365 GTC/4

C/4's are killer and think that any car that is in very good driving condition and average cosmetic condition is valued at over $110K. There are tons of scary ones out there that I would not buy for any price.
I am restoring one for re-sale but will probably ask over $150,000 for the car as it will have well over $100K put into it and I know a few people who will gladly pay that.

V-12 Ferraris are very special and will always be highly regarded therefore always high potential for appreciation

 

Buy cars for enjoyment not investment. If the car appreciates, then that's a bonus. These cars at red line in 3rd gear are reward enough. The noise (music) is terrific. These cars are still fairly basic so a good home mechanic can still work on them. If you are OK with tools then these cars are not expensive to own. However if you are not good with tools and need a valve adjust then think $5,000, and it goes on. The rear levellers are crap (however I fixed mine) but most replace them with coil over shocks, about $1500. etc etc
To answer your question I think $110 to $120k should get you the car you describe.
My C4 was the first Ferrari I drove but boy was it an experience. They are real easy to drive (think grandma going to the shops for milk) but can be rewarding if driven hard. I have had mine to 125 with heaps of pull left, but the real fun is in 2nd and 3rd gears at red line. When you put it into 4th the car just flies. Great fun and worth the entry price without looking at it as a financial investment. Think of it as an investment in fun.
Cheers
John

 

I have, over the last three years, completely rebuilt my Daytona mechanically, including the engine and transmission (both done by Carobu Engineering).

Rarely had any parts that couldn't be found--and eventually everything you could need will turn up.

The bad news--be prepared to pay big prices for many things. I just paid $1300 for the two lenses for the front turn signals. I bought two pairs of gaskets for these lenses for $600.

One of the good things about the C/4 is its almost as fast as a Daytona but far more comfortable (power steering and an A/C that works). The C/4 has one of the best sounding exhaust notes of any Ferrari.

The C/4 is a bargain, because like all Ferrari 2+2s, most people don't want them. But its a lot of car for the money.

I would advise you to get a thorough PPI before you buy. Be sure to have both a compression and LEAKDOWN test as a part of the PPI. Keep track of what items need service and use the list to bargain on the price. Don't buy it if it needs serious work--there's always another one for sale down the road. Try to get one that doesn't badly need a paint job. To get a high quality paint job on one of these cars figure $20-30K.

Good luck.

 

All of the above is good advice. C4s are great cars and the easiest to live with of all the vintage Ferraris.

As mentioned above, valve adjustments were considered very expensive untill the engine out services came along with the BBs. Anyway the interval on the valves is 15k which is many years the way most old cars get used

 

RacerFred:

Most of the guys that post on the C4 forum also monitor vintage here too. If you do purchase the car i encourage you to sign up over on 365GTC4.com Jeff L. does a great job over there. Most of that forum is closed to non members.

I have owned my C4 for 8 years now. At the time of purchase i had everything north of the short block rebuilt. Since then the car has been rock solid. the only significant work that i have had done to the car is a new clutch \ pressure plate and second gear syncros. Honestly i cant say enough about the car so i wont try. Just make sure that you understand what you are purchasing.

 

Fred
I get consumables eg bearings, suspension bushings, gaskets etc from GT Car Parts in Scottsdale. They are not expensive and give great service. The parts that would be VERY scarce are specific interior and exterior trim bits. Remember that there are almost 3 times as many Daytonas as there are C4s, so they are a rare car. (500 built) So unique bits will be hard to source. Ian L in the UK is the interior guru and he can be contacted via the C4 owners site. On that site there are engine guys, interior, suspension, drive train etc real experts who are VERY helpful. So if you get the car you MUST join up. Ian L has pulled his car to individual nuts and bolts and kept a photo diary, so he has photos of almost everything pulled apart. He is great for all C4 info but especially interior stuff.
Good luck and enjoy the drive, especially the loud music at red line.
John

 

And as there is a lot of commonality between the B4 and C4 engines there is a very large community of wrench turners who can offer first hand advice on every thing, M

 

Congrats Does she have a sister?

 

Fred: Sign into the C4 Registry, a good portion of the surviving 400 cars' owners can be found there, M

 

Congrats !

Looking forward to seeing the car. In what city are you located?

 

Congtrats. Can't wait to see the pics.

 

Congratulations Fred, it is a great touring "coupe." Be sure to join the C/4 website and Tom Yang's too, lot's of help. There are several of us C/4 owners in New England and we will be looking out for you.

Sam

 

Enjoy. I just hope that the market for these is moving out of my reach, as its on my short list.

 

Steve,

FYI. We went through a C/4 for a friend who sold it to a Dealer for $150K. That Dealer re-sold the car in a blink of an eye for a lot more money. Granted, it was a wonderful driving car and mechanically superb, but it really needed a paint job. So, I wouldn't leave any money on the table if you're putting in that kind of time and money on the car. Buyers are out there willing to pay the money for a good car. C/4's are much more difficult (read expensive) to restore than Daytonas. Smart Buyers know this and buy the best car they can afford. Otherwise, you can easily put the purchase price of a C/4 into a C/4 and wonder where they money went....

Steve

 

Actually many guys in the business have told me the Pininfarina body is, all things being equal, far less a hassle than the Scaglietti body to restore. The literature on relative build quality supports this. M

 

Welcome.I own #14791...I like to see more discussion on C/4's here...p.s i know about the C/4 forum...can never get myself used to it........MO

 

Welcome Racerfred. Having owned a C4 for several years, I have a biased opinion about how great these cars are.
One word of caution - when were the valves last adjusted on your car? When I bought mine, it had sat unused for about 15 years. I redid the suspension, brakes, threw the load levelers out and got coil-over replacements from Rutlands..... and in doing so drove it maybe 1000 miles and promptly warped an exhaust valve. Compression check at time of purchase was fine, however somewhere along the way several valves got tight and got fried.
Just my 2 cents.... enjoy the car.
Mike
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Re Valve clearences.
There is some discussion about what is best. Most agree the manual is correct but the later 400 manual has larger clearences. (Basically the same engine) The reason "MAYBE" is that Ferrari found some problems in service with the former tighter tolerences. Now with the larger tolerences you maybe will increase valve train noise and decrease horsepower by a few percent but the up side is that you greatly reduce the risk of burning valves because they do not seat correctly to dissapate the heat.
John

 

JC Taylor is best for me...i just got an appraisal done...and came in at $116,000.00,and i'll insuer it at $120,000.00...I know you can insuer it for what you bought it for.....if you want the appraisal company just PM me i will forward info to you.you can always try on what the industry calls Agreed Value and see how that works.........