So I'm highly considering getting a 400 manual, yes I know it will be challenging but that's half the fun. what you guys think? Type of person that might DD. Any advice? Ive started loooking!
You should really test these cars before settling for a specific model. A well sorted out auto works extremely well, is far less noisy and much cheaper. Same story for carbs versus injection: the injected cars are much more smooth and my sister in law just wishes my brother had kept the 412 instead of the 400 carb; some people can fall in love for the early wooden console, others cannot get used to the old-school levers and toggles and will feel much more at home with the newer dashboards. Early seats are more suited to "skinny" European drivers , etc... All in all the cars that did most favourably impressed me were a 400i gen 2 manual and a 400i gen1 auto. I would have never considered any of these two cars: the former had the updated interior that I really do not like and the later was white with black stripes! Nevertheless, once on the road I just fell in love with these two. My only advice is to be open to any of these cars and buy one that you successfully test-drive. This plus a solid maintenance record.
Don’t know how much you know about these cars so I’ll throw this out there. These cars were never federalized or imported by Ferrari. I see you live in CA. You’ll need to find a car that has been certified by your state to meet the emissions requirements. It will be impossible to get a car certified if it hasn’t already been done. So the bottom line is you’ll have a very small pool of cars to choose from. Your other option is to go with a 1974 or 1975 365GT4 2+2 and then from what I understand emissions are no longer an issue.
Anyone else that can give me a few reasons to not do this crazy thing of buying a 400? Started the process!
On this forum you will find very few people to talk you out of buying a 365/400/412. These are fantastic cars when fully sorted but getting to fully sorted can be a real trial as many were left to languish without proper care or maintenance. You can expect to have to do much more work than originally anticipated but this forum is an indispensable resource for advice and part locating. Good luck with the purchase and I hope to welcome you to the club soon! Rick
Thanks Rick! Im looking, its between this and a TR. I like the 400 since I could then have a usuable back seat for the kids. Ill keep my eyes open.
Do it. Last of the manual only,knock off wheels,carby FEV12OHOS's! You will never regret it ...particularly if you drive it the way it's intended....and not like a limo! Image Unavailable, Please Login
The thing that is great about these cars is that they are so understated. The TR is much more "in your face" exotic and so attract more attention. The rear seats are also fairly comfortable for adults if the front seats are pulled forward. Good luck with your search! Also, don't discount the automatics especially if you do a lot of driving in traffic.
I was a student in London then, too, and I remember seeing a white 412 a few times in the Bloomsbury area.
My boxer is also an in your face car but my 400i gets most of the attention from the public - positive attention. I think people believe you're not approachable in a typical racer boy ferrari and would sooner flip you the bird. In my 400 people walk up to me to ask about it. Most never knew Ferrari made a car (a sedan someone said once) with 4 seats. 400's are very cool and I have no plans to ever part with it, the boxer would go first.
In the late '80s / early '90s I had a gen 1 400i 5-speed manual. At the same time I also had an '87 Testarossa. As much as the latter was unsurprisingly exciting and got all the looks (tons of fun when I was single and 30+ years younger), I must say that the 400i was an absolute blast and totally satisfying. Smooth, powerful and with big V-12 torque, not to mention comfortable and just plain gorgeous. Probably the best bang for today's buck, and if you find a good one you'll never regret it!
Actually the whole fun is having a 400i automatic as I do. Why would you want to increase challenges when you can sit back and relax with all your friends and let the car do its own amazing things.
I have to say I loved my 400i manual, faster than a Daytona around Castle Coombe at owners club track day (way back in 1995). I parted with mine 20 years ago. Provenance is key with these including bodywork maintenance, rust is an issue and they tended to go around the windscreen. Mine had 365 exhaust manifolds and was not particularly noisy, I had split-rims and low profile tyres for track days and standard wheels for road - driven modestly was nicely quiet but at high revs had a wonderful song. I would have a manual over an automatic any day. Image Unavailable, Please Login
The ones I have seen need a biblical amount of rust repairs. Beware the shiny paint job. Mind you, we have salt on the roads in the U.K.
I love the Carb 400's. For three reasons, more power, the Weber woomp when you floor it and the sheer beauty of the engine bay with six beautiful sidedraft Webers. The 400i motor to me looks like someone dropped a spaghetti bowl of wires on top of the motor. Worth considering.
True dat! There ain't nuthin' like hearing 12 throats open up in anger. You can keep your smoother power delivery and better tuneability (apparently!!),I'd much rather have the historical value,aural and visual over injection.
The injected variants are much more balanced: this is blatant with the auto-transmission that cannot be properly handled by the 400 carb whereas the injected cars do have tons of torque across the whole rpm range. If you are after maximum power, the 412 is the way to go... Carbs are fun but not versatile: the skinny tires are no match to the TRX rims: TRX tires are expensive, but the handling is so MUCH better that my brother retrofitted his 400 carb with TRXs the fumes and smell of the carbs is invasive: after a 3 hours trip I cannot keep my clothes for the rest of the day! the electric power supply & engine cooling cannot cope with slow traffic the right pedal does require significant effort (same story for the clutch pedal by the way) carbs cars significantly more expensive Got to agree however that the engine bay does look better, the sound is amazing, and better re-sale potential.