Your first Ferrari experience:

I was in about 7th grade... I was mowing the lawn near the street and I heard what sounded like an airplane (yes, I heard it over the noise of the lawnmower). It was bright red and looked like a car I had seen in a car magazine. I got a real good look at the car. Only after finishing the lawn and checking my car magazines did I know what it was for sure - a Daytona!

 

Just last week i got to sit and start up a mint 348tb Euro spec, will be driving it soon hopefully, was amazed at the quality and wondered why the 348 carried such a bad rep, they really are great cars.

 

1974,a ride in a 208 GT4 in Poland of all the places....

 

My first Ferrari experience was by accident at TV. Boring sunday afternoon, you put on the tv, F1, Monza, the crowd with all those Ferrari flags...

It was fait.

2 hours later I went to the city and for the first time I saw a real Ferrari. It was a F355 Spider and it sounded sooooo goooood.

And then I fell in love with Ferrari and it became my biggest passion ever

 

The first Ferrari I saw in person was a 512 BB in Chicago. The owner lived in the same building as my grandparents. I was blown away by it. It was red with black trim. I am guessing the year was 1982 or 1983. Ever since then I have been a huge Ferrari fan.

My first Ferrari experience came when I was 6 or 7 years old. My grandparents gave me a great model of a 250 GTO. It was very cool and highly detailed. The sad thing is I have no idea where it is now. I also had quite a few 308 Ferrari hot wheels and matchbox cars. My friends and I would use nail polish remover to take off the 308 mural on the front hood and then we would repaint them to make them more realistic. Man those were the days.

 

First time i was able to studie a Ferrari in details was on a motorrace. They has 2 360, 2 550, 1 328, 1 348. It was raining that they. Remember it well. Think it was 2002. 2004 i was in gotenburg on a motorshow and a dealer has a couple of cars there. He let me sit in a 355 F1. That was amazing. A couple of mounts later in another carshow same dealer let me sit in the 612.
At the moment i had meet the dealer a couple of times and it was i nice guy and we had talk quite mutch. Then the 24 september 2004 i visit his showroom and he took me out for a ride in a 355. He also let me drive the car a few miles. That was the best day in my life. Remember the hole ride in details and will do for the rest of my life.

In the summer 2005 it was a Ferrarimeet and i was invite to look when they race on the track. that they a nice 360 owner take me out for a ride on the track. Amazing.

 

i rented one, 360 6- speed with my buddy a couple of years back.

 

i sat in a 328 back in november 2004, when i was initially hunting for a 308. what struck me most was the smell of the leather. never had i sat in a car with such a strong smell for the leather. i liked it. i also liked the seat position, but i didn't think it was as bad as i had heard for italian sports cars. i ended up buying the 308 i have now, and my first drive was right up the driveway! i had to get insurance first!

john

 

My first ride was about 9 months ago. I was at band when i saw a red TR pass and i almost jumped out of my shoes because around here we never see TRs. Then after practice i was eating when my dad called and told me to get home right away because there was a Ferrari on the street. My brother drove me home where i met and talked to the owner. After a few mins of talking he asked me if i wanted to go for a ride in his 512 TR. I was in shock. Before i knew it i was on my firts Ferrari ride!! I will never forget the day of my first Ferrari Ride.

 

I remember 3 Ferrari experiences that I'll never forget-
First was seeing a 308 in a Car show back in the 80's- love at first sight !
second was at Dave Helms place in Boulder, CO last August when he let me sit in a 308- a beautiful blue one too. I couldn't believe how low they sit.
Third- Late last August - see photo- when mine arrived !!!! (from Texas)
I highly recommend taking videos of Ferrari arrivals- they are truely memorable. Mine is priceless, as I told my girlfriend that a guy in a truck was just going to drop off a set of wheels for my car. Her face lit up when she saw the Ferrari. (mine too)
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My first Ferrari experience was a great one. I was about thirteen and a very nice F40 owner gave me a ride. I was amazed by that car. It was so loud and fast and wild. I thought it was really odd that the car had automatic seatbelts and weird door handles. It was also the very first car I shifted. That was a great experience.

My first time to drive a Ferrari was a brand new 360. The guy was so nice. He let me drive the car when I had only driven when stickshift before in my life. He just about let me take it out by myself but I stalled it trying to get in reverse. haha whoops. Those were good times.

 

Wonderfull thread. In 1987 I was seventeen working part time after school at a restoration clinic. A frien of the owners had a mondial with an aftermarket turbo setup on the car. It had been hit on the side so we did the repairs. At lunch time they would take the car to get a bite to eat , so I had to stay behind. But the sound of her exit out of the shop was wonderfull. I've set my mind ever since on buying a Ferrari. I've never even riden in one. I have been blessed in my business and can afford one now but promised my new bride we would'nt finance much on a house. So long story short... the way I'm going, after August of 07 I'll take 150 and start my search. If anyone
we'll be in may at the Ferrari Challenge at Infinion Raceway ,I was going to try to convince someone even with my wallet to give me a ride in one. I'm close to even joining the local chapter out here to start getting acqainted
with other F chapter people and learn more .

 

I sat in my dad's friends Dino. At that point I knew one day I would have an Fcar.

 

F50 didn't actually get to ride but got to sit in it, it had just come out and was apparently the first one in Sweden. Don't remember my first drive/ride.

 

First real experience was seeing a beautiful dark blue 360 Modena with challenge grilles parked at the BMW dealership, owned by the dealer. Exhaust pipes literally smoking - I didn't know they actually did that until I met that car That was amazing. Have yet to sit in one or get a ride but I know it will happen soon thanks to generous members

 

No idea when I first saw an Fcar but I have been lucky enough to see hundreds of them since! I have had some great experiences with Fcar rides mainly through members on this and other forums!

My first ever ride was an Fchatter who I met by chance at a car auction. We got talking about his Ferrari and he offered to give me a ride a few weeks later. I was stood in a car park with people everywhere when suddenly a Tubi roared just out of sight and the Red 355 Spider it was connected to came blasting down the road and stopped right next to me. Everyone was looking by this time and I felt like a celebrity getting into the car and speeding off!

The same guy told me about his plans to buy a Lamborghini and a few months later I got a call to say there was a drive out through Leeds with his then brand new orange Murcielago and 7 Ferraris. I felt like a superstar sat in the Lambo as we crawled through the middle of the city on a Friday night with all the girls in bars and pubs looking at us Another guy in the group had a De Tomaso Pantera, bright green, LHD and like nothing else on the road except the Lambo! He lived just round the corner from me so gave me a lift home, that was my first ride in an LHD car and my mum was in shock when this bright green supercar pulled up on the drive... she was even more shocked when I got out of what she supposed was the driver's side!!

In Hong Kong I met up with an Fchatter with a 348 and we headed to a superb car meet out in the countryside. On the way back to Kowloon we were in convoy with an F50, 360CS and various other Fcars which was the most amazing Fcar experience I have ever had

I was lucky enough to ride in a 456 and the stunning 360 Strad last week and this weekend there is a meet of about 25 Fcars with a full day of driving organised, that will be out of this world

 

What a fun thread with all the different responses!
My first Ferrari thoughts were early 80s, while reading a magazine article about the then new 512 BBi.
I was into American muscle then, but the looks of that Boxer jolted me in a way I never forgot!

Fast forward to last year. One of my friends bought a 99 F-355! I’d seen a few cars on the road during the past 20+ years, but nothing up close, nothing I could touch. While checking out his gorgeous car he mentioned that he’d considered a Boxer, but had gone with the 355 as it was faster and more modern.
The ride in his car that day convinced me that a Ferrari was due in my life just about Now!
A short time later while shopping for a 355 at Symbolic Motors in San Diego, they had a beautiful garage queen BBi on the floor at an gloriously outrageous price, and that car hit me like a brick! It was the first Boxer I had ever seen! Up close, in person!
Oooh my God!, I thought as I stared at the car, looked at it from every angle, and even touched it. And at that moment I knew it was adios 355, and hello Boxer!
By then I’d found F-Chat and the other site and asked questions in general, BB vs BBi, and searched out everything I could about Boxers. Being somewhat old school, I finally decided on a BB. A Ferrari with a bunch a cylinders, bunch a Webers, what more could a guy want?
Someone here finally mentioned there was a car at Bobileff Motors. California car, BAR-stickered, licensed and registered, red, with a black interior, and reasonable mileage. And a good price!
As I was aboard the ship I work on at the time, I had to wait two long miserable weeks before I was home again, but the first day home found me at Gary’s store.
Oooh my God, it was beautiful! Exactly what I wanted! I sat in it! I ogled it! I fondled it! The engine was unbelievably impressive! It hadn’t been started in some time and when Gary lit it off it did exactly what was expected of a carbed Boxer; It popped, it banged, it blasted out a cloud of smoke! Then it slowly woke up and came to life. My heart pounded!
The ride in it with him the next day pretty well sold me. Then at the turn around point, he let me drive it back to the shop, and I was dead meat! Absolutely sold!
Several hours later I left him with a deposit, PPI pending, and a price agreement including belt replacement, etc.
Ten days later, 1979 Ferrari BB 512 # 28633 was mine! I only wish someone had taken a picture of the huge smile on my face! But the stupid huge grin is still there, so no matter!
In the ten months and 2000 miles I’ve had it, I’ve managed to wear out the XWX tires, fiddled with the carbs, recently discovered that the clutch is starting to slip in 5th gear, and popped a hole in a cooling water line.
But I don’t care, it’s beautiful, it’s perfect, and she’s my baby!
And I have that huge stupid grin on my face right now, John

 

I had been looking to buy a Ferrari for 4-5 months even though I had never driven one. Then I found several for sale and had many discussions with numerous owners but decided to look at this one in Atlanta. My first experience driving a Ferrari said it all. It was incredible. So I ended up buying the first one I had ever driven. That was 4 years ago and I am still smiling and what a joy to drive.