Dear Swiss friends, I'm planning a road trip from Germany down to Ticino, Liguria and the south of France. We woukd like to stop for one night in the area of Lucerne/Meiringen, taking the Sustenpass road towards Gottard tunnel and Lago Lugano the next day. Can you recommend any hotel with Ferrari-friendly (= safe and easily accessible) parking in the area around kr slightly south of Lucerne? Thanks in advance! Thomas
Thomas Two hotels come into my mind that are in the Lucerne region: Hotel Bürgenstock: https://burgenstockresort.com/ Large hotel with great view. Rather expensive. I once parked my 512 TR in their garage without any issues. Modern and large garage. Villa Honegg: https://villa-honegg.ch/de/ Spent some nights there some years back. Nice hotel with a good accessible garage. Instead of going through the Gotthard tunnel you may want to consider to drive over Gotthard pass. And when on top of the Gotthard pass you may take the “Tremola”. That is the old road where they went with the horses and coaches. Be aware that it has cobblestone, and it is shaky. But I did this twice with my Ferrari and it is great. The trip would look like this: https://goo.gl/maps/ZYM7VRCQeMHoVKTW6 You may want to check if there is snow on the Susten or Gotthard before you start. Enjoy your trip Markus
Hello friends, My first post and it’s a question . I am based in Canada, but considering buying and importing a Ferrari from Switzerland. How do you guys do your due diligence? How do you find out if the car is accident free besides getting a mechanical inspection done? Is there an accident declaration form that goes with the carte grise in Switzerland?
As far as I know there is no formal way to find out if a car is accident free. There is nothing like Carfax that says if a car has been in an accident. I bought five F-cars in total from reputable dealers (official Ferrari dealers or other dealers that are well known) without any mechanical inspection (except my own visual inspection). If I would buy a F-car from a private seller a PPI would be a must to me. If you have someone with access to Modis (the internal Ferrari system) you can ask him to run the VIN through Modis. So, you can see the service history and also accidents if they have been repaired by an official dealer. While this is a good way for newer cars, this will not work for vintage cars. But for vintage cars we have Marcel Massini who knows all about these cars. Feel free to PM me the name of the dealer you are wanting to buy a car from. Markus
Hi Markus, thanks a lot! While Bürgenstock is a bit out of my price range (they charge more than 1000 CHF for the night at the time when I am planning to go end of May), Villa Honegg is already full. Nevertheless appreciate your advice... Will probably look in the wider area now. Yes, going over Gotthard is definitely a good ideal. Did this once when I was a student, many years ago... Unforgettable experience. Best regards Thomas
Hi Thomas There are hotels in the city of Lucerne. And hotel Chateau Gütsch very close to Lucerne. https://www.chateau-guetsch.ch/ But I don’t know how the parking situation is there. Maybe you want to call them and ask. Usually, the passes are closed before Pentecost which is June 5th 2022. So, it maybe that you cannot drive over them in May. And as long as the passes are closed Google maps will not take your route over the passes. Ask me how I know… Markus
Hi Thomas, Bürgenstock also has a 4 star hotel called Palace, which is about half the price of the official 5 star Bürgenstock resort. It's also very nice and if you pay a little on top you can use the spa facilities of the Bürgenstock resort. Cheers Sent from my BBF100-6 using FerrariChat.com mobile app
Hello all I'm new in this thread and a passionated owner (and mechanic) of Modena and Mondial 3.2. If there is anybody near Schaffhausen and wants to join for an afternoon trip in the black forest just send me a pn. Kind regards Sent from my MAR-LX1A using FerrariChat.com mobile app
Just FYI some nice classic Ferraris will be displayed at the upcoming Swiss Classic World in Lucerne 1-3 October 2021. Marcel Massini
On Sunday 10th October 2021 specialist Patrice Walter and his WHS Walter Historic Sportscar garage will celebrate the 10th Anniversary in Bachenbülach (close to ZRH airport). Marcel Massini
Amongst the Ferraris displayed in Lucerne will be a silvergrey 250 GT Lusso, a silvergrey and a lightblue unrestored 330 GTC Coupé and a spectacular early shortnosed 275 GTB. Marcel Massini
The shortnosed 275 was sold yesterday early morning and hence not displayed in Lucerne this weekend. The stand of Imboden's Touring Garage has a silvergrey Queen Mary and an S1 330 GT 2+2. Theer is also a second silvergrey 250 Lusso on one stand, and then a red 308 GT4, and a blue 208 Dino GT4, plus on the stand of Lutziger Classics a nice red-black 512 BB. And I also saw a great blue/beige 365 GT4 BB plus a red 308 GTS Spider. Marcel Massini
Auto Zürich Motor Show, this week 4-7 November 2021. Among the classic Ferraris displayed will be: 365 GT4 BB #17925, marrone. 250 GT Coupé Pinin Farina #1427 GT, grigio scuro. 250 GT/L Berlinetta Scaglietti #5257 GT, argento metallizzato. 250 GTE 2+2 #3893 GT, celeste. Marcel Massini
It seems that many of us Ferrari owners are storing their Ferraris during the winter months. I recently took over the Swiss distribution of Kuberth tyre cushions, because it's a great product to protect your tyres. Kuberth tyre cushions are handmade in Italy and have a patented design. They help to prevent tyre damage, when your car is stored for more than 1-2 months. See below a picture of a 288 GTO on Kuberth tyre cusions. Image Unavailable, Please Login
I just put 3-3.3 bar of pressure in the tire those winter months so it doesn’t deform and never had a problem. But thanks for the info.
I agree, there are multiple ways to prevent tyres from ovalization. For me it's just convenient to drive on the cushions. I guess an additional benefit is less exposure to the cold ground in a garage, which may have a further impact on tyres. Sent from my BBF100-6 using FerrariChat.com mobile app
Christmas day in Switzerland. https://www.20min.ch/story/autofahrer-54-kracht-mit-ferrari-gegen-baum-123576285989 Marcel Massini
hello my swiss friends. this may seem to be unrelated to everything else in this thread, but i have no better place to ask this question..... where do you think swiss mortgage/interest rates will go over the next 5 and 10 years.?
they can only go up… as they are super low. But realistically they may stay flat… or go up a little… less probable to go even lower. My 2 cents. On a different note, can anybody recommend a good indipendent to service my 328 in the Zürich area ? Not happy with the local dealer. Thanks.
thank you for that. i think i will elect to take the 10 year option at 1.44% then. as for service, i can say that foitek has done a good job for me in the past.
Hey Marco, great reading from you! I bring my 512 TR and my other F-cars to Karl and Marcel Tobler (father and son) to Romanshorn. That’s not close to Zurich but totally worth it! They are cheaper and better than most official dealers. Karl is working for more than 40 years on Ferraris and knows the 328 since it came out. They also maintain the cars from Autobau. They are mostly doing F-cars but you can find nearly every other brand there too. They don’t have an own homepage but you can find all information here: https://www.openairtours.ch/partner/mtr-tobler-auto/ Markus
I agree with Markus I have used Karl and Marcel Tobler for my 328 for many years. Added benefit that they are close to me, but it was on Markus' recommendation I first took my 328 to them. I am very happy with them.