Long time lurker, infrequent poster, long time 911 driver and a future 355 owner here. So let me have it....if you have a garage queen Ferrari, why? Is it because you want to prevent depreciation? Pain in the ass major service and cost? Afraid of little dings? I live on a gravel road 0.7 miles long...and none of my cars are ever clean. When I get a Ferrari, I'll post pictures of dusted out 355...with a Kubota in the background. So I see many ferraris with multiple previous owners with 19,000 miles on it. Why don't you drive more?
Lol, you can't fit another person, guitar and amplifier in it to take to a gig. It is best enjoyed driving barren roads not in traffic daily driving. To some it is the tuxedo or Armani suit of their car collection. For me it is the race car I cannot wait to drive when I have time to drive cool roads. That is almost as therapeutic as driving the Porsche turbo minus boost buzz and white knuckles. Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
My occupation does not allow me to use an exotic as a DD. Most exotic car that I could likely pass as a DD is a 911, AMG, or M car, GTR.
Alrighty now... so we have 1) my musical instrument takes up too much room 2) too cold 3) my job No one has addressed "what is it about the car" that you don't drive it everywhere..and put 125,000 miles on it..
I drive a 360, but the DD question is the same. I live in Italy and although Italians love my Ferrari and nobody has ever made a disparaging remark or shot me the bird (as they apparently do in America) Italians aren't any more careful in a parking lot than anyone else. That, plus the fact that parking spaces are narrow here in Italy and parking is hard to find in most places, means I don't drive my Ferrari on ordinary errands. It's a nice car without any door dings and it also doesn't have any door protection. I am simply not willing to subject it to ordinary abuse, especially parking abuse. My Fiat Grand Punto, on the other hand, has a door protection strip and a few little dents and dings, so that's the car I use for a DD especially when parking is an issue. Plus, the Fiat has a LOT more room than the Ferrari. Having said that, yesterday the winter time temperature was above normal, the recent rains had cleaned the roads, and the sun had dried them. So I took the Ferrari out of winter storage and made small grocery run to a store far enough away to thoroughly warm up all the fluids. The store has a huge parking lot and I parked far from the door, so no risk of door dings. Of course, I wanted to scratch that certain Ferrari itch which has been increasing in the past 6 weeks since I drove it last; mission accomplished. Naturally, I'm concerned about the salt and other road chemicals used in the winter time. I don't actually mind contaminating my car, but I only do so when I can thoroughly hand wash my car right away. I hate trying to wash my Ferrari when the temperature is near freezing, so i use the Fiat as a winter car and wash it at the DIY car wash for must of the winter here in north Italy. Nice days, like yesterday, are rare in January and February. There are other factors which make my Ferrari a less-than-good DD such as: limited ground clearance, high fuel costs ($10/gal), limited rear viability making parallel parking tricky especially in areas with high curbs, it's hard to get in and out of my parking garage because of limited space, and here in Italy the Financial Police regularly stop me and subject me to a 45 minute "mini-tax-audit". There is an official "exotic car" program specifically aimed at drivers of high end cars. The idea is to catch tax cheats. That's why you don't often see a Ferrari or other fancy car on the Italian roads anymore. I don't worry about it too much because I'm not hiding anything, but it is genuinely a factor and a real PITA. Even our occasional Ferrari gatherings are no longer advertised and you can only find out about most of them by word of mouth or private Email. On the other hand, my Ferrari never sits at home just because I'm worried about accumulating mileage. I drive it every chance I get, but only when it makes sense. I don't drive it when it doesn't.
and this is the only reason, the cars are meant to be driven Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Well, when you do (get a Ferrari) come back and give us YOUR excuse as to why it's not your DD. BTW, how many DDs in your neck of the woods are 15 to 20 years old? 911s included.
1) Not much room, and I am a drummer and a bassist - but it does go to rehearsals if I only need to bring a bass or stick bag! 2) Not the greatest on gas 3) I also have several companies and I don't want to roll up in a Ferrari when meeting clients, employees, etc. I try to be sensitive to other people's situations and also try not to screw myself out of getting business. Unfortunately, with some folks no matter how nice or fair you are, their perception is reality...and you need to plead poverty sometimes, and that doesn't work out too well when you show up in an expensive toy. 4) Parking lots scare the crap out of me. 5) I have three other vehicles, and they all need to be driven. That said -- I make sure to take it out a few times a week, warm it up, and DRIVE it!! That's what it's for!
There are a few reasons. I often car pool with my wife and kids, for one, so I obviously can't take the 355. Second is that the highway I usually take is a notorious windshield breaker during rush hour, our dd's have multiple repaired rock chips in them and it's no fun dodging the dump trucks during rush hour in a Ferrari. That said, I still take it in on days I'm not car pooling and the weather is nice, and on the occasion I take a trip without the family it's my first choice. It's a surprisingly comfortable long distance car and has been reliable, so it's other factors that preclude me driving it every day.
Weather permitting, i drive it every day. the grocery store , errands, to work and so on. There's nothing about the car that prevents it from being driven every day , it's the owners that make the decision not to drive it. its just a car , drive it.
I put a LOT of miles on my 348, and it could certainly not be considered a garage queen. But outside of a climate like Southern California, its not a very practical way to go about one's daily business. I drove my 348 in the snow, and say what you will, the handling sucks ass in those conditions. It is a dangerous vehicle in the snow, even with appropriate tires. Driving in the rain? The targa models leak water like an old wooden sailing ship. Not much fun. In extreme heat, the AC cannot keep up with the greenhouse effect of a highly raked front windscreen.
I could drive my 355 everyday, its certainly been reliable enough to do so... but the reason I dont is a very simple one, and it has nothing to do with miles or babying the car, because trust me, i dont... I dont want to dilute the experience by taking a beautiful Ferrari and turning it into a Camry... and by that Im talking along the lines of the car being "special". When I do drive it (about 2000 miles a year) its always a "special" event for me... Some people, especially those who are not auto enthusiasts, will probably not understand it... but I still get excited before going out to the garage to start the car... I still get tingles from the shriek of the exhaust as the engine rips past 8000rpms... and nothing feels as good as nailing a perfect heal/toe downshift into a corner on a twisting road.... If I drove it everyday... it would lose a lot of that "special" feeling to me. So, could I? Yes.. Would I? No.. It would just become another one of my daily drivers... and I have enough of those already.
Storage space aside, it's the experience. Some days you feel like driving a loud, rough, engaging vehicle that draws attention. Other days, you just want to drink your coffee, not shift gears, listen to some tunes in peace, or not worry about airport parking.
Couldn't have said it better myself. Exactly the way I see it. I have multiple vehicles and my daily 'driver' is my Cannondale when it's not raining.
Nicely put Petey. He is dead on with this one. I have a number of classic cars, some are not extremely valuable and could easily be used as a daily driver. I do not use any of them this way because I drive them to enjoy. I do not enjoy my daily commute and would not enjoy sitting in traffic any more in a classic than I do in my modern car. My cars are special to me regardless of their value or how others see them. They are my "torque therapy" and come out every day that I am able to enjoy them.
Well put Petey. I agree completely. We need to go for a ride someday when this arctic stuff goes away.
I hope nobody walks by my car and whispers to it " your owner doesn't think you're special" because then it will develop a complex , the next thing you know my car will need to see a therapist, then on top of maintenance bills i'll have bills for a psychologist , possibly a prescription for some type of car ritalin , then the authorities might get involved accusing me of car abuse. they'll take me away in handcuffs , i'll be yelling " but i gave it the best oil " " i kept you in a nice dry heated garage" . Then some cruel judge will sentence me to 5 to 10 driving a camry. all because i just love driving it as much as the weather will allow.
I have driven my 355 more than I have driven any other car in the 2.5 years I have owned it. That just happens to only be about 6k miles. I take the bus to work so I don't drive much. Things that keep me from driving it more are. 1) Other cars on the road - traffic - it just isn't fun to drive in stop and go traffic. 2) Road conditions - not weather - the roads around Seattle can suck really bad. There are a few places where I could do a lot of damage to the car just driving on the paved roads. 3) Weather - the weather is bad in Seattle 6-8 months a year. If I was in California or Arizona I would drive it a lot more. 4) Parking - most places I go have packed, small parking lots with small spots. Getting in and out of them there are usually steep curbs that physics prevent the 355 from using them. Lots of them were designed and built over 50 years ago. 5) People - there is always a small percentage of people out there that take away from the driving experience. An exotic attracts them and it isn't subtle. Extreme tailgating to get a close view. Pacing you in the lane next to you so you can't change lanes. Engine revving in attempt to bait you into racing. I enjoy talking to people about cars and the 355 but it happens at every public stop, every single one. Sometimes I just want to get my groceries or gas and go. After owning it for this long I love "drives" in the car. Nothing beats taking a 1000 mile trip over a day or two. The car loves the open road and doesn't feel like it is being utilized until the speedometer passes 70-80 mph. I live for, and own the car for, those drives.
