Why isn't your Ferrari a daily driver

Nobody likes a bragger!

 

If you can use two hands you know you have something special.

 

It's not very safe to drive in snow. And the salt can be killer for the finish.

And it's a special car. Best indulged in small doses for maximum effect.

 

USCRX? USC Pharmacy School?

If so, plenty of 348's and 355's here in Southern California.

 

Precisely. Very well put.

I don't care what it is, if you do it everyday it becomes less "special".

 

Shhhh, don't say that too loud, working toward sex everyday!

 

I agree with Daniel. Handling is pure trash in Winter climates. I also have 1 mile of gravel roads before I hit pavement. I don't use it as a daily driver during the driving season in MN because it wouldn't be special anymore. I too like to drive early on Sundays on the rural (paved) backroads where I live. A great decompression/de-stress therapy for me. However I have been known to go Grocery shopping with the wife in the 355. Besides the better half says she is not interested in riding along unless the weather is warm enough to have the targa top off.

 

I agree with PeteyP on this. The car would lose that feeling of driving something fun and different if it was driven everyday. Not to mention the potential for the car to get all dinged up when it is just sitting in a parking lot. My cars stay in a lot better condition when they are used sparingly and I appreciate them more.

The roads here in New England really suck especially in the winter. I have bent a few rims in the past because of this.

The main point is this car could be used as a DD, but should it?

Everybody has to answer that question for themselves.

 

I'll summarize with Lifestyle. I can't throw my racing bicycle in the 348, and would prefer to go ride instead of drive most days. and now the Ferrari's in the garage until the weather warms & dries up. They're not great cars in the rain, and the aluminum bits don't like the road salt used now.

Picking my son up from school is a pain; stopping/starting a 348's that not warmed up yet to move up in line over 15 minutes isn't pleasant. Nor is leaving it running with all the exhaust surrounded by hundreds of kids.

Rush hour traffic in the city isn't it's nearly as much fun as the open roads, and I find about 3-4 hours at a time is my comfort zone for thinly padded seats and limited leg room.

Have to pay extra for safer parking downtown, some days it's easily worth it but most days not for the commute. The parkade I have monthly parking in is very unfriendly to exotics.

unlike some of the other answers - I've found almost entirely positive feedback from police and the natives. maybe 348's are old enough to be respected as a weird classic addiction.

I was stuck in San Jose rush hour for 3 hours one day trying to get out of town, in 100-110F heat, that was just nasty. Black interior and a/c blowing hot air.

I'm hard on my DD - cracked windshields, covered in crud from highway driving in winter, plastic bits fall off regularly, all sorts of door dings and dents. even if I thought the car could do it the cost/benefit would swing scary ugly.

The 348's still an awesome car, and helps keep me balanced.

 

The roads could be a lot better in Vermont than they are in MA. There are a lot of potholes on the roads here, or at least in the area that I live. The roads usually improve in the spring when the cities start putting some time and money into fixing them.

 

360 driver here.. but I'll have a 348 soon enough..

Job and perception prevents me. if you work on contract or for anyone else... that could affect things.

 

TJ, the nice thing about a DD for me is if something happens to it I might not be happy but I wouldn't be as upset as if something happened to my 355. As you stated I wouldn't want to drive around with my car covered with road salt.

 

I've had my 98 355 spider 6 speed for a year and have put 6000 miles on it when work takes me to nearby rural communities and its warm weather. I don't drive it downtown to work. Bought it with 24k miles just after some Italian guy named Luciano in Sarasota did the engine out service. It has started every time and runs like a scalded dog.

Why noy every day?

Hate sitting in traffic in it, it's almost a crime.

Had a Porsche before and would drive it all the time, even in ice and snow but that was because its pretty bullit proof, has good ground clearance ( a big deal in a 355) and ac/ heat/fuel door/headlights/everything works, and its just easier.

The 355 drive is like dating a super model as opposed to a busty fräulein bringing you a beer. One is high maintanence, temperamental, expensive but with a big payoff and the other more functional yet somehow immensely satisfying in her own way. Does that help?

 

This is a pretty effective simile.

I would never drive my 355 everyday. The 355 in traffic is a nightmare to drive, it draws way too much attention, and at 6'2 it gets uncomfortable quick....but ******* is it fun to drive.