I Predicted!!! Manual Conversions < F1

Ok, I will stir the pot here on manuals. I will profess that I have NEVER driven a manual Ferrari of any kind. But if you want a manual car from 2000 and newer Ferrari is not the answer even if converted. Before you try to torch me notice I said 2000 and NEWER. I long for the 355 manual.

 

I’ve owned two three-pedal manual Ferraris, and I’d agree. There are thousands of classic and vintage Ferraris if you prefer the technologies of those eras. Personally… I do.


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this wldnt have gotten $60k with that repainted red/spec.

 

I still own one. It's a great involving drive when you have open road or play on a race track. It's like a fine wine. There is a time and place to drink it. It does not fit into modern life aka traffic and it makes a fast car slower. I never understood 3 pedal conversions. It's like plugging the charger cord on your cell phone and not being able to walk 6ft. from the plug. Life used to be like that in the old days. It was called a dial telephone. Who wants that?

 

Agree with all of this, because if I’m paying serious money for a Ferrari I want it as original as possible. Also if you really are a Ferrari enthusiast it stands to reason you’d respect the company’s direction with respect to car building. Also also, I suspect the manual craze is most common among those of us with at least a few grey hairs. I doubt the average 20-year old is losing sleep because he can’t get carbs and a stick in an F8.

Over in the Porsche world, the rare ‘Sportomatic’ gearboxes of 1968-1979 used to be swapped out routinely for three-pedal manuals, but I was told recently that as the early 911s became valuable buyers suddenly started to value originality over an added clutch pedal. Good luck if you expect a discount on a Sportomatic-equipped 911.

I do see a potential outlier in the original (2005) Aston Martin Vanquish, because the OEM F1 box was widely considered rubbish and the Newport-Pagnell factory itself has done some retrofits of three-pedal manuals. But it does reduce the number of original cars, so…



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I get it. It's just too hard to shift without spilling my beer.

 

Good call Rob.

 

My dad had many 911's and one was a conda green 911E sportomatic. It was actually a cool car as I remember it. 3 pedal 911 are like toasters, everyone has one. I wish my dad had kept the sportomatic it was quite a novelty. It was the 1st car I drove in a parking lot as an under aged kid behind the wheel.

 

In Ferrari World, almost any deviation from original spec adversely impacts value . . . eventually- but IMHO that's not really the question as regards manual conversions. I think the more pertinent question is how the significant delta between the values of factory 3-pedal cars vs. conversions will hold up over time.
I'm hugely biased (having driven manual gearbox cars every day for 55 years- yes, even my daily drivers), but I honestly suspect that many of the people who argue that the fascination with a gated manual 'box will soon fade don't even know how to drive stick- at least not competently. While I'd be loath to buy a converted car myself, I had no hesitation in paying more for an original gated car, and think that I can't be the only one.
And if there are enough others who value the more engaging experience offered by a gated Ferrari (time will tell), that will result in some of them opting for the converted cars in deference to their lower cost vs. the originals, keeping their value up. We shall see . . .

 

I wish he’d kept it and sold it to me, lol.

They are rare cars.


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Driving stick has become a faux badge of honor; most kids I talk to are fascinated yet don't know how to use it. I enjoy rowing my own gears; who doesn't love heel/toe goodness? I would be lying though if I thought the next crop of 2,000 HP cars is best served with such a manual.

1,000 HP is the base starting point now. In 10 years, 1 gear. 2,000, maybe 3,000 hp. Who needs that much power? I can easily ask who needs a Ferrari?

No lamentations brothers and sisters, makes what we own all the more special. If you *truly* love your record player, doesn't matter what Spotify does.

 

Regarding the driving in traffic comments. That is what your second vehicle is for. Never mind F1s, I guarantee there will be a huge market for autonomous Ferraris. Just wait.

 

I too am an 'all of the above' type of person. A proper place and a proper time as they say. Why Lobster vs Steak, when you can have both?

Level 3 is legal in California, S class is live now.

As Ferris said, life moves fast...

 

It never pays to modify an original Ferrari.

 

Yep

 

The only exception might F40s because they were not quite ready for prime time when they left the factory. Even then, save the original parts.

 

The 911 E's were the absolute gems of the early 911's. The T's had pretty modest power and the early (late-60's/early 70's) S's had zero torque and were awful to drive on the street. I drove a lot of those early 911's back in the day, and I never drove an E that I didn't love, and never drove an early S that I liked. Never drove a Sportomatic though.

 

That's not a Ferrari.

That said, I used to think Enzos were butt ****ing ugly. But now, they don't look so bad.

 

This is the second of 2 Lambo Gallardo Superleggra's I have converted. Lambo made it super easy to do. Other than the pedal box which is a ROYAL pain to change.. it's almost like they built the car for hot rodders. I also got rid of the 4 wheel drive in this one. Transforms the car from a turd..to something you actually want to drive..
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thought the same.
the only reason i might consider a swap is IF the F1 system on my 430 fails and it costs me $25k to replace it, and the same to convert it....

but that being said, every other ferrari i have or have ever had was a manual, so i am not jonesing for a manual coz i know what its like, AND i like (mostly) original cars.

fwiw, the very best ferrari gearbox i have ever experienced is the 355.
drove that around silverstone for half a day and it was supreme.

 

this is a truly beautiful car. seen it and been in it several times. better than what ferrari could make at the time. better than the enzo in many ways.

modifying a ferrari can be good or bad. just depends on what you do.
look at some of the cut cars, or the shooting brakes, or even the breadvan, or some of the car that chinetti put together.