The toughest question of them all, 355 or 996

Not to offend any Porsche owners; but the way I see it, the Porsche has it's heritage as an overgrown VW Beetle, the Ferrari has it's heritage as an exotic supercar.

 

I love Porsches, had them for literally decades, still own one, on the waiting list for another. But if you have your daily driving needs taken care of, get the 355! You can go with the sensible, practical, reliable car during the weekdays; for a weekend, vacation car, let your passion out and have the love affair !

 

Hi ylshih
I used to own a Porsche 911 Targa back in the early 90's and loved it. I wouldnt want to go back, but I would love that back to basic drinving experience. That feeling is what I fell in love with when I tested the 355.

It will not be my dailiy driver I have a 1994 Mercedes stationwagon for that (a bit old but I love that car). I have therefore decided to try to find a nice red 355 GTS. This turned out to be harder then I first thought though. Of all 128 (found on www.mobile.de) 355's in europe I cant really find the right one. But I will keep looking

 

Despite the taxes in Sweden, Ingvar Kamprad seems to have done alright for himself ($23 billion).

 

I Went to Von Braun Sports cars (http://www.vonbraun.se/intro.taf) to get help in finding the right car today. Von Braun is one of the best sports car dealers in Sweden and has very good reputation amongst Ferrari owners. They are also located about 45 min drive from where I live and obviously a good place to start.

They had a lot of interesting cars on display, amongst other a 98 355 GTB Michael Schumacher Edition red/black. I would say it was the perfect car except it isn’t a GTS. A black/black 355 GTS, a really nice 355 Spider red/tan and a few other red/black 355’s. I have now looked at least 10-15 different 355’s and I think I have gotten a pretty good idea of how a good car look. I gave them a job of finding me a nice 355 GTS F1 or manual red or blue and hope they will be able to find me one. Now I only have to sell my SLK and wait.

 

having lived in two northwestern european coutrnies (NL and UK) and now in the US my take on taxation is as follows. In the US one pays less tax, but pays a lot more extras, for example, an extra 20% on top of your mortgage for local, mainly school taxes, health and educational expenses also adds up very quickly. My baby son had some complications after he was born and in spite of having one of the most widely accepted health care insurers (Blue cross/shield) we still ended up with thousands of dollars of bills. Fortunately I can absorb those but not everybody is that fortunate. If you have a baby you already need to start saving for college, $45k per year is no exception these days. By the time my 4 year old is ready to go there it will prolly be $100k per year. People decide not to have a second, third or fourth child because they feel they cannot afford the education. And in the US one can easily lose one's house due to contracting an incurable illness like Multiple Sclerosis, or becoming paralyzed after an accident.

In NW Europe societies have a different social contract with the population. More or less free health care and education. Therefore we do not (well, hardly) have homeless people sleeping rough in parks and in ATMs, and beggars in the streets. Of course there are some that abuse the system. Just like there is abuse in the corporate welfare world in the US.

In the US the premise is that everyone can be the next Rockefeller. These days of course preferably no longer through hard work but from sueing someone. It is amusing that you can see interviews with homeless people pushing a shopping trolley with their belongings, clinging to the idea that their luck is going to change sometime soon, and that they too will have a beachfront house with a Ferrari. Unfortunately with the spiraling costs of education the US is these days a less upwardly mobile society than NW European societies.

I think there are pros and cons to each approach. Both have distinct disadvantages, but given my upbringing I prefer the NW European model.

Oh, BTW, I vote for the 355

 

This is just my observation from the way you posted the thread but it seems that you want to get the F355 because you desire it but you're considering a 996 because the F355 isn't practical and you just want something to fill the empty hole in your life.

Life is short and we're not allways in the greatest positions, buy the F355 when you can financially afford it and enjoy it. Otherwise you'll be driving around in a Porsche wondering "What if?"

I rushed not getting an F355 and hopped into a Maserati Spyder. I absolutely love the Spyder but everytime I see an F355 I allways get this empty feeling.

Think with your heart and not your head is the best advice that I've seen posted on this thread, when it comes to passion follow it.

 

I agree the actual total tax burden is also higher for me in Atlanta than London when everything is added up (even income tax) although I much prefer the easygoing way of life in the US. For what its worth you also pretty much have to pay for a decent school in London these days.

As for which car to buy, a 355 no question as long as you only need it for high days and holidays!

 

For me its pretty simple ,when its all over I have NEVER regretted following my heart.

I NEVER want to get to the end and say to myself I coulda/woulda/shoulda/mighta/outa......................

I would NEVER-EVER to my self any of the above about ANY Porshe.

Although IM SURE I would 2nd guess the not getting the Ferrari.

No matter what I see or get I still get and have always felt.......
yea BUT its still NOT a Ferrari.

I have NEVER gotten a bored feeling w/ MY355 55,000 and still slammin' F-1 gears @ 8500 rpm........(the sound of my Tubi exhaust,headers and bypass pipes in a tunnel is indescribable !!!!!!!!!!


MY355
Loyal owner of a 99'355 F-1 GTS!!!

 

You lucky, lucky bast.... Finding a nice 99'355 F-1 GTS is not very easy today.

 

You're absolutely right about the add-on, hidden, local and state taxes in the US, which to me could be solved by shrinking the amount of money that goes to the Federal government and bringing back to the cities and states where people actually live.

I appreciate the comparison. It gives good perspective.


Forza,


Cavallini

 

Bravo to you, my friend. Enzo smiles. How would you compare the sound of your 355's exhaust package with a Tubi'd 360?


Forza,


Cavallini