Paul is an interesting person. Too bad he fell victim to what so many people do. I wish he had been able to keep everything above board. I actually liked him in person and had a good number of conversations with him. It may have been shown on Rodeo Drive, but it was LAUNCHED at TWS, if you catch my drift.
Paul was a GREAT guy, and I had driven many a race with him, and even purchased my first challange car from him. Nothing like being on the track with Frame and Dr. Earl at the same time.. was amazing. (and Kevin Crowder as well) Paul was a person that would assist anyone that asked. I do agree, the NA LAUNCH was at TWS (from a media standpoint) but the car was shown first on Rodeo Drive and that was the begining of the LAUNCH hype. And Paul saw it first on Rodeo Drive not at TWS. (Actually we all had seen it on Rodeo) anyways the thread was more about me getting some info on the car, as this is the one I am purchasing, and didnt need it to turn into the DEBATE thread Thanks to all, and happy trails... -a
Alex, Yea I am getting one.. Needed something to keep the Bentley CGT company on that side of the garage!! -a
AWSOME!!!!! Hope to see it around sometime? Maybe at the Morgan Adams Concours this year? Believe me, there is an awsome line up getting ready to come to this years show, I think this would top it off.....
I'll take a stab at this.... Black? I actually prefer the yellow one. And even if the Azzurro one was not factory (now red again) it was hot!
There are a few factory silver ones. I think that one in Germany at Auto Salon is still for sale, but you seem adamant about a US model (an import/OBD II issue?). http://www.autosalon-singen.de/Fahrzeuge_RecordView_Detail.cfm?fahrzeugID=01182_0077_03_01&languageID=GB
Ron, I know what you mean, it was a shock to alot of us.. Paul was always outgoing and always easy to talk to. And more so, a good Driver!! -a
To many black cars in my stable as it is, and the same goes for Red.. just to many of the same color. I love the look of the yellow and thats what I think I am going to stick with. -a
yea I want to stick with a US model, to many cans of worms get opened with a non US model. plus, the resel market (if I ever needed it) is weak on the non US models. -a
Suppose there was a euro car in the US that you liked, all EPA/DOT issues done, so the only issue is resale... Has anyone just shipped the car to europe for sale in the euro market, if having trouble in the US market? at the price of an f50, shipping costs are negligible... Just a thought...
The pictures were taken when the car arrived to us around August 2002. We've only added a few hundred miles to the car before it was sold. I believe it was around 5-600 miles last I saw it.
It is a good idea to stick with the US models. Remember when Ferrari with the lawsuits about grey market cars? They basically made DOT conversion requring factory US parts and made them unavailable. We had brought one in from Germany and converted it, with full DOT paperwork. It took a long time to secure all the parts and was a pain. We also have another one now that we brought in using a foreign VISA for 1 year and had hoped that we can find the parts required to make the conversion, but wasn't able to. Last year we sent the car to Taiwan. Only model year 1995 can be converted. There are a few other cars that are converted that I know of has the paperwork, but questionable as some of the numbers aren't matching...pretty scary. The reason we've had so many was that every time with part with one we miss it terribly, and of course the very first one we bought was the very best example we had seen. Oh well. The list of items that came with the car is pretty complete, I think there was also a 1/18th scale model as well if it is not listed. Many cars don't have everything. Shoes are almost always missing. When you get your car, I would recommend getting the full Tubi set. If you are ordering new from Tubi, it takes some time to get. It makes a huge difference in sound, torque and throttle response. It is also very difficult to get the euro front white corner lights, but it makes the car look so much better. The front nose piece with the lip spoiler is also different, the euro ones are much larger and extends out toward the front further. It looks great and I like it much better...I am not sure how to get one easily thought. Out of the 6-7 F50 we've had, all but 1 didn't have a dash cluster problem. They go crazy and burn out (lost track, have to look up the records). A replacement is $13k and I don't remember if that is new or re-conditioned. The backlight is so dim it is very difficult to read the dash, so there are upgrades done to many cars to make it much brighter, but still poor. Most F50's auto retract seat belt doesn't move to postion properly causing a seat belt warning light. Alternator seems to fail also, perhaps just to close to the heat source in the engine compartment. The rear plexiglass engine cover usually have cracks or discoloration. The newer ones have a black edge paint strip about 1" wide where the screws are, but many older ones have painted it to help disguise it. It will crack no matter what and is a huge pain to replace it. Check on the tires as well...as many cars don't have a lot of miles on them, so they are on original tires which are now hardened and doesn't have good grip. Quite a few cars also don't have cold AC, but I think they just need service and charging. AC has always worked well for us...because it can get real hot behind you. F50s are great to drive, the clutch is light and the tranny is smooth that i can shift gears with my thumb and index finger easily. There have been complaints about NVH, but it had never registered in my mind. Once you have gone thru a tunnel or an over pass in an F50...heavenly bliss. I've never been in an F50 with the hard top...in fact I've never seen the hard tops we've had out of the boxes. This is all I can mustard up right now. I have an excellent broker that handled all the F50s for us and is great source of info if have such a need. Good luck on your hunt for an F50, it is part of the fun!
If you live in the US, I think you would be mad considering anything other than a US spec car. For the rest of the world, the Euro cars are quite a bit cheaper because of the skewed supply/demand in the US. The Euro cars are also a little bit lighter as they don't have the US mandated safety stuff like door intrusion bars, electric seat belts and crash boxes front and rear. I was quite lucky that my F50 came with most of the extra's (including driving boots). The carbon fibre brochure was missing and the capote bag for the temporary top was also AWOL. I managed to buy the brochure and a complete new soft top and bag on ebay. The car now has the complete set of extra's. I also bought a full Tubi system; but have yet to get around to having it fitted (no rush). I got mine from Scuderia Systems in England (Hi Manu), and it took about three months to arrive from Tubi. On the front spoiler, it is actually the US models that have the extended "chins". I am not entirely sure just why that is; but there you go. My Euro car has the smaller chins, clear indicators and no side reflectors. As you say, the dash backlighting is appalling. It is impossible to read on it's brightest setting (30) in direct sunlight. Mine has never "died" as such; but the only time it is nice and legible is at night. Info on a decent fix would be appreciated- if one exists! The plexiglass cover had a recall involving brackets and screws to hold it in place properly. Apparently some of the early cars had the sealant fail, and the plexi cover come loose. As you say, they are very easily marked/damaged. I was thinking of investigating having a mould made, because replacement price in Australia was some $9000 ! The tyres are a bit of a pain as the original's are no longer made. When I got my car, the original tyres were almost new (car had 2700km on the clock); but they were hard as old nails. Wheelspin everywhere, and like driving on ice. It now wears Pirelli P-Zero Rosso's which I find to be pretty good on the road. On the hard top- I have yet to drive my car in Barchetta configuration. I think the car looks great with the hard top in place and downright awkward as a barchetta. I suspect you hadn't noticed the NVH as you had the roof off. With the roof on it is noticable and VERY loud in the cabin. I laugh every time I hear someone refer to an F50 as being civilized. At that point I realise that they have almost certainly not been in one! I love the sound; but after a couple of hours it can be tiring. After an 8hr day, your ears ring..... Overall it is a pretty easy car to drive and the performance is quite accessible on a track. Like all supercars, it has way more performace than you are ever going to use on the road.
hmmm...I wonder now if the chin spoiler size is just random. The last 3 F50's we had was actually all together in the garage at the same time, 2 US and 1 Euro and the Euro was the only one that had larger chin spoiler. This particular one was a Swiss car...compared the the German one we had before. You are going to love the Tubis on the F50. You'll love it from the instant you fire it up the first time. I've never driven the F50 with hardtop installed (or the soft top for that matter...you gotta love so cal!), thinking about it now, the NVH would probably be amplified quite a bit with top up. The longest I've driven at once was only 2 hours or so...ears weren't ringing but was quite sweaty from the heat.
I never knew there was a difference between the US and Euro front bumpers. Never paid attention to pictures of US cars anways. Here's a comparison: US at SVAG: http://www.siliconvalleyautogroup.com/ferrari_stock/ferrari_1902/photo_page.html Euro on CarClassic: http://www.carclassic.com/scripts/show_image.asp?ImageID=118254 The US one definitely looks awkward imo.
Those pics are the same pics that were on eBay about a year ago. The car was relisted a few times, but I don't recall it ever getting any bids. It was described then as being one of only three yellow F50's imported to the United States, which I couldn't believe. It seemed like a nice yellow/black F50.
Dont know anything about the ebay auction but the fact it is one of 3 yellows (original) in the US is true! -a
