wizards at Competizione and Sport Car in Gathiersburg, MD completely rebuild the engine. Everything but the head and block (which were polished to original specs) is new, including new cylinder linings and pistons. Fernando at Competizione told me they got it up to above original specs, close to European specs, and from the way it hauls, I believe them. My wallet cries, but my heart sings.

Augustine, sorry I haven't responded to your recent e-mail sooner. It's been kind of busy around here. Heck, I just found out about this thread. I'll respond to the e-mail as soon as I can. Love to Josie from Andy and I, and your son looks like he'll be another Jim Clark. I've attached a couple of pictures. One is from a visit by Augustine and Josie to our house in Richmond, VA in 2009, and the other is a picture of Augustine and me at (I think) the 2010 Classics on the Green Car show near Richmond.
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Steve,

Great to here from you, as always. And very glad to hear that my first 328 is still in rude health and in good hands. I hope she is for a long time as well, because I can't afford two of them right now!

I'll give you a call soon. Give Andy and the kids my best.

-Augustine

 

That was my first Ferrari and really enjoyed it!!!

 

Congrats on a great thread. I started with an Azzurro Mondial 3.2, and loved it, despite some faults. I parted with it for a 308QV, in Chiaro, but my wife wants me to buy the Mondial back because it is a family car! And a word of warning - my son, aged about 4, played roughly with the light stalk, twisting it too rapidly back and forth. You can guess the rest. He owes me for that one.

So, No 8 has to be Azzurro over Magnolia ...... just keep working and looking!

 

Hello Augustine-

Thank you for taking the time to share your passion. Like others, I've enjoyed it very much. As a former trans-global auto road racing mechanic and test driver- I've also had a passion for Ferrari since I was very small. I decided I would own a 3X8 when I was 16. That's a story for another time. Currently I'm just about to finish my Masters of Science of Financial Planning. And the first thing I'm going to plan out for myself (after a payment plan for paying down my student loans) is to purchase my Ferrari. I'm in Northern California and have genuinely enjoyed the few times I've had a chance to participate in club drives with the F.O.G. group of SF.

My car will be Azzurro Metallico- if I can find one that color or take one apart and have it shot that color- I've narrowed it down to a couple of different shades with tan leather interior and gold wheels. As motivation during school I've had this image right in my face at my desk. It's a comically poor photo-shopped image of my face in F chatter Bigodino's car with another F chatter's (who's car is black/black with these after market gold wheels) gold wheels. I would prefer the original wheels shot gold I think. These are just there for color scheme confirmation. Someday she will be mine. In the meantime, I'm still dreaming.

All the best my friend! Totally laughed out loud with the pics of your son. Looks familiar to childhood pictures of my own. I'm certain he's already hooked on the horse. ha. J.
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Hey guys, thanks again for the kind words about this thread. A lot of the credit should really go to Robb. He's the one who came up with the idea, started the thread, and asked me to contribute. All I did was oblige him, but I'm sure glad I did! I really enjoyed writing these accounts of my experiences so far with my favorite car, the Ferrari 328. I hope that there will be lots more to write about in the future!

Jason,

I am glad you enjoyed this, and I hope it serves as some more inspiration for you to get your Azzurro car. It is the perfect color to really show off the lines of the 308/328 series cars, and it'll always be my favorite. Good luck with your goal. I'm looking forward to seeing the real photo of you in your actual car in the not too distant future!

 

I still remember doing a writeup for the Ferrarichat newsletter 9 years ago about your first 328 I still have a printed copy but no PDF any more. I checked on the fchat server but it's been removed. I was shocked when you sold it, can't believe you went on to own 6 more haha. Nice work, thanks for the writeups, very interesting.

 

Wow, I would love to see that! Any way you could scan me a copy?

 

What a great thread, thanks for taking the time to post!

 

Thank you. It was truly my pleasure.

 

Are you kidding? This was a blast for me! Thank you!

 

My second 328 (#72553) just came onto the market. I had incorrectly listed the car as 72355 in my post (dyslexia I guess). I have not seen or heard of this car since I sold it in Sept 2004, and it is still in the same town!

1987 Ferrari 328, $44,900 - Cars.com

 

Hi Augustine,

that really was a great thread. I enjoyed reading it like all the other F-chatters, although my favourite Ferrari is a late-model 308.

I am a little different than you, as I knew from the beginning what I really wanted, and if it fits, to keep it. I bought a 1985 308 GTS QV in black/crema (also known as magnolia) in June 1988, which at the time (very unusual for a Ferrari) already had 30,600 miles and three owners. It was neither my preferred colour nor did I want to buy one with such a mileage, but it was finally one, which I could afford, after years of putting away money for it.
I did many trips with my 308 from my home in a suburb of Munich to Maranello, to the Nurburgring, to the Salzburgring, two times to Spa-Francorchamps, as well as holiday trips to northern Germany and the island of Ruegen in the East Sea. My most memorable trip was to the North Cape at the most northern part of Norway. This trip of three weeks alone accounted for 5,600 miles.
Now it has 153.000 miles on it, certainly still with the original engine and gearbox (no work necessary to do yet).
Regarding the possibility of sleeping in it despite the sound of a sports exhaust: my granddaughter, when she was about 5 to 9 years old and still needed a child's seat, could -and would- sleep without a problem in it, even with the roof open!

I am happy to see that you finally opted for a special license plate. I thought all Americans with special cars do have them. In Germany you always have the letter or letters of your town and can only choose very few options. Mine reads M-FF 308.

When I understand how to load up photos, I will do so.

Kai

 

Gus!
Long time no talk, I know our Dad's speak often, but it is hard to believe it has been 10 YEARS! It seems like just the other day this young guy was taking me for a ride in his beautiful blue 328 (after all these cars and rides still one of my favorites).

To everyone else I lived through and talked to Gus a lot through AIM, doubt anyone still uses that, and it felt like every time we spoke he bought another 328. One time after finals in College Gus picked me up just to go cruising, he wasn't/isn't afraid to drive his cars.

I don't know how I missed this, but thanks for the great thread and the trip down memory lane. Lets try and get together this summer.

Erik