83 400i 5speed CONVERT for sale | FerrariChat

83 400i 5speed CONVERT for sale

Discussion in '365 GT4 2+2/400/412' started by James in Denver, Apr 5, 2009.

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  1. James in Denver

    James in Denver Formula 3

    May 23, 2006
    2,136
    Centennial Colorado
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    James in Denver
    #1 James in Denver, Apr 5, 2009
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
  2. Simon^2

    Simon^2 F1 World Champ

    Oct 17, 2005
    12,313
    At Sea Level
    $35k if he's lucky...
     
  3. Ashman

    Ashman Three Time F1 World Champ
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    Sep 5, 2002
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    Probably s/n 45535.
     
  4. James in Denver

    James in Denver Formula 3

    May 23, 2006
    2,136
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    James in Denver
    Did a search on FChat and that SN doesnt show up. Any history on this SN? Just curious for "posterity's sake".

    James in Denver
     
  5. Ashman

    Ashman Three Time F1 World Champ
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    I can't be sure of course without contacting the seller, but I only have one dark blue/tan 5 speed convertible conversion in my database, and that is a 1983 serial number 45535.

    If it is 45535, I have seen it listed for sale three times since 2002:

    1. In the October 2002 issue of Hemmings by Chas. Schmitt in St. Louis. Described as "one owner" with 36,916 miles and an asking price of $49,999 which was reduced to $44,999 by the April 2003 issue.

    2. On EBay in June 2003 still by Chas. Schmitt with 38,063 miles and an asking price of $40,000.

    3. January 10, 2004 by Motorcar Gallery in Florida in Ferrari Market Letter with an asking price of $41,500. The mileage was listed as 24,464 miles, which could be a problem given the earlier odometer readings listed. It could be a simple mistake in that the odometer is really in kilometers and was erroneously described as miles without conversion by Chas. Schmitt. Converting 38,063 km to miles is about 23,600 miles so it isn't out of the question that Motorcar Gallery converted the km to miles and Chas. Schmitt did not. Or it could be that the odometer was rolled back.

    Lots of unanswered questions in the Craig's List ad. In my limited experience I would not think that craig's list is a great way to market a Ferrari to knowledgeable enthusiasts. Craig's list is probably better if you are selling a car with a murky history or stories that you don't want to tell. Just MVHO of course!
     
  6. bjwhite

    bjwhite F1 Rookie

    Mar 17, 2006
    4,675
    Seattle, WA
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    Brian White
    I wouldn't be so naive as to judge a car by which forum it is advertised.....but don't know anything extra.

    I bet it sounds good going through a tunnel! But I'm just not a fan of cut cars...
     
  7. blkprlz

    blkprlz Formula 3

    Mar 24, 2007
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    Bruce
    Boy, I'd have to agree w/you there John. Ebay can be another tricky place. Just MVHO as well.
     
  8. James in Denver

    James in Denver Formula 3

    May 23, 2006
    2,136
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    James in Denver
    #8 James in Denver, Oct 19, 2009
    Last edited: Oct 19, 2009
  9. dstacy

    dstacy F1 World Champ
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    Jan 23, 2006
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    I show it as a bank repo in late 2008
     
  10. dstacy

    dstacy F1 World Champ
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  11. Ashman

    Ashman Three Time F1 World Champ
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    #11 Ashman, Oct 19, 2009
    Last edited: Oct 20, 2009
    In looking at the high resolution photos on the Craig's List/Koenig ad you can clearly see that the speedometer has been stickered over with a mph face and without changing the odometer mechanism that records in km. On both the trip odo and the regular odo you can see where the edges of the sticker overlay have peeled back a bit and were not trimmed very precisely around the odometer openings. At least the question about the possible odometer rollback may be answered!

    The odo is showing 40,476 which. if in km, works out to 25,298 miles.

    Edit: Now that we think we know that the numbers are in km, the car appears to have been driven less than 3,600 km in the last 7 years, around 318 miles per year on average. Not a good thing to sit around for so long with so few miles being driven.
     
  12. ddemuro

    ddemuro Formula 3

    Nov 16, 2006
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    Doug
    I saw this car on the road in Denver in June 2008. I had never seen a 400 before. Saw another one on the road later that day and I haven't seen one since.

    Looking for a new car, James? :)
     
  13. Ashman

    Ashman Three Time F1 World Champ
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    One of the rare times the car has been driven in the past 7 years. Maybe moving from one dealer to another? :)
     
  14. It's Ross

    It's Ross Formula 3

    Jul 30, 2007
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    Am I the only one that notices the inverse relationship between asking prices and the cost of the advertising?
    $69k, phht, he'll get what he deserves from the Craig'slist denizens.
    Has anyone seen the car? Looks okay but suffers the taint of often being in the hands of, well...
     
  15. dstacy

    dstacy F1 World Champ
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    At the risk of bearing a lot of wrath...it really isn't very attractive with that conversion is it?
     
  16. ddemuro

    ddemuro Formula 3

    Nov 16, 2006
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    Doug
    I will admit that photo was taken on the day of one of our major area concours events and he was headed in the direction of the event.
     
  17. willrace

    willrace Three Time F1 World Champ
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    Oct 21, 2006
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    Kurt
    Interesting -
    - It's a Straman conversion.......wait, it's an Autowest conversion.......oops, it's a Straman again.......
    - It's on CL, then ebay, where it's run up to $30K in its first 36 hours, in gulps of $2-6K at a bid bump-up, where it sat for another 2-3 days, before being pulled several days before end of auction.
    - I called, spoke to Mike, sounds good, as long as you ignore the bouncing mileage, and conflicting heritage/construction and ownership stories. Needs new rubber on the driver's door/window, so I would expect that this all needs replacing, simply due to age.

    That's one way to unsell a car. It may actually be a good car under all that drama, but I'm not Indiana Jones, and have little interest in digging through the dirt for excitement.

    I like it, for what it is. It's really no more/less unattractive than the Stramans, and does retain useable quarter windows (which I don't recall Stramans having). The original PF lines still look good, even with the awkwardness of the raised top. I've seen worse on other cars.

    I'm still interested, but it needs an easily verifyable history, which I expect, will not be so forthcoming.
     
  18. dstacy

    dstacy F1 World Champ
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    #18 dstacy, Oct 20, 2009
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    Ok if you like it, cool. It is much better than this one :D

    (you know I should start a thread of all the strange and odd 400i pictures I have. I just did a quick count and I have over 375 pictures of 365/400/400i/412 cars)

    .
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  19. willrace

    willrace Three Time F1 World Champ
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    There's one of those poor abandoned Austin cars. Ouch. I'd hate to hit over 20 mph with that top. Looks a little.........floppy
     
  20. alastairhouston

    alastairhouston Formula Junior

    Apr 19, 2009
    575
    Largs Scotland UK
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    Alastair Houston
    If you are interested in any future value for the car then I dont think it would be a good choice because they never built them that way.
    Sorry i think it spoils the lines but hey I can think of worse things to do than criuse around in that car and she looks pretty good in dark blue.
    Regards
    Alastair
     

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