Jason, have you run this plan by your wife? [emoji6] Great pic. Those kids are digging the Cali, especially your little guy. I'm betting he's already thinking about borrowing the keys. T
After just purchasing a black T, I would have to say that it is one of the finest driving cars I have ever driven. Smooth, comfortable, stealthy fast. It feels as if it weighs 50 pounds on the road. Beautiful chassis, steering. May sound nuts, but if Toyota made this car I would buy it. It is a beautiful creation.
Agreed. The wife and I love our first generation Cali, and most on F-chat agree that the T is a major improvement, so it just be a blast. Enjoy your new T. T
Let's talk about where we are USA 2017, GPS, Starbucks, Bluetooth phones, Picking up dinner 0n the way home, endless traffic jams. Has to be the FF. In Europe where a two car garage is more rare than a Ferrari and you have to think one size fits all, Has to be the FF. D.
dark colored 488 Spider, Lusso too big, FF too old. Cali T too plain/generic as a an experience. Maybe a Cali 30 HS, but again too old re technical amenities.
My GTC is my daily driver. It has plenty of room for my needs which include shopping, local errands, camping, model airplane contests and an occasional auto show. It is also very easy and cheap to maintain. Uses regular gas. Oil and various fluids, spark plugs available from the local Walmart or Auto Zone. Tires available locally. Oil filters from an online source. I've made many modifications and have been enjoying it since 1975! Bob Z. Image Unavailable, Please Login
You were one of the people I was thinking of when I started this thread, Bob! You get total hero status in my mind for driving the GTC as your daily car. I hope to follow in your footsteps one day...as soon as I live somewhere where I can actually drive daily! I forget, did you put power steering in the car? You've probably listed them multiple times on different threads over the years, but I'd love to know what mods you've made on your GTC. I do remember that it's actually painted a Corvette yellow, right? Either way, two thumbs way up!
Hi, Dave and thanks for the kind words. No, no power steering. With the Uniroyal tires, it's no problem, even when parallel parking. The Michelin XWX tires were AWFUL, especially in the rain. The mods I made are simple and reversible. Hayden cooling fans - the Lucas fans were terrible. Bosche Blue ignition coils - no ballast resistor needed. Fram air filters - 1.5 times the filtering area of the original one- piece filter and disposable. GM 65 amp single wire alternator. The original Lucas unit just couldn't keep up. Installation of a low oil pressure warning light. Urethane front and rear sway bar bushings. Conversion of wire wheels from tube type to tubeless. My own design exhaust system with stainless steel tips Yes, I painted it 1975 Corvette Bright Yellow. All these mods are improvements and make the car more user-friendly. Over the years, I have been often criticized for using the car as a daily driver. I was told by one jackass that Ferraris are not meant to be driven but instead to be cherished, studied, worshiped and protected. People should socialize to talk about their cars. One guy even claimed that he meditated before driving his Ferrari. When I attended the annual meet in Millville, NJ, my car was chastised and criticized for all the non-original items I installed. It was awarded last place. I drove seven hundred miles - most of the cars in my class arrived by trailer. That's when I vowed to never again participate in any FCA activities. On a lighter note, my GTC was the only car to ever be awarded "Best in Show" TWICE at the Hilton Head Island show. When I lived in upstate NY and Southeast PA for 33 years, the car was only driven for around six months of the year. Had I lived at my present location in South Carolina all those years, the car would probably have over 300,000 miles instead of only 184,000. Best Regards, Bob Z.
Bob, that is a really cool story. Who would have ever thought that a Ferrari would be in the same category as a Volvo in terms of longevity as a daily driver. And you are not even a 100 year old Swede! 😀
Ok, this is the coolest story! I daily drive my 91 Testarossa and have 64k miles on it. I also drove my Lamborghini Diablo VT Roadster to 72k miles until some guy ran into it. I currently daily drive my Lamborghini Murcielago Roadster and won platinum and best in show two years in a row at the Celebration Exotic Car Festival. So...I totally get it ! Shamile Freeze. . . Miami Vice! Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk
Money no object I'd drive an F40!!!! I would drive it right into the ground and smile every damn minute. I've driven a 458 spider everywhere you can imagine and it is a great daily driver. I've taken it to Orlando and Daytona and back a few times and it's easy for long hauls too. Very comfortable and non-eventful until you stab the throttle. The only downside is I can't take both my kids and I still wish it was a manual (yes, I'm an dinosaur) I just can't get past the looks of the FF and the California is a hairdressers car to me. It would make a fine Lexus but IMO it has zero Ferrari DNA and is marketing exercise, albeit very well executed technologically. These are the two cars IMO Ferrari coerces you to buy so that you can get in line for the others. Of course, that's just my opinion, I could be wrong.
Meditating before driving a Ferrari. Lol. Thanks for listing the mods. There are always naysayers but to my mind, cars should be driven. There's a video of a guy in SoCal, I think his name is Jack something. Anyway, he has a Lamborghini 400GT with 200k+ miles on it. Also his daily car. I'll try to post the video later. Anyway, as I say - total hero status for you! Everyone should use their Ferrari the way you use your GTC.
Great comebacks, guys. I cannot for the life of me understand why anyone would own a Ferrari and not drive it. Not only are they fantastic road cars but driving is good for them - THAT'S WHAT THEY'RE MADE FOR! I see cars like my GTC as well as Daytonas and GTBs with fewer than 20,000 miles. How can someone lets a car just sit and be occasionally driven, maybe 500 miles per year? Are they afraid the car might dissolve? I remember a documentary back in the 80s where a guy who owned a Daytona was PROUD of the fact he NEVER drove it. Just pushed it around in his garage. You fellows who rack up the mileage are to be admired and congratulated for using your cars. Keep up the good work! Bob Z.
First off I think it's awesome that you daily your GTC. Very cool!! To answer your question however, I think it depends a lot on where you live and how you can/want to use it. I commute about 80 miles per day in what is normally heavy traffic. Driving a Ferrari -can- be fun in these conditions but more often than not just aggravating when you can't accelerate or stuck behind 20 other cars doing 30mph on an off ramp. So in order to really enjoy it I like to drive it on open roads on the weekends or nights after work. Subtract from that days I'm driving other 'fun' cars, days it isn't pouring rain and the entire winter and I don't end up with putting a ton of miles on my car. The ones I do however are thoroughly enjoyed
good for you bob! i ascribe to a similar philosophy. here is one for you..... about 15 years ago, when i was still living in london, i was out in surrey somewhere running an errand for my wife, and while out there she decided she needed a gardening implement, and i happened to be near a place. so i went in, and as i parked, i noticed a guy just behind me in a lusso and he parked next to me. i got out and greeted the old codger driving, and remarked on his beautiful car. he then opened the boot and started rummaging around for gardening things as we talked, and he told me he daily drove the lusso and had done so since he had bought it new !!!!! lucky him !
Well said, James. I know a commute of that nature can be more than a bit frustrating. Especially when you have to watch out for bozos who don't have a clue about safe and courteous driving. I was fortunate in that most of my commutes were of a very simple ilk and mostly out in the country. When parked at work, I could see my GTC from my office window. I did not have much issue with rain (once I got rid of the awful Michelin XWX tires) but I NEVER drove it in snow. Stop and go driving is not fun in the GTC. It has a very heavy (Daytona) clutch, no headrests and in 90+ weather, the AC is just marginal. My fiance and I are retired and we often just go out for a ride. I do on occasion go into big cities but I'm very careful where I park it. It's rarely left out overnight. Bob Z.
Great story. I can in part identify. I have, on many occasions drove the GTC to the local Lowes for gardening supplies. The large trunk will hold around six bags of mulch and I put other smaller stuff in the back shelf or passenger footwell. Needless to say, I get some strange looks from other gardeners. The main idea of this post is to convince people of what they're missing by not driving their cars. Many say that they are protecting their investment. Others are concerned that the car will get dirty. HINT - get out the Wash-N-Wax liquid and garden hose and wash off the dirt. Pretty easy I'd say. I actually knew a guy in upstate New York who was proud of the fact that he drove his Ferrari once a week. He drove it around the block in first and second gear and then parked it. The oil temperature gauge never moved off the peg. I think he put on around 30 miles per year. Oh well, I guess they're saving the cars for the next owner. Bob Z.
On one of my camping trips, I had a blowout. Check out all the "stuff" I had to remove from the trunk to get to the spare. Bob Z. Image Unavailable, Please Login