Have You Consolidated Your Car Collection to Attain a Grail - (F40!)? | Page 5 | FerrariChat

Have You Consolidated Your Car Collection to Attain a Grail - (F40!)?

Discussion in 'Ferrari Discussion (not model specific)' started by plastique999, Nov 28, 2019.

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  1. ross

    ross Three Time F1 World Champ
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    Mar 25, 2002
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    i cannot get him to move again ! (keep in mind, he moved 12 times).
    i try to spice up his driving life with trips to europe to do rallys and track time - he drove mugello in the cs at 70!
    but i have been remiss about this lately - thanks for reminding me that i need to get him in something fast somewhere fun soon.
     
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  2. George330

    George330 Formula 3

    Oct 19, 2009
    1,342
    Switzerland
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    George
    I can confirm that!I owned a 959 20 years ago and the maintenance nearly crippled me. Absolutely everything is expensive. I think I spent 30,000 USD to do a service and rebuild the water pumps (both leaking). In 1999!

    Also as a former F40 owner I can confirm the two cars are not really competitors. The F40 is on a different planet from a driver’s point of view. The 959 is a technical marvel, I like it, even admire it, but it has been surpassed by modern machinery. The F40 is still the king in my book.


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  3. Rossocorsa1

    Rossocorsa1 F1 Veteran

    May 14, 2017
    6,201
    Interesting to hear the comments about the 959. I’m not a Porsche guy, and I know nothing about them, however, my natural assumption is that the 959 would be a highly reliable machine with supreme quality, consistent with the way most things are engineered and designed in Germany.
     
  4. SCantera

    SCantera F1 Veteran
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    Living Falls NC
    Sshhh......I know but I don't like to say that out loud. ;)
     
  5. SCantera

    SCantera F1 Veteran
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    Aug 4, 2004
    5,113
    Living Falls NC
    Understood....no more moves. After owning a vacation home for 30 years I am selling Naples to simplify life.

    How about Plan B for you and your Dad? Fly your Dad and Mum up here and stay at the SWAG.....a beautiful 4 star resort at the edge of Smokey Mountain National Park. Only 14 luxury rooms, incredible dining, hiking trails and beauty surrounding you. I will pick them up at the airport and bring them to my house. He can choose any [or all] of my cars as their ride during their stay. I will show him the great roads when he wants to drive.

    The SWAG is a world class resort. And it's a lot closer than Switzerland!!! Check it out www.theswag.com.
     
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  6. ross

    ross Three Time F1 World Champ
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    wow! that is a fantastic offer !
    i will mention to him since they drive up through there yearly and visit some other friends in that general area - so i will suggest he pass by to see you.

    thanks !
     
  7. mikesufka

    mikesufka F1 Veteran
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    Mar 4, 2006
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    Your posts in this thread have me all excited about planning my next cross motorcycle trip - thinking of shipping the bikes to Ashville area ( Swannanoa ? ) and then spend a week or so in TN and KT, before heading NW back to MN.

    SCantera - I'll PM you later.

    MDS
     
  8. SCantera

    SCantera F1 Veteran
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    Aug 4, 2004
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    I will look for your PM.

    The most famous road around is the Tail of the Dragon in Eastern TN. Not far from here in Maggie Valley. It's better for bikes than Ferraris since it's mostly all switchbacks. In an FCar you rarely get into 3rd gear. And due to it's reputation the cops do patrol the Tail. Mostly because too often inexperienced riders dump their bike or cross the line and worse happens. But I think there are better roads and less known than the Dragon.

    When you do get here you have to tour the Wheels Through Time museum. If you like motorcycles you will love this museum.
     
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  9. DIGMAN52

    DIGMAN52 F1 Rookie
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    Jan 30, 2004
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    I got to follow this 959 around Big Bend on a Vintage Cars Rallye in 2005. It was being driven by an 85 year old gentlemen, who had 16 car dealerships in the Boston /NE area. What a cool guy !

    The green Ferrari was once owned by Enzo Ferrari, and was being driven by the guy who ran the Collier's Collection in Naples Fla.

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  10. SCantera

    SCantera F1 Veteran
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    Aug 4, 2004
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    I have seen Enzo's 400 SA a few times. It's cool that Miles Collier likes to see the cars driven. He routinely sends the special cars all over for museums, shows and driving events. If you have never seen the Collier collection put it on your bucket list. It's a history of the auto on steroids. An MB Silver Arrows F1 car.....amazing engineering for the late 30s. Even better is the Gurney Eagle [may be the only one] F1 car. A piece of very fast artwork....I could go on forever about this collection. Heck..I could sleep there for a few days if they would let me. :)
     
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  11. ross

    ross Three Time F1 World Champ
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    i went for 2 hours, and stayed for 6 ;)
     
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  12. sherpa23

    sherpa23 F1 Veteran
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    May 28, 2003
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    I guess I'm late to this thread but that's exactly what I did in 2012.

    I sold everything I needed to sell and bought my F40. For a long time, my garage had two cars only: my F40 and my Honda Fit.

    Eventually, as I made more money I added more cars and sort of went into full on car collecting for a while and though I owned a ton of amazing sports cars (Daytona, M1, Countach, 2.7 RS, lots of other Ferraris, on and on) but nothing ever came close to the F40. And while there was an aspect I liked to "having the right tool for the right job" it wasn't that fun to own so many sports cars (but owning a lot of motorbikes seems to be a different story though). The only sports cars I have now are my F40 and 360 and while I think about it from time to time, I don't really want any more sports cars.

    The F40 has really been unfairly categorized over the years as a monster of a car to drive. It's really not. It won't spin while you're just driving along, it won't just spontaneously rip the rear tires loose while merging onto the highway or any of those things. It doesn't have power steering or ABS so it's probably not a car you'll put a lot of miles on when you're 80 years old and yes, you have to be a good driver and no, you can't be the type of driver that relies on electronic nannies to keep you safe but really the car is just very thrilling and rewarding to drive. Caeruleus wrote it all better than I can and he said it well.

    But it's still a car to use. I've done everything from 600 mile road trips to track days with mine and it's just a truly competent car. And I added a ton of the exact same mods that Ross has on his and I echo his sentiment.

    No one with a true passion for the car would ever want a newer, digital car in place of an F40.

    The only downside, if there could be one, to owning an F40 as your only sports car is that a) it gets a ton of attention which I don't like and b) sometimes you just want to go for a nice low key spirited sports car drive through the hills and driving the F40 is like taking an AK47 to go clay pigeon shooting (I'm not a gun guy so hopefully you get the analogy).

    Anyways, that's sort of all I have to say about that.
     
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  13. Thecadster

    Thecadster F1 Veteran
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    Apr 27, 2017
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    Awesome post. I loved reading it. Interesting that you built up a large collection only to reduce it back down after losing interest. Any more thoughts on what might have led you to the decision to downsize what must have a really cool and exciting collection?
     
  14. ttforcefed

    ttforcefed F1 World Champ
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    Aug 22, 2002
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    Agree I 40 is really easy to drive and docile if you want it to be…Nothing you can do about the attention though
     
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  15. sherpa23

    sherpa23 F1 Veteran
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    Well, I didn’t really lose interest. I still love cars. I just don’t love owning a whole bunch of cars I don’t drive.

    For me, there’s no point in owning something just to say you own it. I’m pretty private anyway so it’s not like I even have that. Anyway, simply owning a car didn’t give me as much satisfaction as using it. And if I’m not enjoying the car in some way, there’s no reason to keep it.

    Plus maintaining so many cars kept me from enjoying the ones I really love and use the most.

    Anyway, that’s just me. As always, YMMV.
     
  16. JaguarXJ6

    JaguarXJ6 F1 Veteran

    Feb 12, 2003
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    I feel this way 100%. It makes the decision so much easier. Not only do we actually drive them, but we part ways with them more easily. It's a win win.
     
  17. sgfreak96

    sgfreak96 Karting

    May 15, 2015
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    Reading @plastique999 post and @sherpa23 recent post is amazing. I’m in my early 20s and at the start of my professional career; have loved cars and especially ferrari since I was a little kid. I just wanted to chime in and say thanks for the inspiration. It’s very cool to think about having any ferrari one day, let alone a grail one!


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  18. ross

    ross Three Time F1 World Champ
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    i guess i am at the opposite end of the spectrum :)

    to be fair, our cars are spread out over multiple locations, so they serve their purpose in that way as well.
    but it is true that it is not easy to exercise all the cars as they should be to keep them in top shape.
    however, my philosophy is that i enjoy non-utilitarian cars as rolling art, and expressions of mood. there are moments when you feel like driving a vintage british sports car, and there are other times when you have the need for modern speed, or the need for a comfortable long distance cruiser, or when you want to hear the clank through the gated shifter, or the flat plane crank at 8000 rpm etc.
    one fun thing that i do every so often, is try to drive all the cars at that location in one day. from oldest to youngest, and it is such a revelation .
    horses for courses.

    a lot of cars means none of them get driven a lot.
    but it also means i have multiple automotive peaks to enjoy.

    we have sometimes debated selling everything and getting 1 car.
    but then we cant decide what that 1 car would be ! nor whether we would then drive that 1 car all that much given how valuable it would be.

    1st world problems. :)
     
  19. sherpa23

    sherpa23 F1 Veteran
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    #119 sherpa23, Jan 24, 2020
    Last edited: Jan 24, 2020
    I actually feel that way about motorbikes. I have a dozen rare Ducati’s and half are race bikes so I only use them at the track. They all get used regularly and kept in top shape but none get used all that much as the miles are spread out and it seems to work fine.

    But they also double as living room art so in a way, they’re always getting used.
     

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  20. sherpa23

    sherpa23 F1 Veteran
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    Well, I should clarify that parting with the cars I didn’t use was a logical decision but not an easy decision. I had a very hard time parting with them. I get very attached to my cars and motorbikes.

    They’re artifacts of some amazing adventures (for me) and when you tell them goodbye, you’re sort of closing the book on those adventures. That’s hard and never an easy thing for me.

    So I just want to clarify because there has never been a “parting ways more easily” for me, despite its being the right decision for me.

    Anyways, just like Ross’s post illustrates, there is no single right way to do this. We all have our own ideas of what’s best. At any rate, that’s my story about what I did and hopefully it helps the OP.

    Back to your usual thread programming...
     
  21. Texas Forever

    Texas Forever Seven Time F1 World Champ
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    Must smell pretty sweet, although your wife might not agree.
     
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  22. ross

    ross Three Time F1 World Champ
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    that is a spectacular bike !!
    i love motorcycles too. love love love.
    but, i had motorcycles and then had a couple accidents and thought to myself that given my addiction to speed, that if i continued on two wheels, i would likely be dead soon. so i dropped them completely. but i love looking at them, hearing them, watching races etc.
    ride safe
     
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  23. sherpa23

    sherpa23 F1 Veteran
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    Thanks, Ross. Not to hijack the thread any further but that bike is one of the Fast by Ferracci team Ducati 916 Corsa (955cc) bikes from the 1996 season and the only one to win any AMA Superbike rounds (Road America and Brainerd). It was piloted to those victories by the 125cc world champ Alessandro Gramigni. It's pretty cool. But I do track days on some other neat bikes too. Thanks for the good thoughts.
     
  24. sherpa23

    sherpa23 F1 Veteran
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    You’re half right, Dale. The smell is awesome but there’s no wife to object to race bikes in the house. The ladies in my life know I’m a bit of an odd duck with this stuff anyway.

    If I ever get my poop together I’ll make a real room for all the race bikes so that there’s still places for silly thing like, oh I don’t know, a dining room.

    In the meantime, I have my exercise mat two feet from this in what some people would make into some of kind of room to entertain friends (Friends? What are those?).

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  25. Skippr1999

    Skippr1999 F1 Rookie
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    The swag is awesome! We spent Thanksgiving there several years ago. Gated road it goes straight up the mountain to a private oasis with killer views. Think Ralph Lauren on the top of a mountain.
     
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