I have a friend who had several F cars, Lambo’s and even Macs. He decided to sell a few to consolidate his collection and got a 288 GTO. I though this was a smart play. So I’m at a point with 10 cars (and 4 kids) where I find it hard to find enough time to spin the wheels of some of my exotics. I’m a driver more than a collector, and it pains me when I leave a car undriven for over a month. Aside from my daily’s I have 4 exotics of which I was thinking of consolidating, maybe 3 to 1. I have - CGT, Speciale, 16M, and MurcieSV. I’d like to keep 1, namely the CGT, and trade the S, 16M and SV towards an F40! Would be tough to let the 3 go and would lose a nice, modern driver’s F car, but I certainly would drive the F40! Sent from my 16M
That's exactly what I would do, too. I'm speaking from the standpoint of having missed the CGT boat in 2010 and seeing it continue to sail over the horizon. Moral: like the CGT, the F40 is special and should always be in demand.
We have a customer with a pretty good collection of Ferraris. He has a LaFerrari, 599 GTO, Dino 246 gts, 512bb, 355, tr, 328, Lusso, 2 Pistas, you name it. He is considering dumping them all. He is bored of it. He may dump and get a 275 and maybe one other real collector car. Its my job now to get them ready to sell.
I’m in a similar situation, although my cars are at a couple of different houses which makes them a little more fun and “new” when I see them seasonally. I’ve been thinking of selling everything aside from the CS and doing a driver F40 and a 275. I’ve been watching the market hoping to time a dip since they’ve all seemed to soften up. I suspect if the right car came along I’d already have the F40. What else is there after that!
Just decide what your budget is, then ride in/test drive what you can to make sure it’s a car you will actually enjoy driving. In the early 1990’s, I owned a 328 GTS while awaiting deliver of a Testarossa; was able to test drive a 275 GTB and a Daytona coupe, but unfortunately I did not enjoy driving them. Nothing wrong mechanically, just not to my personal preferences. Then took delivery of a new 360 Coupe in 2000, but soon went ex-Ferrari as I switched to a dedicated race car for track events. Earlier this decade, I was ready to own a “special” street car again. I was racing in SCCA, so handling was more important than just power. The car needed to be special to hold its value at minimum, and hopefully equal or exceed inflation over time, have minimal electronics, be stick shift and relatively easy to maintain. I wanted to return from a drive tingling mentally and physically. The five choices were the Porsche 959 and CGT, along with 288 GTO, F40 and F50. One met all the criteria, the others I ruled out for one reason or another. Be honest with what you enjoy, ask lots of questions (of owners AND mechanics) and the choice for you will become clear. And having a competent mechanic you can trust makes all the difference in ownership satisfaction. Good luck.
It is not quite the same, I went the other direction. I sold my Miura, paid off my mortgage, bought the 550 and a Z3 Coupe, retired early and loving a simpler life.
If you consolidated to an F40 and an 812GTS, you would have "one of everything" basically: - front vs rear engine - paddles vs manual - NA vs turbo - V8 vs V12 - GT vs sports - aluminum vs CF - modern vs vintage - coupe vs convertible - leather vs cloth - daily driveable vs weekender - depreciation vs appreciation
doing that for an f40 is well worth it. i wld sell everything i have to keep my f40. ive contemplated selling all my other cars to get an f40 and a laferrari, but i never get fully there. for the f40 i wld definitely. f40 is a religious experience.
While I cannot personally buy any of the 5 cars mentioned, I can see advantages to going down to two blue chip cars....less maintenance, less insurance, less storage, etc.
It's an 81 carb car with the Nardi steering wheel, classic certified by ferrari etc. We need to address the dash leather starting to shrink..other then that is a beauty car. When it comes in I'm going to have Paul Newman go over it also. We will set a price at that point.
i have been thinking about this as well. not with the fcars, but all the others. but my father would have to agree.....and he is emotionally attached to several of them. if it were up to me, i would sell all the non f cars (except the jag speedster we are building), and buy a 300SL gullwing. on the other hand, i think about buying a CS back all the time.... so maybe you never stop hunting the next one....
Plastique999 - You’ve got some wicked cars you may regret selling ... maybe dump the SV and ( do you need 6 dailies ? ) and add the F40 MDS
What a great question, and a tough one. You’d have to have a ‘daily’ competent Ferrari too I think, so something like 458 or F12 maybe to keep costs reasonable so that you can enjoy a raw race car, but then get into a modern racer for fun without the 200% concentration required to get the best from F40
I don’t doubt it. I think the part of us that provides drive enough to afford cars like these is also the part that drives us to want to experience more (cars in this instance). That’s an issue. The best we can do is hope for eventual satiation or genuinely believe it makes sense to consolidate to attain finer examples of what we obsess over.
I like the excitement of getting back into one of my cars I don’t drive as frequently and it’s like falling in love again. I usually drive my 458 Spider but sometimes when meeting up with friends on a Sunday I’ll take the Speciale or 16M and pretty pumped walking out to the garage....
I researched, saved, sacrificed, and earned for each of my current smaller collection. At one time each of them WAS a grail. Getting rid of one now would be painful. My high earning days are over so I have to throttle back on my desire for "The Next". Just one more and I can stop..... honest. Missed out on the F40 train when I could have caught it when they were just under $400k. My favorite Ferrari. I "settled" for my second favorite; a 512BB. My biggest regret is not buying that Lancia Stratos for $17,500. DOH ! But If you can afford it go for it. You can only drive one at a time.
My Ferrari collection is one car...a 2012 458 Spider. There was a Forza article comparing the 458 to the F40. The 458 is as fast or faster than the F40 but they are two completely different cars. The F40 has no abs and loads of turbo lag. You have to be a very accomplished driver to handle it well. A few years ago the Ferrari club was heading west down Vail pass. The F40 was in the lead. He spun off the road and flat spotted all four tires. He managed not to go off the road. But the F40 had to be flat bedded back to Denver. He said a semi pulled out in front of him and was glad to miss the truck. Everyone had to stop because the tire smoke was so thick you couldn’t see to drive. My F355 had abs and had no problem keeping the car safe. I know l am not the greatest driver and would have to learn how to really handle. Meanwhile l am very happy with my 458 Spider. No turbo lag. 9,000 rpms. Abs and other nannies to keep me out of too much trouble. I would keep the 458 even if l could afford an F40. I love this car!
You bring up a good point....it would behoove me to wean off some daily’s that get very little use...such as the Ghost and maybe an SUV. Problem is I love them all and just picked up a Vanquish! What a disease. This would be ideal to have a modern partner with the F40 ...would love to keep the Speciale.... Sent from my 16M