Had mine for over two years now and haven't spent close to that for required maintenance and it's been gone over by both independents and a dealer in that time. Now fun things and stupid mods..that's a different story
I would have no problem with a converted car. The conversion is pretty easy and in most cases lots of other parts have been replaced while they were in there. There's obviously no premium to be paid for a converted car so it should be priced like it's equivalent F1 360 plus parts and labor for the conversion. Nothing more nothing less. Now that there are several companies making conversion kids, I'm assuming a decent percentage of clutch replacements on F1 cars will include a manual conversion. Will original manual cars demand a premium? Who knows... probably. They made so many 360s, I don't really think it matters.
Owned ours atleast 1 and half years now, not a penny needed yet other than fuel and insurance, going for its first service the coming week....
Agreed on this one. Have not seen a single older Ferrari that needs nothing. Nobody sells a perfect car. I have often (also confirmed by many high end dealers) noticed that many seem to overvalue what they have and the condition. "Needs nothing" often means needs several things that the owner doesn´t know or care about.
'needs' is also subjective If I 'need' to keep it in 'Ferrari' condition, yes, I've done lots But if I treated it like my other cars and just do the basics, I probably could have been driving it for the last 4 years without doing anything, it'd probably be running fine now. Not as well as it is, and not in the condition its in, but it'd be basically same as when I got it. (knock on wood) example: I removed my front bumper and fixed all the tabs, on my other car, as long as it didn't flap or fall off, I would have just left it alone The bar is higher, almost all the pics I see these are like new, unlike most regular cars which get 'driven into the ground'
It´s all subjective where one sets the bar. I, for example, can´t stand the slightest issue even with my beater and have to keep it in exhibition condition at all times. It gets the same attention as the Ferrari even though it´s worth maybe 5k. So everyone is different and 99% of the time when someone says the their car needs nothing haven´t looked at it with "concours-eyes". Not every car can be judged this way but a Ferrari should.
More often than not, even the most expensive 360s with "flawless" maintenance histories that I see for sale have sagging tail pipes from a bad trans mount and shrunken dashes. I guarantee I could find more things wrong with them if I got to drop the undertray and have a look. While 430s had a lot of the 360 flaws worked out, like the trans mount, they still have their own issues.
That’s certainly possible, but I didn’t buy mine on a whim either. I think every person has a different criteria for what is acceptable to them. For me, almost 20 year old suspension components weren’t “needed”, but for the feedback I wanted in the car, they were. Parts for these cars aren’t cheap, but maybe only the duds go through ball joints/bushings/etc. How many F430s are sold with stock manifolds? Ok, there’s your $5k and that’s assuming it needs nothing else, which is *almost* never the case.
It's all about the REASON a person wants to drive a car. There are faster cars, and slower cars. In my view, it's not about the speed, but about the experience, and involvement. The more "supercars" I get to drive, the less they interest me. Sure, they are fast and put you in the back of the seat, but so does a Tesla. That is great for what it is, but if the car is not on a track, and I am looking for enjoyment, if it does not have a manual and a 3rd pedal, It is not interesting to me anymore
Yea, maintenance could be a killer for someone if they don't have the money. If I don't count the mods I've done to my car (Exhaust, tune, manual swap, center lock swap, etc), I have still spent roughly $60,000-$70,000 on just maintenance items and fixing things on a Challenge Stradale that was sold as "perfect" and with "full factory maintenance records since new." This was just over a 2 year period too. I'm fine with it and now things are as perfect as can be, but damn, I was not expecting that. I accept it on a $250,000-$400,000 car that will only get rarer. On a $60,000-$150,000 360 or F430, I'd have to think twice.
I've spent quite a bit on fixing things up and maybe too much if you count the Scuderia CF intake manifold. However, even if I got exactly what I paid back 1:1 (including the EAG swap) what would I possibly replace it with? Nothing comes to mind that would be as fun to drive/own/enjoy. Letting go of ROI has started one of the better parts of owning the F430 for me. Folks that have 5 or 8k mi cars likely already knew but spending the money has made the F430 refined, balanced and enjoyable (Scuderia audio full tilt) It has always been hot, nimble, loud and a little rough.
Just to follow up on this, got the bill last week. Nothing else is needed other than the regular service....
I've owned two 430s over ten years and 25,000 miles, or thereabouts. So far not a year has gone by without at least one part breaking or wearing out. There is always something to do to keep the car 100%.
Personal I would not touch a converted car. Long term I feel the value of converted cars will drop below the unmolested F1. Look at the auction results for cars from 30 or 40 years ago. The ones that are unmolested are highly valued by collectors vs the ones someone that they were improving. When I bought my F430 I wanted an F1, no interest in the gated which were about $20,000 more. Had I bought a 360, another beautiful car, I would have taken the gated. The zeitgeist for gate cars was definitely with the 360 whereas with the F430 or the 599 it is a one off. At the end of the day it is your car do what you want with it. People in the 1960s were swapping in chevy engines as Ferrari engines lacked manuals or techs who knew how to work on them. Ran into a 1962 Lusso with a Chevy engine which to me made it close to worthless. Guy wanted $60,000 whereas the unmolested cars were going for about $800,000.
Enjoy the honeymoon! I felt the same way. I bought a 575m that needed nothing, bought my f430 the next year, also needed nothing, and I felt like I was a genius. My 2 f cars cost me less to maintain than my bmw! Fast forward several years and I am sadly used to 10k bills and cars being in the shop for months at a time. It is a labor of love to keep these aging cars in tip top shape.
The benefit can be enjoyed now and you can put it back for the stick in the muds like you. F1 parts maintain the freshness while us commoners wallow in the manual labor.
I find it mind blowing how many people talk about the car being ruined over something that is literally reversible.
I guess it depends on the details: who did the conversion, when, with which parts? E.g.: I personally wouldn't buy a car, that has any record of being worked on by EAG. And in general terms: if I can chose between a (re-)converted car and a "normal" car with all other things being equal, I'll pick the "normal" one every single time. Obviously that doesn't mean that any conversion ruins the car ... it's just a caveat emptor thing I guess.
Also consider the tune. Some tunes mess about with the behavior when the clutch pedal is pressed and they don't drive at all like the factory manual. It's people playing with parameters because they can, not because they are an actual tuner/engineer. Do your homework.
I'd never touch an EAG car but would absolutely pay a premium for one of the few cars converted using 100% OEM parts by a leading specialist.
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2007-ferrari-f430-62/ Seems like a premium associated with this car. 178k + BAT fee of 7500.
