BEST FERRARI EVER

Oh to have been so fortunate, I am truly envious.

I can only live through the written and verbal views of others in relation to what might constitute the best and believe you when you say the 288GTO is right up there. However I am also of the view that the more modern cars miss out on something and I don't just mean Ferrari's. I have personally got my e46 M3 up for sale and I'm looking for something that makes me feel more connected to the car (something older and more organic), even though the M3 is representative of a the best of breed of "all round" cars, comfort, speed, agility and practicality.

This feeling has been exacerbated by my 348 GTC which is not the most comfortable car in the world (my wife won't even ride in it) but for me it represents everything that a Ferrari should be in generating and amplifying the emotions that exist for a driver through "connecting" with a car...I truly love it....and its this intangible that I think best represents the answer to the question of which Ferrari is best and its why IMO I could never believe the 599 should be rated in the same way as the 288GTO. I just can't put a car with electronic gadgets and flappy paddles on my lists....I'm sorry

For the sake of nominating what I fantasise to be the all time top 5, I would say

1. 250 GT SWB (I don't count the GTO as it was really a race car for the road, similarly the 250 LM was a racecar)

2. 512 BB (was on your list but didn' rate....there goes another fantasy!!)

3. 288 GTO

4. F40

5. 348 GTC (I'm sorry I couldn't help it.....and it is my fantasy anyway)

 

F-40.

 

Terry is anything but uneducated on the subject of Ferraris. In fact he is quite knowledgeable when it comes to the prancing horse. He is a great asset to the site and he has helped many members here with Ferrari related problems. Terry was only expressing his opinion, and this is a rather subjective topic.

By the way the 308GT4 was not the first V8 Ferrari, it was only the first V8 "road" Ferrari.

 

Digressing from the thread slightly, for DinoSR8LM's benefit, the first V8 was the 248SP/268SP introduced in early 1962. The 2.4 litre spec raced at Sebring and was later updated to 2.6 litres. 3 made in total.

On the subject of the best Ferrari ever I vote for the P4. If you had been stood at the side of the Mulsanne straight in 1967, like me, you would'nt need to ask!

 

Best Ferrari to Ferrari fans (people like us), or best/most recognisable Ferrari to the public?


As far as the general public is concerned, it would be the Testarossa and 308 as they are simply the most regularly visible and iconic and are pretty much household names.

Most fans will call for something more specific. F40, 288GTO, GTO. Take your pic

 

Enzo accepted Fords offer and called Ford to let them know shortly after negoations broke down but by then in was the Duce who told Lee to tell Enzo:

"Not interested."

Either way it seems to have worked out for the best.

 

There was also a 12 cylinder version of that Dino.

You're correct about 1967.

Cheers

 

P 3/4 0846

Ferrari P 4/5 by Pininfarina is no longer an Enzo if the Ferrari Factory is to be believed.

 

No reason at all to be sorry! The thread asked for opinions, and that's what we both gave.

I would have been surprised, especially on this particular site, to see someone besides me put a modern Ferrari as high on the list as I did. Many purists don't like the technology that's made them better cars over the years, and that's totally fine with me. I like the F1 transmissions & electronics, because I regularly drive the cars I have, & they are much more reliable having today's options.

A family friend of ours, collected Ferrari's for a few years back in the late 1980's. He owned the majority of the cars I listed, including the 288, & I got to ride in almost all of them at some point. I also had a childhood friend, who's Dad had a 512bb, so that's how I got that particular ride. A few of the rest were just at random times being in the right place, & the 430, 575, & 599 are/were my vehicles. I'll never forget any of them!

 

Ok, lol. Then the "inference" is based on speculation.

When someone is deceased, you can only speculate on whether they would have liked or disliked something that came out post-mortem. Even the person that knew Enzo most, can only speculate on how he would have liked or disliked something new.

I completely missed where the 288 was being compared to the Enzo in this thread?

 

DinoSR8LM- My first Ferrari was a Dino 246 GT in 1975. I think we know who needs to be educated here. If you had been on this forum long, you would know there is a good deal of friendly and good natured sniping going on between V8 owners and V12 owners. Everybody loves the Dino 246, so not much sniping there. Having owned a Dino, Daytona, 308 GTS, and 575M, I have had all the the production cylinder totals.

So next time, look at a person's profile before you make a dumb assumption on how well educated on Ferraris someone is. Plus what you said was entirely incorrect. The first Ferrari V8 was not in the Dino 308 GT4. Ferrari won the F1 championship in 1964 for John Surtees with a 1.5 liter V8, and there were V8s before that one.

I will therefore feel free to interrupt you any time I feel like it until you learn some manners and quite a bit more about Ferraris.

Taz
Terry Phillips

 

1) Terry is quite knowledgeable. 2) He was commenting as requested, not "interrupting". This is a chat board and there will be differing opinions. You can disagree with an opinion without being disagreeable.

 

While we are at it, when Ford was turned down by Ferrari, Henry determined to beat them at their own game. Ford took the Lola GT, which the UK motoring press insisted on calling the car instead of GT40 for quite a while, and developed it into the GT40. Took them three years to win at LeMans, and they got rid of the Indy-style V8 before doing it.

An interesting highlight is that Jaguar bought a GT40 and compared it to their mid-engine prototype, the XJ13, in the mid 60s timeframe, and the GT40 was so superior, they more or less abandoned development.

Like Napolis, I was around when all that was happening, except there was a major difference in bank rolls and my info came from TV and magazines like Road & Track, when it was owned by Ferrari owners and enthusiasts John and Elaine Bond.

Nothing beats one of the prototype Ferraris, however, and Napolis' two Ferrari V12 prototypes represent the best mix ever of looks, performance, and sound in my opinion. I am slightly prejudiced towards V12s, whether 60 deg, 65 deg, or 180 deg vees.

Taz
Terry Phillips

 

I am amazed that is not widely known or in the documentaries I have seen, which appear to make Enzo out to be the infiltrator hiring mechanics from the Shelby Daytona team, ect.

 

Enzo simply wanted security to continue racing.

He was miffed that The Deuce wouldn't let him run all Ford racing including Indy but he got over it when Henry's Boys went home. By then, as Terry said, Henry had instructed Lee to beat Ferrari at Le Mans if he couldn't buy Ferrari and Lee started the ball rolling by buying Lola.

By the time Enzo called back Henry had moved down a new road and that Road was to become The Ford GT.

So far as I know Enzo wanted to run the Indy program but he didn't care about NASCAR.

Shake and Bake...

 

If you had been stood:
I am so glad you made this reference, because that is the exact history that inspired my 2.6L V8 road car, but I was referring to the first V8 road car before as most of the cars are in this thread. My objective was simply to have a 10k rpm V8 on pump gas and I found that in a motor originally designed to run on pump gas as a 4 cylinder and is now a 72 degree V8 with 380hp with a warranty as seen here http://www.powertecengineering.com/Powertec-Macroblock-v8/

Next time I'm on the North Loop (aka the Green Hell) dicing it up with new 911 GT3s and F430 Scuderias I hope some of you are in the crowd trying to best my 7:38.38 lap time as the deafening 10k rpm wail of my Dino is coming out the mufflers at you as you had been stood lol.

 

Troll much?

 

So why did you get the 380hp? why now the other one that had more? or the one after that that had even more?

You randomly come here start running your mouth on a well liked and respected member, on an opinion that he stated, which is perfectly acceptable. As a matter of fact that is exactly what the point of the thread was. Don't have a ferrari, but it is so likely my first one would be an 8. I am a huge sucker for v12s. Something about the sounds they make just drive me up the wall with happiness. Does that make me dislike the 8s? not at all. Like I said it is highly likely it would be an 8 cylinder model.

 

15 or 16? Anybody want to make an educated guess? I did not think it was Christmas break yet, but who knows?

Taz
Terry Phillips

 

Interesting discussion.

I think the issue here is what defines "better cars"?

I think it depends entirely on what you seek in a car that then defines them as better. I agree with you that the technology has made the cars safer, more reliable, faster and easier to drive, more practical and therefore more liveable on a daily basis, but I don't agree it has made them "better"

More efficient transport definately, but they don't have the emotional connection I was alluding too and for which my personal preferences define as "better".

 

I agree with what you're saying, & didn't mean to sound like I was disrespecting the "classics" at all by using the term "better" in my post.

I love Ferraris no matter when they were built, and whether they have fancy electronics or not. Rather than "better" as a car, I meant the modern cars are better for how I use them, than many of the classics would be.

I agree that the Ferraris of the past, have a different feel & emotional connection to their owners, than a modern Ferrari might. I still get the chills just the same, no matter what model of Ferrari I am lucky to be a passenger or driver of!

 

+1

 

Gregg, Lee, and Darren: I was actually surprised to hear one of Ferrari's PR people say that Ferrari is more about luxury today and the Lotus Elise would be a better choice for mountain roads. Lamborghini is starting to get away from the 2 ton exotics with the one ton Sesto Elemento (6th Element). http://www.roadandtrack.com/auto-shows/paris/world-premiere-lamborghini-sesto-elemento I would love to see a new 288 GTO powered by the F430.

This is why I drive a 2400 lb Ferrari.

 

I know what you meant and I love all ferrari's as well.......just some more than others......also glad there are alternate opinions, its part of the fun and the mystique that makes Ferrari's so unique

Doesn't surprise me......At least there is room in the modern Ferrari catalogue for both (GTO and Scuderia) but they themselves are manifestations of changing times, the technology does make them faster.....and that is their goal.

Having said all of that I would still make room in my garage anyday for a "more comfortable" Ferrari for the days when I was feeling lazy, or just wanted my wife to go for a spin with me to share the Ferrari experience. Otherwise my views could be (quite rightly) seen as selfish and self-indulgent.

 

In 1985 I spoke to the late Fabrizio Violati. (He passed away this year at a age of 74.)
He was really “abusing” his 250 GTO #3851 during the meeting 80 ANNI DI SPORT.
I asked him he wasn’t afraid to get failures.

This is what me told me:
“I have this car since 1965. If the engine is heated up, I can drive it as a crazy man. Never I had failures or big problems. And maintenance is as a normal car.”
When I asked him if the car received ever a thorough restoration, he said the car never needed it.
“It is really fun to drive this car, I can assure you.”

BTW, his car is the only GTO with the original licence plate “MO 80576”.