'70s & '80s - What were they like?

80s:
Yes it was similar at times. With the intro of new cars there was waiting list, blah blah. The 80s in general were a crazy time until it went pop in 89.

In the mid 90s, everything was going really bad though, and you could pic up most anything of the floor. 355 saved the company.

 

As a Sr. in HS in '77, I saw a yellow 308 at the Ferrari dealer in Reno for $72K on the showroom floor. I just had to wait 16 years until they depreciated enough to buy one!

 

I dug out an old Road & Track issue and looked at the Classifieds.

308 GTB with 3000 miles for $31kUS which was about MSRP at the time.

How about a Phil Hill 250 MM for $50k?

http://home.earthlink.net/~fchat/images/Mar78R&T.jpg

 

When you look back the prices seem absurdly cheap (except for the speculator's bubble after the stock market crashed). But the biggest difference, as far as i am concerned, is the huge difference in number of cars on the road. In the early seventies, it was possible to speed much more safely, the roads were far more open; today the roads are so congested, at least in the NorthEast, that it makes driving a chore, rather than a pleasure.

 

I remember in the mid 80's TR's were rolling off the lot for $123K. Everybody wanted a TR.

328's were going for around $80K

Mondial's for about $75K

 

in 1987 over here in the uk i put £5000 aprox $9000 deposit down on a 328 with a signed order at on day of delivery aprox 1991 i would pay full list price then the car market went bad lucky for me it specified a 328gts on the order form in 1989 ferrari dealer contacted me and says they wanted my build spec i said i didnt want a 348 there reply was you paid deposit and signed an order form i got the order form out and said yes but it states a 328gts can you supply one ther reply was it has been supercedded by the 348 my reply was i want a 328 or my money back which i got phew what a lucky escape as when i ordered they were doing over list bot in 1991 they couldnt sell them

 

Twas me. My 15 minutes. Car was also on the cover of Forza that year. Thanks for asking.

 

In the late 70's and early 80's you could buy the cars off the showroom floor. I test drove a car in the late 70's; I could have driven any of the cars the dealer had in stock. I purchased a new car (308) from the dealership in 1980 for 15% off list... There was no wait until the mid to late 80s...

Roy

 

I remember in the early 80's you could buy a 330 for about $13k. That was about the price of a new Honda Prelude. I also recall seeing 206 and 246 Dino's for below $20k.

 

I shouldn't answer a thread started by a Porsche-driving MF like JeffB!

When Testarossas were in their heyday, they were selling at up to $300,000.

 

I got 2 words for you, and they aren't "Happy Birthday"!

 

My understanding is that it really depends on the dealership, most factory authorized dealerships were charging MSRP only and nothing more. The catch is that all the cars that are coming off the production line are already spoken for, hence the infamous "Waiting list". It is not unlike buying any of the high end cars these days, as you get on the waiting list that is based on "first come, first serve" rule. If someone should drop off the list, than everyone moves up accordingly. Needless to say, with the annual production being so low (when compared to other car manufactures, with the exceptions of a few others, ie. Lambo, Lotus, RR or Bently etc.), the list can be as long as 3 years, which was how long I had to wait in my particular case. And this is where everything turns interesting, if you do not want to or do not wish to wait, you can find a "used" car that will cost you a lot more money in the private sector.

You see, the factory and the honest dealerships charges the MSRP, it is the greed and the vanity of the "investors" that drove the market up. It is usually the ones that jumps on the bandwagen first that gets taken for a ride, in more ways than one that is. In that aspect, Ferrari dealerships truely does not really make their profits through new car sales, it is through service and used cars where the majority of their profits comes from. I remember that people were paying $30,000 for a Miata when it first came out, and $200,000 for a Corvette ZR1 or a Acura NSX at one point. The dealer markup on a NSX I saw was $7,000 during its introduction year!! And more recently, the so called "limited edition" Honda S2000 were also thousands over the MSRP initally until Honda decided to not make it so limited all of the sudden. And the same thing is happening with the BMWs, Lancer EVO VIIIs or the WRX STIs, it is usually the ones that just couldn't wait that ended up looking like a fool.

 

Gotta agree with you there. The first E46 M3 coupe, which was bone stock, sold for $30K over sticker at Beverly Hills BMW and the first Z8 sold for $500,000 (from what I heard). But I think the Z8 is a special case given the car but still. Oh, and for about a year, E39 M5's were selling for $30K above sticker all over West L.A.

But you can't blame the dealerships for selling these cars to such people. They would be stupid not to. Classic supply and demand case. But not all U.S. dealerships can enjoy such circumstances.