When did Ferrari's begin for you?

I'm 44 it was Magnum's red 308 followed by the black on black TR that all the magazines tested, I now have both.

 

The day I was born many year ago!!

 

I never really had to much interest in fcars until the TR in Miami vice but never really wanted to own one. I owned many corvettes over the years and last August decided I was bored with them even though they are great cars. So at 50 years old with a lot of research decided on a 360 spider. I wish I would have bought a Fcar a long time ago!!! These cars a are awesome and by far the most fun car I have ever driven. I am in the market for a 458 as we speak but I still love my 360 and don't want to get rid of it.
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I'm 46 - it was 1972 Watkins Glenn NY, during the Grand Prix. Clay Reggazoni waved to me in the kendall Center and signed my program, and the mechanics gave me a Ferrari patch ( i still have it ) .... same years we were down town WG at dinner in a hotel... the Downtowner? cant remember exactly the name... any way when we were done we were walking back to the car and right across the street from our car was a red Dino 246 with knock off wheels. the owner was just walking up and he let me sit in the car, while he was talking to my parents... I dont remember sitting in it, but my parents tell me about it, but i do kind of remember the car... right behind it was a silver blue 330 GTC ... between that and the F-1 racing that is what did it for me.

my first F-1 love was Jackie Stewart and the Matra.... especially when they went to the 12 cyl. engines....when i learned about Mr. Ferrari - the cars took on a more interesting personna.

 

Tom - Damn; we're the same age and you were there 4 years before me! My first race was the USGP at the Glen in '76......

 

When I first spotted a Red Flash fly by, as I was getting on a highway. I chased after that Flash for a number of miles and was lucky when he finally pulled off at an oasis. Talked with the owner for maybe 30 minutes. He was driving a Red Daytona Spyder. Sold hook, line, and sinker. Had the privledge of driving a number of classics over the years, thanks to some friends, associates, and driven for RM Auctions for a number of years.

 

I'm 28- the day in 2011 I bought a Maserati 3500GT engine from a gentleman in Mass. My friend says, "Why don't we go scope it out in the 330 GTC?", so we hop in his 1967 330, and leave CT bright and early. It was the first "long" haul since he had the block rebuilt. We steamed up 84 and the Pike. I remember my cheeks hurting and the corners of my mouth stinging, because with both windows wide open, we blasted along, and my mouth was in a fixed grin of bliss, I couldn't stop smiling. The V12 was like a euphoric release of symphonic auditory vibes that smacked you in the ears and it was glorious.
That day was it for me, I knew I was a car freak, but that day, all 5-6 glorious hours in the GTC, solidified I would be in the Prancing Horse game for the rest of my life.

 

I was very young probably between 5 and 6 years old when I saw my first Ferrari in the flesh. It was a BB 512 and it was in the parking garage at my grandparents place in Chicago. I have been hooked ever since.

 

Magnum PI trying to enter the code on the 308 in the premier episode...first time I remember paying attention to cars and not motorcycles (Evil Kenivel fan).

 

1972 with the 246Gt Dino. It was between the Dino and the Daytona. Two totally different cars, but after testing both cars could not get the sounds nor the shape of the Dino out of my mind. Currently have been thinking of 458 Coupe, have a 360 Modena F1 Coupe that have had for quite a while and do not want to sell it. At 68 yrs I feel privileged to have personally met many of the original characters involved with this breed.

Docf

 

When I signed up on this damn website! Grrrr

 

I had been driving Porches throughout the mid 70's and early 80's. I don't think I had ever even seen a Ferrari until Magnum PI aired. Loved the car immediatly but figured it was way out of my price range. Then one day I got the itch and pulled into a Ferrari dealer and walked thru the doors. The receptionists asked if i was interested in buying another exotic and after walking into the showroom i was already hooked. They had a red and tan 308 GTS on the floor and I asked how much it was . The GM said I couldn't hve that one because it had already been sold but he could hook me up with the new 328 GTSI Quad that was coming in a couple of months and was actually faster than the 308. Then the hard question was how much would he give me in trade for my Porsche 911 Targa...and once we crunched the numbers I realized I was only going to need to write a check for 15K to cover the difference.That was the beginning of my Ferrari experience. Within a year or so I traded it back to my dealer when I received the very first 512 TR to arrive in Canada...Black with an oyster interior. What a car ...what a sound. I used to race Kawasaki ninja motorcylcles and never wound that engine completely out even when the speedo said I was driving close to 190 mph. I left Ferrari's behind from time to time but I've always come back. Once these cars get into your head they never really leave.

 

I am 43 now and have been a corvette/chevy muscle car guy all of my life. I never though much of a Ferrari because it always seemed unattainable. I was getting bored with corvettes last year and was looking for something else when I thought to myself what it would be like if I owned a Ferrari. I looked into it and found that I could actually buy an F430 but wound up with a 360 as the other was a little much for me as a first foray into this world. Better than I imagined and much differnt actually. I never realized they were such a drivers car and not some overpriced luxury wannabe (that's what I actually thought).

 

Was between buying a Mercedes SL65, Porsche 997TT, Viper or Z06 as a weekend car and kept going back and forth between all of them. Right then issues came up and I ended up leaving the wife. Decided to focus on my pleasures and that same week the perfect 599 came up for sale locally.

No regrets, a whole new world to me as I'm new to Italian cars. I should have done this a long time ago. Already wondering what else to add to the garage. Life is good

 

A black 308gt4 owned by a farmer up the road when I was about 5 or 6. (78)

 

Since I saw The Gumball Rally. (The Gumball Rally (1976) - IMDb) Franco, played by Raul Julia, is a race car driver hired by one of the main competitors.

Franco: And now my friend, the first-a rule of Italian driving.
[Franco rips off his rear-view mirror and throws it out of the car]
Franco: What's-a behind me is not important.

Trivia:
Two Ferrari Daytonas were used (main car and a backup) The serial numbers were 14829 and 16467. Chassis 14829 was at the Peterson Automotive Museum until August 2013 and was once owned by Mel Blanc. Chassis 16467 also appeared in 'A Star in Born' (1976)

 

+1 on Niki Lauda and the 312, but the real moment for me was a fine day in ~'80, visiting family in Lake Forest IL, walking by Lake Forest sportscars in town. There in the window was one of the Fly Yellow NART spyders, aligned so the covered headlights were staring out the window. The only time in my life I experienced a slack jaw. I circled around slowly, gawking like an idiot until I found the door handle, walked inside, and asked what it was...

 

I was 13 when I walked by a Silver 365GTC/4 with Italian plates parked at the entrance of Mercury Hotel in Poznan, Poland back in 1972.
Thought it was the most beautiful and amazing car in existence (we had no access back then to Western car mags or other media), some people heard of Ferrari but rarely anyone was able to see one "live".....

 

I don't think I had any choice in the matter; my dad bought his 500 Mondial in 1960, 2 and a half years before I was born; his first Factory visit was in 1961. My first toy car was a 250LM . . . . If they had had paraphenalia back then, I would have been one of those babies w/ the Ferrari onesie.

 

Playboy magazine issue on the world's most exotic cars circa 1974. 512 BB. I was 19. Also had a Countach (gaudy), Monteverdi, Bizzarini, Bora, Stratos (!) and some others I don't recall. It was the Ferrari that captured me though.

 

Friend convinced me to attend Sebring 1958. When I saw those beautiful Ferraris...and the sound from the V12 was unforgettable. Went back for the USA first F1 and very race thereafter for many years. A 12 cylinder at full chat...glorious!

 

I was 16, working at a car wash in Kirkwood, MO. Across the street at an auto upholstery shop was a dark blue 275 GTB owned by the manager - Mike. He took me for a ride in it - awesome! Occasionally he would drive his silver 4 cam. After that, I got a copy of Fitzgerald & Merritt's Ferrari - The Sports and Gran Turismo Cars. I was hooked on the marque from then on. I drove my mom's VW and my 1957 Velocette Scrambler at the time. My first car was a 1969 Alfa Romeo 1750 GTV - so I have a soft spot for Alfas, but a passion for Ferrari.