Objectively

Boxer is in my list of top 5 best looking production cars of all time. Its stunning even today.

 

I think so. I have loved them for years. Let me share an early memory...

I remember reading a Road & Track review (I think it was R&T) that included the line "Very few people will ever step over the extremely wide sills into this magnificent interior." And somewhere else mentioned "Don't worry about storage space. If you are driving this car, you can have the luggage sent ahead in the Rolls." The first comment really stuck with me, and the second, I remember more as a chuckle...

Not long after reading that, would have been in '86 or early '87, I was a starving university student in Toronto. I was renting a room in an old Victorian house on Lowther Ave. in Yorkville (The Toronto area F-Chatters will know where that is) and directly across the street from my front door was a guy waxing a Rosso Corsa Boxer. I almost keeled over right in the street.

Every time I see one to this day, that memory pops straight into my mind as vivid as the day it happened.

So for me at least, yes. Definitely a classic.

 

"Objectively speaking" about what is classic and what isn't is probably impossible.

I love the Boxer, but I think the 250 GT SWB coupe stomps all over it (and almost anything else with wheels) in terms of stature as a classic.

Also, put a 250 GT interior next to a Boxer (with orange dials, graphic equalizer, etc.) and the Boxer looks a bit dated. And the 'Star Wars imperial star destroyer' rear deck detail seems a little overwrought compared to delicate chrome hinges and letters on the 250 GT series.

But, I might argue the Boxer is a classic because the new amoeba Ferraris seem like throwaway designs that aren't particularly Italian, whereas the Boxer/308 changed automotive design for maybe 20 years and would be impossible to replicate today. I think it depends when you grew up. I was looking at a yellow 308 over at Bobileff's recently, with rubber US bumpers, and it's the definition of the disco-era wedge car, but it's never lost its pull for me. The 308 still defines exotic for me, and Boxers will always be the Sammy Hagar car...

 

I do agree with Bullfighter that the gauges of the Boxer are probably the worst part of the visual design of the car. However, it's better than the TR which came after it.

I still want one though. I have always wanted one since I saw one -- many years ago -- at a car show with the front and rear fully opened. You'll never get that on a modern car again, just like you'll never get the fully opening bonnet of an Etype again for crash purposes and cost.

 

the rear deck detail is more than needed...have you ever felt the heat coming off of a boxer after a good drive? the heat recovery could heat a house during the winter....it is staggering!!!!!

 

by the way, it almost seems like the boxer is on the verge of having its day!! this makes me happy...not because i am contemplating selling mine but more because it is getting the respect that i have always felt it deserved.

i know fchat has determined the boxer not to be a supercar but i assure you that during production, every auto rag in print called the boxer and the rival countach a proper supercar. in fact the miura, boxer and countach are responsible for coining "supercar".

let's not forget.

 

I will not forget.

I also will not forget how uncomfortable the Countach is and how poor the rear vision is. I thought I wanted one until I tried to get in one, then tried to sit in one (torture) and then tried to get out. May look great but I want a car that is not painful to drive. Rant over.

 

phil,


i am 6-4 and am very comfy in my boxer.

 

No need to rant. I drove one many years ago and wondered how anyone could like driving it. It scared the hell out of me driving in traffic.

I suppose it's an acquired taste.

BTW: The one I drove was metallic purple with a white interior. Nothing screams "the 80's" more than Lambo color combo's and Duran Duran reunion concerts.

 

Now we know why you keep it in NC instead of here...

The Boxer was always a supercar, like the Countach. It's still part of the "wretched excess" era, where they built an engine and stretched bodywork around it

 

Me too. Several years before I had actually seen a real Ferrari, I had a BB poster that I used to stare at relentlessly. That said and strangely enough, Boxers only recently showed up on my radar, probably because my neighbor has a beautiful example that I've fallen in love with. Of course, that's a whole 'nother level of maintenance pain! Ahhh...I'll take it!

 

In last month's issue of Classic Cars (I think that was the title, I do not have it in front of me), they commented that the Boxer was the second car introduced after the purchase by Fiat. They also stated that the Daytona was the last car developed solely under Enzo. They commented that the values of Daytonas have doubled over the last five or so years, while the values of the replacement Boxers and most of the other cars after that time have stayed flat.

I was wondering if they are trying to draw the conclusion that the pre-Fiat cars are worth more because of their direct relationship to Enzo? Or is this just one of many factors that influence values? I know rarity helps increase value but I am not sure how many Daytonas were built compared to Boxers. Is it mechanical complexity that keeps the Boxer values down? Is it the style? Or all.

I prefer the Boxer but that is just my personal opinion.

Cheers,

Jeff
Dallas, Texas

 

I think it's fantastic but can't be compared with the others. It is a product of its time. I do have to say though I've seen a couple of those engines and the carb cars with the air cleaners removed. It's like seeing a fantastic nude woman for the very first time in ones life. Actually its a bad comparison. The woman I want to touch, the engine I could just look at for hours and be at peace.

It was also my favorite car to follow. Sounded great, smelled right. What a feeling to be chasing down some country roads and the tail of that car is what you're chasing. Good memories.
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Wow, great comments Sean and GT Dirk and great observations. I learned a lot from this thread. There is a local Boxer that always comes out to the area's car shows and it gets lots of attention. Enjoy your cars because you are both lucky guys!

Cheers,

Jeff
Dallas

 

Absolutely love the Boxer, I really do think it's a classic, is to me anyway.

Not sure I get the above line though. Enzo died in 1988. After the Boxer he developed, or was heavily involved in the development of, everything from the 308, 328, 400, 412, Mondial, Testarossa (sort of), 288 GTO, F40 and died after the development of the 348 but before it's launch. So the 348 is the last car Enzo developed (yes, tad biassed, but happens to be true ) the F40 was the last he developed and actually launched. A chap called Leonardo Fioravanti actually designed the Boxer. Enzo actually didn't want to develop and launch it because he didn't think the driving public could handle it's mid engined layout but was persuaded otherwise. He also didn't want to sell them in the States but quite a few were imported anyway.

Why do you think it was the last Ferrari Enzo Developed? - bit lost with that one but I'm probably missing something. Wouldn't be the first time

 

Sean, I believe you are underestimating Enzo's role in the company post 1969. True Fiat took a 50% share in Ferrari at that time but Enzo didn't fade into the background - don't think he would have been able to do so even if he tried. Enzo retained a 50% share after he had tried to sell far more than that to Ford and almost got caught out when he found he would loose control of the company, in particular the whole of the racing division.

Apparently he came to blows with Fiat on several occasions, often when they were trying to make the cars more accessible - an example being him resisting ABS on the 328 in which he won the argument for a bit but lost it in the end, apparently a compromise was reached - it was an option in Europe. He spoke passionately about the 288 GTO and especially the F40 which had been largely developed by the Scuderia, which he retained almost total control over, but much of the development of those cars spilled over into cars such as the humble 348.

The 348 was transitional but then all the cars were to a certain extent. And you are right, it was the the creature of someone else to a degree. Would it surprise you to know that while the Boxer was directly designed by Leonardo Fioravanti, by the time the 348 came out he had risen a bit in the ranks and things had changed a bit in the way thing were done - Leonardo Fioravanti was in fact the chief designer in charge of the design and development of the 348, it was his last. This is probably one of the reasons it retained the 'spirit' of the earlier cars.

So while I take some of what you say, I think you're slightly out when you say Enzo had nothing to do with the road cars after the Boxer. He was involved with the road cars (to varying degrees) right up until the 348. Your car and mine are the work of the same man as well.

Also, not a huge thing, but when you say about all the cars being neutred post the Boxer because of smog regulations and silly big rubber bumpers, just be careful you don't look at it in too US-centric terms. Many of the Euro spec cars did not suffer from these things. The decision not to sell the Boxer in the US was to avoid having to do this to a fantastic car because the volumes expected to sell did not warrant having more than one varient produced at the same time. On models that were higher volume there were US varients that had to have these things, but then there were Euro varients that didn't. That goes right through to the 348 (and maybe beyond, don't know) which has more power in Euro spec.

Anyway, think our heart is in the same place - the Boxer was the last car solely developed under Enzo, no doubt. I think his influence (things like making the cars a raw driving experience) died a bit with the last car he saw in development, but then I would say that. Did you know in Maranello in his office it's been left exactly as it was the day he died. There's a model of a 348 on his desk that the staff say had been approved by him and he was apparently very enamoured with and excited about. Shame he didn't see it launched.

 

Sheehan's wrong then. I don't know this sheehan chap but I think times just changed. Enzo sold 50% of his company for only one reason - he needed the money. Fiat owned some of Ferrari before that date, and bought another 40% when Enzo died. The cutoff you are choosing, the Boxer, (Sheehan saying just before, you saying just after) is just a point in time. The Fiat purchase and gradual increase in control stretched over more than 2 decades.

When you say the 348 wasn't high quality, I'd have a small issue with that in any singling out. Have you been in a 288 GTO or F40? A 348 is plush and well build in comparison Actually a 348 is no different to a mondi, Testarossa, 328.... any car from that era. When compared to the earlier cars they were 'mass produced' although the 348 was not sold in vast numbers globally, there were certainly more than there were Boxers. And some parts were Fiat.... Or Bosch, or any number of other producers. Thats how cars were made at that time and still are today. That said, I'm pretty sure Ferrari didn't make every component in a Boxer either.

Look don't get me wrong, I love the Boxer, but it's no more the last 'collectable' than a Daytona or a 288 GTO. And there will be others. Some day someone may even want a 'LaFerrari' (grief, I hate that name).

 

How can you choose? They are each special. I would take one of each.