You are working really hard to over think this. A Ferrari dealer in California bought a BB from Ferrari and had it shipped to California. It went to a shop to be modified to pass California regulations. It was then sold to the fist buyer and that made it a California car. In the nearly 40 years in the country someone I suspect found the time to remove the unpopular modifications in the same way 95% of the other gray market cars have had them removed.
Brian is correct about how the cars arrived in the States. He is also correct in that MANY of the Gray Market cars had the modifications removed fairly quickly. I have encountered many Ferraris that have all the DOT and EPA paperwork yet show NO sign of ever being modified from factory stock. In that time, there were many firms and individuals "legalizing" Gray Market cars. Some went by "the book" and some had connections or passed cash to right people.
I personally ordered from European Ferrari dealers and imported 15 new Boxers into the US and sold another 30 Boxers FOB Europe which were imported to the US--all between 1981 and 1984. Terrific cars.
For each Boxer imported before legalization a bond had to be placed with customs to release the car before legalization. All DOT and EPA paperwork verifying the modifications and test results were provided to each agency before the bond could be released. Dick Merritt at DOT, as I recall, was intimately involved. I am not aware of cash passage making any of this happen, but others may have done so. I would have been terrified to attempt to skirt the process when dealing with the government.
I know of one privately imported BB that was never modified in any way yet got the releases and bond return. Had every document to show it was converted and legal. Registered in California its entire life.
no. my car does not have those anymore (and may never have had them since Amerispec seemed to be able to pass homologation by swapping the rear lights around, and convincing them to accept the small front button side lights. Image Unavailable, Please Login
If I recall correctly the application process for homologation included “pictures” of the required modifications to be submitted to the DOT. Some of the less scrupulous firms used pictures from other cars in the application. The term “gray market” had different shades of gray.
A neighbour of mine, a lady in her 60's walked into my shop one day and made a B line straight for a 71 246GT. She couldn't get over how great it looked and was instantly in love, I thought she was going to start taking her clothes off. She walked right past 2 boxers, a fiberglass 308 and an absolutely perfect black on black 512TR to get to it. She knows nothing about cars and seeing her reaction to the Dino spoke volumes. Sad but true, that Fiat (under)powered throw away car that school teachers drove in the snow and salt after trading in their Volvos, Enzo put down saying it was almost a Ferrari, is just a sexy looking car to most people on the planet. That translates into big dollars blindly being thrown at it even without knowing anything about one. The boxer is an awesome car, the flagship that went up against Ferruccio's offerings when they were rivals but you need to be in the know to understand and appreciate that. That translates into dollars only from a handful of people.
You absolutely nailed it Newman. Women love the car and it's not more complicated than that. I see it every time I show my Dino. It has a fantastic attraction on the women and they even want to drive it and doesn't feel embarrassed being a passenger either. You can not say the say about the BB or even the 308. Best, Peter
Every non-car person that walks into my garage goes passed all of my cars to my wife’s 1977 Y82 Trans am. Doesn’t make it worth more than the sales tax on any of the others.
We have the experience, that the Dino, as well as the BB ist quite attractive for women. I had a friend and she preferred us to be driving the BB or Dino, as they are "cozy". And one thing I don´t get: why is everyone saying, the Dino has not enough power? Sure, it is no race car, but nimble, easy to drive quick and fast enough to get into trouble. For me, the Dino is a (one of the many) perfect solutions for a drivers car. No Autobahn, but B-Road and C-Road is the main territory. OK... the BB made a lot of fun in the french and swiss Alps... Especially the Porsche Guys were impressed by the BBs capabilitys. But I also don´t get the price difference. For me, they both should be around the same money. BBs in all variants are less and the Dino is in my experience the easier car to own. So, it wheights out. But, most people do not get offended by the Dino (no horse...). Difficult....
Happened a lot. Back in the 80s (maybe 70s as well) there was a "one-time exemption" that could be used by a private individual importing a non-US vehicle into the US. In other words, if you weren't a dealer, you could import one non-US vehicle in your life without any modification. I've sold a few cars originally brought in with this DOT one-time exemption and have the paperwork to prove it. My understanding, though, was that if it was registered in California, you still had to pass BAR. But I'm sure those with the right connections could work around those as well back then.
I imported a carb BB that I purchased in Ancona in 1985. At the time an individual could import one car and be exempt from the EPA regs but still had to comply with DOT requirements.
One of my favorite Ferraris and I think the first one I saw in person in the eighties, in Brooklyn. I will never forget the clamshell open. I guess for me, looking at a current Boxer ad that has the car selling for around $240K, with $80K spent in maintenance in just the last 5 years. That gives me the shivers. I think that is also why TR prices are depressed. I had my 308 for 10 years and maintenance was cheap and I could do it in my garage. As far as looks, those that know what it is will appreciate it, but most people will think it is a 308. I was watching a video where Dennis Collins was saying the same thing about Boxers and Wayne Carrini basically said younger people don’t want the Boxer because the looks are not as beautiful as the TR. I may still pick one up. There is a Blue Sera Boxer that comes up from time to time and I think it has my name on it.
I'm the only one I know of around here with a Blu Sera BB, but it's not going anywhere. Just coming out of a belt change, valve adjustment, suspension rebuild, Newman diff, and general tidying up. FYI - I went 8 years on the belts. Boxers are great cars, I've been fortunate to own many exotics, supercars, and vintage cars, and few if any really stir me the way the BB does. They're very special cars indeed.
in the 15 years I have been on this forum, and 16 years of BBi ownership, the question (lamenting?) of whether or not BBs are undervalued, and/or due to pop "soon" has been brought up routinely. I've been sucked into it at times as well. The theme in that time period seems to indicate @Rifledriver is correct: the market is never wrong. I deduce from that history between then and now that many here are still anticipating the magic $700k value (taking into account inflation) from the '89 high water mark. After the crash, 288 GTOs went down in value dramatically. Well, we can confidently conclude that those same GTOs have equaled and surpassed the late '80's mark even counting for inflation. Relatively, the BBs of all variants have lagged, and continue to lag. The market has spoken. It is a bit interesting to discuss why we think the market values are what they are, but few cars follow the "Dino" story where a car goes from relatively out of favor to very in favor. Hell, the Daytona seems to have gone the other way, which is a complete f'ing mystery to me! "Drives like a truck" and all that hash is just garbage to me. I love them! Daytonas are well below their high water mark as well. All of that doesn't matter other than to discuss if any of us are Nostradamus. I am an enthusiast of one of the great Porsche appreciation dogs of all time, the 928. I have owned 3 over the years, currently with a very early '78 that I spent way too much money and time restoring. This same discussion of "soon the collector world will appreciate the greatness... blah, blah, blah," has been taking place for years in the 928 forums. There has been a little movement on that front recently, but look at what a similar aircooled vintage will bring on average! Like many here, I own what I love, what I can afford, and what I love to drive, look at, and experience in/with a group of like minded lunatics! I took spirited runs in both the BBi and 928 over this weekend, my grin hasn't diminished. Let's remember why we (enthusiasts, anyway) own these machines, because if it is for appreciation bragging rights, we are setting ourselves up for disappointment. (check out Bruce Meyer's story of selling is 250 GTO to get into a 275, he is the best!) Your mileage may vary. Cheers! William
