1983 Ferrari 400i Convertible Chassis 46859

This car is not as bad as it seems: body is not plague by rust and engine seems to have been somewhat taken care of (noticed the injection?). Interior is definitively neglected, but I'd rather buy a Ferrari with dried leather rather than engine issues. 15.000~25.000USD is basically what it would take to save this car (not a full resto, but working conditions). There are not so many convertible out-there, let's hope it will find a new (passionate) home.

 

I must admit that having two brothers at the board of f400club makes my life easier when it comes to finding the right persons and parts, but all in all our maintenance costs seem much more affordable here in Europe, which is probably why the market-value is higher on this side of the Atlantic.

When I read your quotes, I really come to appreciate my suppliers! I guess there is a reason why my mechanic is currently working on two 400i and have another two (including mine) in the queue (engine overhaul : 6000€~12000€). Same story for the machinist : he has something like 50 engines in the queue: crankshaft alignments, hardening, main bearings replacement (custom oversize), "unbending" of piston rods, boring cylinders to 2nd oversize, fixing cracks in the head, valve guide replacement, flywheel repair, ... for the whole of it I was charged ~5000€ (excluding parts). As for leather, refurbished dashboard did cost me 400€ two weeks ago (excluding removal & installation). TRX tires are 390€. All these prices do include 20% VAT.

Until recently, the Ferrari official network would not take care of these, so we had to rely on less prestigious shops that have now developed a real knowledge of these cars without the scary price tag. Last but not least many cars have been scrapped, so parts are easy to source (by vintage Ferrari standards). All in all we've got here a "grey" market very specific to this Ferrari.

Back to the subject: these Straman conversions are the most desirable topless 400i. Baur & Fly Studio attempt were far less elegant. Needless to say it is now almost impossible to modify an existing car and pass controls. Under other circumstances I would agree that a car in such conditions should be used for parts, but maybe not this one.

 

Straman conversions are the most desirable topless 400i?

Maybe the most numerous, but I question your statement the most desirable. I do have a dog in the fight.

Ferrari's are meant to be driven, let's hope this one gets another chance to run with the herd.
Frank

 

Correct. I almost forgot the excellent article by Paul on f400club: Pavesi Stommel and Autokraft were also quite nice. Maybe the Pavesi has the highest market value (except for the last version?), but the Straman(s) were not just nice, they were also designed to drive well. By contrast, I was disapointed by the 365 shooting break: it looked good on pictures, but in person the car looked cheap. When it was on show in Geneva the car had a lexan rear windscreen and the interior was missing a lot of leather in order to be in par with the regular 365. Maybe this was later fixed, but Straman conversions were much better.

Regarding rarity, Paul said Straman did cut 20 cars.

I do not remember who was selling conversion kit "alone", was it Pavesi or Straman?

 

I believe Straman claimed he cut 49 Ferrari's. Cannot remember were I read this or heard a rumor to this fact. Also to be included in the discussion is the German firm Stommel Con-Moda that cut 3 365GT4 2+2 (no records of course). I found the owner of one of the other ones at FCA2018. So at least I can confirm with certainty that there are 2. Mine 17675 is believe to be one of them.

 

The Stommel is the one with the rigid cover right? There used to be a photo of one of these cars on FerrariClub400, unfortunately the article was removed, but maybe you can contact the original author (Paul Dubois) and ask him for the photo used in his document: could be your car...