I have read all kinds of interesting threads, but yet to have seen this one. I have 2 brothers that are very into cars as well, one is very fortunate to work everyday on Ferrari's. As kids the Ferrari name was pretty common in the house. When I first got my license I would drive to the local Ferrari shop and look at the cars and dream of one day owning one. When the 308's came out, I really liked the look and shape. Just after I got married, the wife and I went to the Ferrari dealership in Los Gatos CA. My wife sat in the passenger seat and looked like she belonged there, however she was 8 months pregnant and it took both the sales man and I to lift her out. I really knew nothing about them except that my younger brother said they were way too expensive to repair and to buy my other dream car a 68 Shelby. After I bought the Shelby, I still wanted the Ferrari. Then one day about 4 years ago, I clicked 'Buy It Now'. It has been one of my favorite cars to own and looking forward to maybe adding one more to the collection.
I wanted one when I was 8 after I saw Magnum PI. My neighbor's son married one of the Pointer sisters and he would drive his black TR over to visit. I would just stop and stare. I bought my 308 this year at age 33 and hopefully by 43 I can get a that TR. Once I started learning about Enzo and the history I fell more in love. Enzo didn't start his co. until he was in his 40's. That gives me hope. If I had to give 1 reason.....style and sound.
I don't own a 328 because it's a Ferrari. I own a Ferrari because the 308/328 is one. I was captivated by the shape in the 70s/80s, thanks to Vacation, Christie Brinkley, two fake priests, a be-moustached leech, and every other TV show/movie and magazine ad that threw that lovely shape onto the eyes. I drove an X1/9 in the 80s because it was as close as I could get to that shape & style. I never drove a 3x8 until I bought this one. I bought this one because I fell in love with it on an internet sales site. I don't care that it's 'slow', I don't care what others think of it, I don't care what others think of me when I'm in it. I just care that I still look back at it when I walk away. The thing could be a Renault for all I care, as long as it looks so good. The F1 heritage, the image, the *great* folks I've met since I bought it are all side effects.
I remember I was about 5 or so and my dad loaded myself, my older brother, younger brother and mom into the car and took us up to Auto Assets, here in the Columbus area, to pick up his first, a 1976 308 GTB fiberglass body. I remember my brothers and I always fighting to get a ride and even my mom driving it! After afew years of that it became easier to get that ride when he bought a Monidal, which was the first car I ever drove on the street, and then a Testarossa. I knew from the first time I saw one I would have one and while there were alot of cool cars I went through on my way, I finally bought my mondial three years ago. My dad now has a 348 TS and it is awsome to go with him to shows and to just go driving. It seems like they have always been apart of the family and the two cars bring all of us together. My brothers are still fighting me for a ride only this time they are wanting to drive and that is fine with me!
Hey, you stole that! I still own a TR3A and it's not the bottom!!!! I also have a spitfire; now that's the bottom, lol. (Geez, I hope she can't hear me saying that!) I'm afraid I'm in the same cliched boat. My folks would torture me in my childhood by telling me every year I'd get a Ferrari for Christmas, and inevitably I would... a matchbox car, a poster, a hat, etc. When I finally showed up in their driveway in my 308, my dad said, "Geez, took you long enough..."
I always liked the 308 and the Testarossa. Beyond that I really didn't know anything about Ferrari or think that I would own one. My wife was born and raised in Italy and after we got married, I wanted to buy her a nice car. She kept saying "If it's not a Ferrari, it's just a car." So we ended up getting her a used Toyota Tercel which she loved. When she turned forty, she got her Ferrari. . . Dave Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I first saw pictures of a GTS in a 1979 car rag , while whiling away boring hours in a gas station in MT, in January. I thought it was the most beautiful car ever made. In 1984, when I could afford a previously owned 308, I bought one from a private party. Doug
I wanted a 308 since I first saw one in 1981 when I was 13 - and when I say "wanted" I mean it in the worst kind of way. So after I grew up I bought one. Had to wait 16 years but it was worth it.
0 Mine too! My dad now goes around saying HE has a Ferrari. He always told me that when you grow up, get a job and make your own money you can buy one. So I did. He's proud I come from a car fam. My grandfater what an impoter for Inskip in NY. he would bring home, Iso's, Jags, Austin's, Mercedes etc. My dad and uncles have always had great cars coming and going.
Hmmmmm.... I wouldn't mind having that Shelby right about now. I never really thought much about having a Ferrari. It really wasn't on my radar. I was always a British car guy, partial to the Jaguar XKE. When I saw my first E-type in the early 60's, it stopped me in my tracks and I said "someday I'm going to own one of those." I have owned a few of them over the years, and have a '70 XKE coupe right now that I love. My first one was the yellow one you see in my avatar here, a '72 V-12. Owning a Ferrari never entered my mind. But quite a few years back, a friend of mine picked up a 308 that he was working on to make into a race car. Out of the blue, a Jag mechanic that we knew happened to have a customer's '84 Mondial QV coupe in his shop. It had been sitting there for 6 months and the owner, a retired doctor, wanted to get rid of it. So I went and looked at it with my buddy who had the 308, and the bug bit me. I enjoyed the Mondial for a couple of years, and then happened upon a '78 308 GTS that was again just sitting there waiting for me. I bought it, later sold the Mondi, and enjoyed the 308 for a couple of years, until my current F-car, an '86 328 happened to find me. I can't say that I've had a burning passion to own a Ferrari since I was a kid, or even as an adult. I found my way into the Ferrari world sort of by accident, but I'm definitely hooked on them now, at least the older cars. I like the newer ones, but they just don't do it for me the way the older ones do. Personally, I think the XKE and the 308/328 lines are absolute classics in automotive design. To me, they both speak to the beauty and grace that cars can have, and the lines on them are gorgeous. I own them because I like them; I like the art of them. And I enjoy driving them. It is not about status or who's got what. I just like the cars for what they are -- rolling works of art.
Similar stories to most above - Tillman's is pretty close to mine. I had to make do with a Triumph TR-7 followed by an Isuzu Impulse in the 80s Finally got my Ferrari in early 2008 and have no plans ever to sell her. Jedi
I've always loved Italian cars. My first car was a Lancia Beta sedan, followed by a Lancia Zagato, followed by an Alfa spider, and so on. Ferrari to me was the ultimate in Italian cars. I remember the 308 as a kid, both in real life, and in movies, like National Lampoon's Vacation. It was just a matter of time before I bought one. Being a little different, I ultimately fell in love with the 308 GT4, so that's what I bought.
A couple of pictures to illustrate my point.... Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I've had vetts, mopars, hotrods, ratrods, crotch rockets and such over the years. But I wanted to get something that didn't have 3 or 4 twins at most of the local car events I attend. I was actually looking at a Lotus Esprit V8 when a possible Fcar purchase crossed my mind. As many do, I assumed a "Ferrari" was too expensive and out of reach for the average Joe (pun intended), until I started looking and researching them. I would still like to have the Lotus but Im happy with the 308 and unless Im at a "Ferrari Event", Im ususally the only one at the local shows. And the car gets a lot of attention. One interesting note...I had a guy nearby that allowed me to come see his 79 308 to get pointers. He knew I was single and while talking he said... "if you are looking for a car to pick up girls...this ain't it"! ha I thought he was nuts but it is very true. Seems the only people interested are teenage boys and men in their 40's! ha
I was born and raised on european racing and cars. My dad had / still has his 2nd ever car - 1960 356 Roadster, in perfect working condition - totally original and back when i was really young he had a Lotus Europa.... we used to go to the USGP every year in Watkins Glenn and that is where i really saw Ferrari's - The Dino was the first one I fell for... then 330 GTC ... then the Boxer Berlinetta. I remember once being at Autoworld in Scranton PA and there was a BB in the parking lot - must have been in 74 -75 it was like an alien space ship was there. Then there really was the racing aspect. My first love was / is Formula one... it was between Matra and Ferrari... then when Niki Lauda came about It was all Ferrari! the 308 - 328 was really just the car of my youth... and it just carried on with the styling of the Dino and BB... just the most pretty / exotic / beautiful car ! had to have one!!! so Just 2 weeks befor my 26th birth day - I bought an 85 308 GTS QV... kept it for 12 years... put over 60K miles on it... then got a 328... and am still loving it. Having read about Mr. Ferrari just makes it that much more alluring ... so that is why I want to keep the 328 always... it was made during his lifetime.... then the next one will be 458 Italia... once i hit the lottery.
I went to Italy every summer from when I was 2 to when I was 18. In Italy, Ferrari is religion. If you like cars, and you love Italy, you'll love Ferrari. There are a million reasons contributing to the overall magic, but mostly buying my first Ferrari was to capture that dream I had as a kid. And ownership has lived up to the hype, I must say, I love it even more than I thought I would. Onno
Usually, once I finish a resto/mod, I'm done with the car and want to move on to the next project... my painter was the only one who understood this. His saying was "its like a whore you've already slept with". I'd spent a about 4 years restoring/updating a 1974 Pantera. I was going to keep this. Really!! I took it to a tech session and a guy who had been looking for a Pantera and formulating his wish list saw it and fell in love. He called me weekly wanting to buy it and I told him it wasn't for sale... he kept calling. I finally threw a big number at him to make him go away and he offered to bring me cash the next day... no quibbling about price. Damn, open mouth, insert foot. So I sold it. Then at Monterey a month or so later a great friend and fellow Pantera head from the Houston area, Gray Gregory (also a Ferrari guy), said he had a Ferrari that NEEEEEEEDED my touch. He explained the sad life of this 308 and had a buddy drive it out from Texas just so I could look at it. I bought it for a song and the rest is history. I drove it for a year and ironed out many of its ugly issues then tore it all apart and started the restoration. Well, they was 7+ years ago and its still a work in progress. http://www.flickr.com/photos/moseley_ferrari/sets I had no idea it would be so long, but along the way my wife died (2005) and I took a year or better off. Then to get me back into "life", my buddies talked me into going racing so in 2007 we dusted off the Huffaker Mangusta and went out and won GT1 title in our region. I just got back to working on the 308 in 2008 when I had a serious head injury at work and had to take another year or so off from working on the car. Now, I use the 308 as therapy! Its my buddy and I work on some aspect of it almost daily... I haven't been able to drive since the injury but my day is coming and hopefully the Ferrari will be done by then. I'll probably sell it and start in on the 512 in cold storage. Rick Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
For me, the short answers are driving experience and affinity to Ferrari's racing heritage. In spite my coming of age as a car enthusiast in the late 70s/early 80s, I was not a Magnum PI fan. In fact, I was quite the opposite. As far as I can remember, I was more of a P car enthusiast largely in part due to car magazine bias and endurance sportscar racing. In the early 90s, my exposure to F1 and vintage racing brought me to appreciate and understand F cars, especially ones I was able to see in the flesh. I got to drive my first F car 8 years ago - a 328, which I bought a week later (traded in my dream P 930, which was a huge turbo-lagging, understeering-pig of a disappointment). I actually think that the 308s/328s are better driving experiences than the 911s of the same era. The 308s/328s reminded me more of my early 911S driving experiences with better handling potential. I'm now in my third F car (another 328), which may be my last street production F car. When I'm able to devote more time and budget on my car hobby, my next F car purchase will likely be a street-registered race car.
My personal thoughts on this subject are that the XKE and the 3 series F-car are iconic in the design field. That's all I have to say about that! Lostbowl PS I still love the English iron but the F-car is more fun.
Cool thread My love of Ferraris bit me at around age 13-14; I had been, and still am, but to a far lesser degree, a Porsche fan until then. Once I actually saw and HEARD my first Ferrari, it was all over. It was not only the gorgeous lines but the unsurpassed music of the engine! I used to go down to Ferrari of San Diego and and just drool over the Boxers (in retorspect, don't know how they had them, as this would have been around 1977-1978-or-so) and 308s. I remember that I was fortunate enough one day to catch the mechanics working on a 512BB and revving the engine; it was magical, the sound. Movies like The Gumball Rally and, of course, Magnum P.I. only added to "the disease". So...the passion has been there for a long time, though it did take a "back seat" at times to a couple of other passions (music, to name one), but it has been back with a vengence for many years now! LOL!
I have told this story before, but when I was about 9-10 years old my father came home from work and picked me up. I got into the car with him and we drove to a house in my hometown where there was a red Ferrari 308 GTS parked out front. I instantly fell in love with that car. I thought it was (and still is) the most beautiful car ever built. I told him that day that I wanted to own one. He explained the racing heritage and stories of them from his youth. Then came the success of Magnum, Vacation, and the rest of that list. Forward thirty years and I bought it last year. PDG
