First time seeing a Ferrari in person

+1, amazing cars aren't they? Here in St. Louis a guy used to own one of the FXX cars. Being within 3 feet of that car was simply mind blowing. Wait until you're standing next to one when it starts, it honestly is tied with sex.

 

+100

top man. the 550 is such a sweet car inside and out. and nice write up.

you will drive one someday. start asking around. and congratulations. i know how you feel.

 

standing next to that fxx really was an amazing experience. i honestly can't remember the first time i saw a ferrari, but the first time i remember seeing a ferrari, it was a red 512 driving down the highway. the reason it was memorable was because a couple of minutes down the road, it was pulled over. congrats!

 

This story reminded me of when I saw my first Ferrari in person.
It was in the early 70's, perhaps 1973 or so when I was a teenager.
I was visiting a relative who was in the major regional hospital in my geographic area. This was Loma Linda Hospital in Southern California. As I approached the main doors of the hospital, I walked through the "doctors only" parking spaces. These were curb-side spaces around a round wide driveway, so each of the doctors' cars were parked in a single-file fashion. As I walked by one of the doctor's cars, I was completely captivated. It was a shiny blue 246 Dino. Being a relatively new car at the time, I had never seen one. I spent several minutes just looking at every detail of the car. This was the first Ferrari I had seen in person and I said to myself, some day I'm going to own one of these.
Here is a pic of a similar looking car to the one I saw that day 35 years ago.
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Some nice stories here.
I recall very well seeing my 1st Ferrari...........because it was only 2 short years ago when I purchased my own.
1st time ever and was a dream come true.

 

Can't remember the first time I saw a Ferrari but my first real Ferrari memory is similar to yours. I was 16 and riding around on my bike with my friend on a summer afternoon. I went around a turn and jammed my breaks almost causing my friend to rear end me because right in front of me was a silver F355. After starring in awe for about 30 seconds, my friend goes you should look up because theres about 10 more Ferraris in this lot and whole bunch of Porsches and Vipers. I actually thought for a second I had hit by a car and this was heaven. Turns out I stumbled upon Champion Motor Group in Jericho, NY and it was first time I really got to see these magnificent machines up close. We immediately ran to a nearby convenience store to pickup a disposable camera and I still have these pictures to this day. I'm 23 now and working hard to actually be able to own one someday. Hopefully its not too far off.

 

I was probably about 8 when i saw my first Ferrari. I was on vacation in Cali with my parents and sister and we were in our rental car at the time. It was one of those highways in the middle of nowhere with a car sighting about every minute or so. Almost deserted. Out of nowhere my dad who was driving says "you favorite car is next to us", I was like "huh?", he said "look behind us". So I did, and there it was................what i though was a 355 at the time was driving just behind us. I look out the right side window and the driver, a man in his 30s or 40s, sees me staring at his car and he starts to smile himself. At that point he started to show off his car for me by speeding up and then slowing down right next to us again, eventually he took an exit. Now I know that it was a 348 because I remember the "cheese graders" on the side. The funny thing is, I KNOW I will be in his position one day doing the same exact thing he did and restarting the circle of Ferrari ownership that I belive starts before you even have a Ferrari.

Good times back then, goooooooooood times.

 

What Ferrari name/color is this shade of blue?? Looks very nice

 

Great writeup, thanks for sharing. Your closing rang true for me the whole time I was growing up -- east of Cleveland, where there isn't even a Ferrari dealer.

My first sighting as at my high school (think Dead Poet's Society, the Robin Williams film...) I subscribed to R&T and C&D, so I had seen pics of everything, but with Cleveland winters and roads you don't see many exotics. The wealthy people there drive Land Rovers, BMW, Jags, Benz, Porsches, etc. -- cars with a good dealer network and that people aren't afraid to take in the frequent rain. (It amazed me always how many of these cars were out in the winter snow/salt mix -- cars rusted badly after a while, the rwd German cars would be passed by any kind of fwd hatchback during those months.)

So, having never seen a Ferrari, I headed out to the parking lot after school to throw my books/crap in my yellow VW Rabbit (striped up like the then new Rabbit GTI, of course! ) and there was a red Ferrari 308 QV parked in the first space. At first I thought someone had left a toy in the parking lot, but I knew right away what it was. Magazines, Magnum P.I... The only thing is the magazine pics don't show a 308 parked next to anything, so you have no idea of the scale: when it hits you in real life, it's like having a supermodel walk into a room. Literally. It made everything else look ponderous and just wrong.

And given the era, eveything else probably did look wrong. Picture this showroom new 308 against a backdrop of 1980s crap -- Plymouth Reliants, Pontiac J2000s, BMW 318i's, Toyota Celicas, a Honda CRX (well, not crap for its era...), VW Vanagons, diesel Rabbits, Oldsmobiles -- and it's even more stunning. It was brutally low, had those signature air intakes, no exterior door handles to notice -- until you got close -- and those equally unique wedge-like grilles on the rear quarter windows that made it look even smaller. And it was red like nothing else on wheels. And those wheels!

I was worried about getting too close to it (it was a brand new car -- and probably $60K or something in 1984), but after that every other car kind of receded a bit for me - the 308 was like a Bernini sculpture, and cars that I formerly lusted after, like the Porsche 944, were suddenly amateur.

Even now, I've got to say that while there are earlier Ferraris that are much prettier in a classical sense (California Spyder, Daytona Spyder and others) the 308/328 kind of marked me for life right there in 1984. I still walk past literally rows of 360s at FOC/FCA events, and when I get to a perfect 308/328 it's almost a relief to see that they still exist and that I was right about it. I'm actually glad to have grown up then, because Ferraris were extremely rare (they still are, but less so) and looked like nothing else on the road.

 

the first time i remember seeing a ferrari was parked in a krispy kreme parking lot in vegas, it was either a 512 or TR, it was incredible seeing one because just a year earlier i sat watching the 50th anniversary coverage on speed for hours and that is when my love for the cars started

 

From the sound of things I grew up not too far from where Bullfighter did so like he said Cleveland was not the exotic spotters dream. I saw my first one in the Used car showroom at a Pontiac Dealer. It was a Mondial, 85 I think red with tan interior. I was absolutely stunned by it. Top down, just sitting there glowing redness. Right next to a blue Toyota Tercel. I just had to buy it.

The Tercel, I mean, I am still working on the Mondial.



I stopped at Marshall Goldman Motors today on the way home from the AMA races at Mid Ohio just to look in the windows at the Ferraris there. I still can't get enough.

 

AWESOME POST!!

 

nice write up. has an immediacy that i can relate to.

 

My father had a 280SEL back in the early 1970s. For some reason he used a local Ferrari dealership (Setuket, NY) to service this car. The dearlership had several on the floor. I also remember the Persuaders on TV with R. Moore and T. Curtis driving Dinos, The Pink Panter with the "California"

 

My first encounter with a Ferrari was to watch Jerry Grant's 250 Testa Rosa race at Portland in the early 1960s with that unmuffled, screaming v12. It sounded like it was mad at somebody or everybody. My gosh what a wonderful sound!

But, I have a better story. One day at work, my office clerk, a burly guy about my age, came running into my office in the morning babbling about a Ferrari in the parking lot. He went on and on about its appearance, color, and how cool was it to have it right here in our lot. It was the first Ferrari he had seen. Somebody very cool must be visiting, blah, blah, blah. I calmly swung my chair around, looked him in the eye with a straight face and said "Ron, that's my car". Well you could have knocked him over a feather. He had no idea we owned a Ferrari. That was one of my favorite days. Of course, I had to take him for a spin at lunch time. Then, I had to take him to the emergency room to have his big grin surgically removed.
Ed

 

I saw my first back in the early part of 81. I actually ran into the guy driving that car that day two weeks ago here in town at a race. Haven't seen him since that day 26 years ago. He unknowingly changed my life forever. It was really cool to finally run into him again.

 

I vividly remember seeing my first F-car (a Dino actually). I was 14 or 15 and walking around downtown San Diego when I came across the FoSD showroom. And there is was: a yellow Dino with brown interior. I was mesmerized. I must of had my face stuck to that showroom window for a good hour. I've seen plently of F-cars since then but the experience was never the same until twenty years later I was driving to work on a country road thru Rancho Sante Fe when I spotted what looked like a gaudish red kit car about a mile down comming in the opposite direction. My first reaction was embarresment for the driver. As it got closer I realizied it was an F50! And the closer it got the more overwhelmed I was. I was driving a '76 Chevy Monte Carlo (heavy american iron) and as it passed me my car shook. The experience was surreal: my heart was pounding, my head was spinning, my palms were sweating and I was shaking. The driver looked to be 16 or 17 with his dad in the passenger's seat. I still remember to this day the grin that kid had on his face.

 

Like many of you, I had been facinated by Ferraris since high school, seen pictures in magazines, etc.
I was going to the local community college in Port Huron, Michigan in 1973 and they were planning a new building.
I was in class on the second floor and heard a sound like nothing I had ever heard before (obviously a car, but not an ordinary one). I looked out the window and a 250 Testa Rosa was going by! It was followed by a Dino and a Daytona. After class I went over to the site of the new building and the cars were parked there. I was told they belonged to the architects, but unfortunately I had another class and they left before I could meet any of the owners.
It is amazing that at that time a 250 TR was still something someone would consider driving in traffic.
About 10 years later at one of the first Meadowbrook Concours, A 250 GTO parked next to me IN THE PARKING LOT as I was getting out of my car! I asked the owner about it and he told me he and his wife had just completed a 2000 mile road trip in it.

 

i was still in high school and "miami vice" was in full steam. crockett just got his '86 testarossa, and i was glued to my parents television every friday night. so i'm walking out of a local savings & loan one friday afternoon in '86 when a rosso corsa ferrari testarossa pulls out of the parking lot and heads north on a busy main street. i thought about running to my [parents] car and trying to chase him down, instead i just ran to the farthest part of the street and watched it's taillights fade.... 21 years later that vision is still burned into my retina. kinda like tasting beer for the first time, or losing your virginity... some things you will never forget.

joseph j.

rockford, illinois

 

Yeah, I love those Dinos! (I even named my dog Dino.)

Ironic to note that, when they came out, the Tifosi tended to look down their noses at the Dinos: They were never badged as Ferraris; they shared an engine with a Fiat of the same name; and they only had six cylinders - the horror!

As recently as 1995, you could get a reasonably good Dino for about a fifth of what they're going for now.

Times have changed: The Dinos are among the most admired cars at the various shows and concours I have attended, and they are definitely a respected presence in the Ferrari Club here. I'd love to have one, but I don't have the $150k+ that is now demanded for a car that was once snubbed.

~Bradley

 

Sadly, I don't yet own a Ferrari. But I do have a couple of other interesting cars and thought I would share a recent experience. A few weeks ago, I was gassing up my '68 E-type roadster when a kid, maybe 14 yrs old, came up to me and started raving about the car. He told me that it was his favorite sports car of all time, that his Dad had told him that he had almost bought one when he graduated from college but he couldn't put the down payment together. He also said that he had a picture of one on his computer. That did it.
I invited him to take a seat and I gave him a 15 minute thrill ride through the Oakland Hills and down the Warren Freeway at 75 (in an open E-type that feels like 100). Then I drove him home. His Dad came out and nearly fainted. He passed on a joy ride, but we agreed that the next time I take the Jag down to Monterey, possibly next weekend for the Historics, I'd give him a call and either take him or his son for the day.
Obligatory Ferrari content: Should any of you Ferrari owners in the SF East Bay find yourselves looking for a passenger for a brief joy ride to Monterey - feel free to email me :>)
Best,
Randy

 

That's a great story, Randy. I love those E-types, too!

I have given a few rides to kids after the Concorso Italiano here in Denver - but ONLY if their parents were there to give permission!

I used to live near San Francisco - bought my Ferrari in Morgan Hill - but I'm in Colorado now. Otherwise, I'd probably be able to give you a ride down to Monterey. (Even without your parents' permission.)

 

Aaya, you should monitor the mid-Atlantic thread here, several of us meet up often, and I'm sure you will have the opportunity to see the cars a bit closer.

John
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It may very well be that "sighting" one for the first time is just as exciting as "driving" one for the first time!

I have told this before, but post it whenever this thread comes around, so the new guys can hear it.

My first ever Ferrari in the flesh was in a very weird place - a little out-of-the-way import repair shop just south of the old Route 66 Main Street in Bethany, Oklahoma. I had gone in there in summer 1970 to buy plugs for my 1969 Porsche 911T. I parked right next to a strange beautiful gray car - very low and very different. It had a huge tach and speedo right in the middle of the dash. It was, to put it nicely, in kind of in need of a good cosmetic going over.

I knew right away it was a Ferrari, of course, but only later learned that this was a real 250GT Lusso, and how rare this car was anywhere - let alone in Bethany, Oklahoma!

Will remember that day forever.