Front V12 | FerrariChat

Front V12

Discussion in '456/550/575' started by vroom, Jul 19, 2019.

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

  1. vroom

    vroom Karting

    Sep 9, 2007
    132
    Pasadena
    I'm thinking of getting a front V12. Sold the TR & 328GTS. Currently have a CS & 3 air cooled Porsches. Looking for a weekend car, FCA events, etc. Any owners out there with 550 Barchettas & Daytonas? I can't decide. Which would you choose? Why?
    Any insight with your experience would be appreciated. Thanks
     
  2. tazandjan

    tazandjan Three Time F1 World Champ
    Lifetime Rossa Owner

    Jul 19, 2008
    37,986
    Clarksville, Tennessee
    Full Name:
    Terry H Phillips
    The 550 Daytona, for sure, although mine is a 575M.
     
  3. vroom

    vroom Karting

    Sep 9, 2007
    132
    Pasadena
    550 Daytona? What would you choose between a 550 Barchetta or a 365 GTB/4 Daytona?
     
  4. tazandjan

    tazandjan Three Time F1 World Champ
    Lifetime Rossa Owner

    Jul 19, 2008
    37,986
    Clarksville, Tennessee
    Full Name:
    Terry H Phillips
    I thought that was what you asked. Have had a Daytona, but not a Barchetta. The Daytona is an all weather Ferrari and mine was a daily driver. The Barchetta is a fair weather car with fairly modern underpinnings.
     
  5. vroom

    vroom Karting

    Sep 9, 2007
    132
    Pasadena
    If you still had your Daytona with your current 575M F1, value aside, which would you drive more, enjoy, and keep?
     
  6. tazandjan

    tazandjan Three Time F1 World Champ
    Lifetime Rossa Owner

    Jul 19, 2008
    37,986
    Clarksville, Tennessee
    Full Name:
    Terry H Phillips
    The 575M is much better suited to daily driving like I use mine. AC works, power steering, good brakes etc, which were wanting on the Daytona. Mine has great aftermarket ceramic brakes.

    Not an easy comparison between a classic worth $600K+ and a relative modern worth $100K+.

    Daytona was easy to maintain for a knowledgeable owner, 575M requires a good diagnostic tool to maintain.
     
  7. carguy246

    carguy246 Formula 3
    Silver Subscribed

    Nov 8, 2006
    1,170
    Maryland
    I vote 550 Barchetta, modern power, but still a very collectible open Ferrari.
     
    JAM1 likes this.
  8. dsd

    dsd F1 Rookie
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    Nov 19, 2006
    4,187
    Northern Virginia
    This really comes down to budget and use case.

    A vintage Ferrari (read Enzo era/Daytona and prior) are really old at this point (what 45 years minimum). That’s a very different driving experience than a ~2000 550.

    For me, I would grab a 250GTE over a Daytona but that’s personal preference. I would also take a Daytona over a modern Ferrari.

    Do you want a vintage car and all it’s headaches and rewards or a modern car that is much easier to live with?
     
  9. vroom

    vroom Karting

    Sep 9, 2007
    132
    Pasadena
    Thanks for all of the input,I'll probably get more use out of the barchetta
     
  10. tazandjan

    tazandjan Three Time F1 World Champ
    Lifetime Rossa Owner

    Jul 19, 2008
    37,986
    Clarksville, Tennessee
    Full Name:
    Terry H Phillips
    Yup, except when it rains. But then, most folks do not drive their Daytonas in the rain, either.
     
  11. scowman

    scowman Formula 3

    Mar 25, 2014
    2,479
    Scottsdale AZ
    Full Name:
    Stu Boogie
    Vintage is easier to diy if you can get the parts.
     
  12. tazandjan

    tazandjan Three Time F1 World Champ
    Lifetime Rossa Owner

    Jul 19, 2008
    37,986
    Clarksville, Tennessee
    Full Name:
    Terry H Phillips
    Affirmative, did all my own maintenance on my Daytona. A copy of Angelo Wallace's English translation of the WSM makes it pretty easy. You can pull Daytona distributors in less than 5 minutes.
     
    308 GTB and F456M like this.
  13. F456M

    F456M F1 Rookie

    Jan 8, 2010
    3,665
    Oslo
    Full Name:
    Erik
    Old cars are like a romantic fairytale. In theory they are glorious, in real life they can be a pain. Even a 90-ies/2000 car can give you challenges, but in my opinion, many more real life good experiences with a drivable modern car.
     
    dsd and NE550 like this.
  14. vroom

    vroom Karting

    Sep 9, 2007
    132
    Pasadena
    Assuming the Daytona and 550 Barchetta Day 1 are in equal excellent condition and driven & maintained equally throughout the year, which do you think over 20 years would I have less maintenance headaches yet possibly appreciate?
     
  15. carguy246

    carguy246 Formula 3
    Silver Subscribed

    Nov 8, 2006
    1,170
    Maryland
    Much as I like Daytonas, I would think the Barchetta would be less trouble and more likely to appreciate. Ferrari hasn't made many 12-cylinder convertibles.
     
  16. tazandjan

    tazandjan Three Time F1 World Champ
    Lifetime Rossa Owner

    Jul 19, 2008
    37,986
    Clarksville, Tennessee
    Full Name:
    Terry H Phillips
    Every 5 years, you have to change the cambelts on the Barchetta. The Daytona has chains driving the camshafts, which are very easy to adjust and last a very long time. The Barchetta has hydraulic lifters while the Daytona has shim adjustment solid lifters that need checking every 6000 miles or so. Mine only had two out of 24 that needed shims while I had her. Very easy to change shims.

    There were over twice as many Daytona coupes as Barchettas, but there are 5000 similar Maranello coupes. Since a Barchetta will cost somewhere around half the price of a good Daytona, might be a better deal. Nobody knows about appreciation, but the Daytona was a much bigger milestone for Ferrari than the Barchetta.

    You need to do some serious research on this if you really are serious about one of these V-12s.
     
  17. AVIMAX

    AVIMAX Formula Junior

    Aug 5, 2014
    686
    Toronto
    Full Name:
    Ryan
    To your question about which will be more troublesome to maintain, there are many ECUs on the Maranello to control everything from engine management to something as simple as door windows. The ECUs worry me more than anything else on my car, because when they start to fail, I can’t fix them myself. Hopefully there will be people out there that can repair the ECUs that can no longer be replaced with new units. The Daytona may or may not be as reliable, and may require more tuning to keep running right, but it should be easier to diagnose and repair when something does go wrong.
     

Share This Page