The passion has changed

Hmmm, while today's street cars are overall faster than previous ones, they are still not race cars. I personally would not race them at the track as they are still compromised street cars.

I totally agree with your comments here, though I've not driven the Aventador. Re: Countach, this is the same reason I would not own a 930 as well. Indeed, a great car has to drive well.

Agree. I may likely buy a faster race car in the future, but I doubt I'll buy a faster fair weather street car than my 328.

 

First off, I agree with the OP 100%. I couldn't have said it better.

I'm also wondering if a lot of it has to do with the commonality of modern exotic cars. Growing up in south Florida in the 80s, where exotic cars were always part of the landscape, seeing a Ferrari was always an event. Whether a 308, Mondial or the very rare Boxer (later the Testarossa), it didn't matter - it was something special. Lambos or Aston Martins? Are you kidding? Seeing a Countach (usually once every 6 months) was comparable to seeing a UFO. An Aston Martin was even rarer then.

However, today I see Ferraris almost on a daily basis. 458s and 430s just don't do it for me anymore because they're fairly common. I see at least a couple of Gallardos a week so they're no longer as exotic as Lambos once were. Astons Martins are also a weekly occurrence but nowhere near as frequent as Ferraris. Ferraris that still turn my head? Anything built prior the 90s. Saw a 328 last week and it looked magnificent.

While at Ferrari of Ft Lauderdale a few weeks ago, the only cars that really caught my attention were the silver 328 and the red Daytona in the showroom. Hell, even the Maseratis were more interesting to look at than the current crop of Ferraris. The 599 and 612 (magnificent as they may be) were visually boring to me. Had a chance to see the FF. I liked it better when it was a BMW M Coupe.

Just my .02.

 

That sums up my thoughts exactly. Also growing up with South Florida in the 80's your experience mirrors mine. Consequently, I can't see myself with another post 355 Ferrari for those reasons and several others.

For one reason, the "small" cars are so big now. I get in a 430 and just wallow around. The 458 doesn't seem much better. I like the older cars that seem to be the right fit for me at 5'9", 158 lbs.

Also, the other thing is that one of these ultra capable newer cars that is super fast but feels very pedestrian at normal speeds is far from ideal for me. I want a car that feels special on a mountain roads at speeds that aren't measured in light years. My 328 GTB is a pretty capable car but I don't feel like I have to double the speed limit to have a great experience. Try that in a newer car. I'm not putting down that the newer cars are more capable, easier to drive fast, etc. It's just not for me. As someone once said (paraphrasing), it's much nicer to driver a slower car fast that a fast car slow. If you have a 458 and you're anywhere but on a race track, you're doing the latter.

Also, too, I seem to think that many of the guys who own the newer hyper cars are more in it for the brand than the driving experience. They are the guys who have the cars more for status than anything else. I may be way off base on this but it's been one of my observations in recent years.

 

iagree with you my friend! and at 5-9 158lbs...you sound fit and fast! i almost hate you.

 

It's never easy to tell, but you won't see a non-car guy in a 997 GT3 RS You could get a feeling by looking at their other cars... The latest and greatest crowd does not always impress. But as you can see here on FerrariChat there are a lot of guys with really high-end cars who also got some cool cheaper cars because they like them, so it's not that hard to spot a real car guy once you talk to them.

It's like if you got a Porsche Carrera GT. It's a cool car and I'm somewhat jealous that you got one, but I will try to find out if you bought it because it's an expensive car or if you bought it because you actually love the car - does this make me a bad person? Being a whole hearted car nut myself I often try to separate the car guys from the rest when I engage in conversation with a sportscar owner. Maybe I'm just putting too much in it, but the whole conversation gets so much better if the other guy is on my level.

 

Haha! Thanks, Pete. Btw, you won't hate me when you see me climb.

 

Quite true and I don't mean to paint all these new car owners with the same brush. It is hard to tell. Although I'm not the envious type. I think it's cool that people go out and get such great cars. However, if I get the feeling that they did it for reasons other than really wanting to care for and drive such a car, I quickly start to roll my eyes.

There are many of us here who could afford the latest and greatest. But those things just don't do it for us. But I have two little boys (5&7) who love sports cars. When my younger one climbed in a 599 GTO the other day, he asked me where the shifter was. I pointed to the paddles and said these are how it changes gears. This kid, who btw thinks the F40 is the coolest car ever (thankfully), got this huge smile and giggled and said, "oh my gosh!! That is SO cool!!" so it's easy to see where this is going for that generation.

 

Parenting, you're doing it right

 

This trend will only get worse. In other words; an old woman, will soon have no trouble driving any of these comfortable refined cars.

When you drive a 60's exotic, you have no reason to drink cafe, just before the early AM fun run.

 

When I wrote that, I was particularly thinking about cars like the Porsche GT2 RS, Boss Laguna Seca, Corvette Z06 and so on. These cars are, by definition, as close to genuine track cars as factories can make them while still being legal to drive on the street. So, in the case of these three cars and others like them, the lines between track-only cars and street-track cars gets very blurry indeed.

 

I couldn't agree more here fellas. I have been tormenting myself for years over the "right/affordable" Ferrari vs anything else but I want to grab the challis. So I am in the throws of buying my first real exotic instead tinkering with the low-end foreign beaters.

I think about buyers remorse often and after spending 50k on a well maintained Ferrari and I see in the garage are my next words..."Now what?"

I can't imagine that all of the replaceable plastic and 1-yr lifecycled technology will ever be part of a true collection as the 250 or 375 has become but perception is value. Is a well maintained F355 really worth 75k? Not to my wallet but to some others it is.

If I had my druthers I would love to have a 330GTC. Not a million dollar auto but still exceptional to hold for a long time as well as a true classic piece of art.

For now, I am still after the 328GTS which I have coveted for a long time. This is a cool forum with some smart interactive folks and some intuitive insight....thanks.

 

Unfortunately, you're going to find that an inexpensive Ferrari is just a more expensive "foreign beater." Far more expensive in every way.

As Frank Beard, drummer for ZZ Top and noted Ferrari collector, infamously said about the post-Enzo, pre-Luca Ferrari era: "All that talk about Italian craftsmanship is horses*&t. They were just a bunch of communists banging out cars to fund the racing, and they didn’t give a s*&t about the road cars."

It is, unfortunately, true. Caveat emptor.

Following is a link to an article by Michael Sheehan, noted Ferrari expert, author and dealer about the 328, "A Ferrari 328 with Needs is a Friend’s Bad Deed." I'll cut right to the stuff you need to know:

"After Fiat took over Ferrari, they introduced the dreaded rubber cam belts in 1974, so every 328 is a candidate for a $4k to $8k cam belt-and-more service every three to five years. This represents 10% to 20% of the value of the best 328, and it is 20% to 40% of the value of this car. These servicing costs will keep the car’s value down forever."

http://ferraris-online.com/pages/article.php?reqart=SCM_201102_SS

Unfortunately, this problem is not unique to the 328.

I'm just the messenger. Sorry.

 

"Mommy, what happens to a car when it gets too old?"

"Your father buys it".

I love old cars!

 

Yea, I've been doing the research on these for years and have kinda accepted that. It's still better than the issues that cling to the 348s and 355s for their mandatory majors. I have been gathering opinions for years and I think I have to poop or leave the pot.

 

Or, you can reconsider the car you want.

Me? I satisfied my desire to throw away my money on an Italian exotic by purchasing an early Maserati Spyder. It's a Ferrari in Maserati clothing, only better. For the same/similar money you will spend on that.. let's face it... ancient 328, you'll get a far better car in every respect. Better engine. Better trans-axle. Better brakes. Better ride. Better technology. Half the maintenance costs (or less.)

Not to mention infinitely better performance. Don't ever drag a 328 against a Mini Cooper S, because you won't win. Sad, but true. The Maserati, in contrast, will hit 0-60 in a GT-respectable 5 secs or so, and around 180MPH on the top end. Fast enough to earn you a night in jail and a revoked driver's permit.

And, in contrast to that 328, the Maserati Spyder is a car that still looks... fresh. People unfamiliar with the current Maserati line-up often mistake my car for new. When I explain to them it's ten years old, they're genuinely shocked. Credit the fact it was designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro, arguably the most important and influential automobile designer alive today. The 328, in contrast, certainly isn't a collector and only looks fresh if you go Back to the Future.

Mine is the Cambiocorsa model, so it has the same early F1-style automated manual transaxle found in the 360. If you don't want the paddles, Maserati Spyders with manual gearboxes can be found.

You have the added benefit that early Spyders have essentially reached the end of their depreciation cycle. How do we know that? When a car is worth as much or more parted out as is a complete car, you've reached the end of the depreciation road--presuming, of course, that you maintain it.

But, again, buyer beware. The same issue concerning the relatively low cost of purchasing the Spyder vs maintenance costs should be considered. Figure spending about USD$2,000 per year on average.

Lastly, as always, pay for the very best car you can find that has documented service records and NEVER skip the PPI.

Best of luck,

I