A Ferrari in New Mexico - Is this Sane?

Dave Helms is in CO also....

Need me to bring the Houston car up? I need a reason to come ski!

There's an enthusists club in Sante Fe...Denise McCluggage has written about it in Autoweek......there's gotta be a local shop taking care of those cars....

 

I volunter to fly from Calif to Houston, and gladly bring the car up for him. Someone has to do it, and I will take one for the team.

 

A Ferrari--Is this sane?



It doesn't matter where it is, brutha. It's never going to make sense.

 

I am planning to relocate my Daytona to Albuquerque this summer, and received some info from the NM/Nevada/Az regional section re shops there. However, I am reasonably self sufficient mechanically and real familiar with the car (owned 34 years), but if I had, God forbid, a big problem, I would ship it back to Florida. I dont want anyone learning a Ferrari motor or gearbox rebuild on my car.

 

There are a fair number of Ferraris in northern NM. You will notice a significant drop in power at 7000 feet, but you'll get used to it.

Dave

 

Go for it!

 

Just drive it (fast) on 550 to Durango and keep it cool.

 

I too am a part time resident of Santa Fe and to tell you the truth I kept the Ferrari in Los Angeles for a few reasons.

1.) The wonderful tree covered road to my house but dirt which does not see the Ferrari.

2.) No one to work on it that I would trust, especially if you've had Eugenio or Fast Cars work on your car.
A $1,500 one way $3,000 round trip transport fee is not my idea of fun if you need competent work to be done.
Denver is still 5-6 hours away easy.

3.) Just too short of a season

4.) The same thing we all face owning a Ferrari / not being able to leave your car unattended for obvious reasons.

5.) There are a cazillion different policia here, from state, county and all the tribal cops that would just love to pop
"a rich guy" in a Ferrari for doing two miles over, we do stand out a little you know.

Sorry, just my thoughts from a fellow Santa Fe'an.

 

Are there decent paved roads in NM, or are they all dirt?
( I am contemplating a move to the area)

 

Yes, they have paved roads in New Mexico.

 

No parking spots either just hitching posts... Ha ha Santa Fe may not have a real airport but they do have paved roads!

 

Well............Hmmmmmmmmm...both.For the most part the paved roads in New Mexico are fine and well kept but you do have your fair share of dirt roads. We're not just talking about back roads but many dirt roads and driveways in some very exclusive residential areas in Santa Fe. It is not uncommon to see a very expensive home with gravel/dirt drives and or parking areas, many houses don't even have garages. Imagine taking your Ferrari to someone's party tucked back in the hills on a winding dirt road here.....not.! Attached are pictures of the road to my house (part of the original El Camino Real, 200 years old) and a tunnel of trees for almost a mile but dirt none the less. The Ferrari never saw this road for obvious reasons...the county takes care of the road ....sometimes? Oh yeah....don't forget about the white stuff. There are a few Ferrari's here , but you see them very infrequently and usually when the weather cooperates, not unlike back east I'm sure. You just have plan ahead and live in an area that is paved and Ferrari friendly.
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The FCA NM Chapter currently has 20 members, we have activities from April thru October at least once a month. Most activities are held in Albuquerque or Santa Fe. One of our members is in the process of opening a shop in Albuquerque to work on Ferraris. If you are interested on FCA activities, please PM your email and I will pass all related club info.

Milton Souza, President
FCA - NM Chapter

 

Does your Chapter have a Web site?

 

We do have paved roads in New Mexico, but there is alot of cops in parts of NM

 

That first pic is amazing.

 

Of course you can own a ferrari in new mexico. I owned a 360 for 2 years in santa fe and put 15k miles on it without any troubles. The cops have been very nice to me. I usually run into them around town and they want to stop and talk to me about cars. 95% of the people give me thumbs up when I'm driving and it is rare to not have someone and his kid come up to me and ask to look inside or take a picture. I think the people here are very nice to people with exotics because these cars are rare compared to places like LA where they are very common. In terms of dirt roads, just drive slow or avoid them. Whenever I travel anywhere else I think to myself how lucky I am to own an exotic in new mexico. There are plenty of isolated roads for fast driving. The people are nice and considerate. I leave my car in shopping centers, grocery stores, restaurants, etc with no problems ever. I know of one owner in ABQ who owns 18 ferraris so there are plenty of people here who appreciate these cars. Earlier this summer I went to a car show where there were probably 30 ferraris ranging from 430s to classics. Not to mention other exotics. I currently own a lamborghini gallardo and drive it all year round. It is absolutely crazy to think that it is insane to own a ferrari in NM. NM is great!

 

I'd drive any of my Ferraris on the road in the first picture. Not so much in the snow, but in the dry, heck, I don't even see any potholes!

I own a house on a gravel road, and that's never stopped me! And my road has potholes, too.

 

Tom, Cool, who worked on your 360 when you had it here in Santa Fe and where are they located? I don't think insane is the proper word to use as far as owning a Ferrari in New Mexico, there's plenty of great places to drive, especially a cruise up to Durango in the summer. But, driving slow on a pot holed, dusty, icy muddy or gravel road like the one to my house is no guarantee of some unwanted fun to to the 'F'car. My F-150 4x4 gets beat up on this road so it all depends where you go and where you live, Los Companos? When the new 550-575 arrives this spring it will stay in LA. As for the one time I drove the Ferrari here last year I parked near the plaza to run into a store, 15 minutes later I returned to find a milk shake splattered all over the side of the car. Go figure,it's just the luck of the draw sometimes. I would trust my car parked here over LA anytime........Albuquerque? that's another story?

 

That's the nice part of the road.The front spoiler would make it maybe a hundred feet before it became part of the El Camino Real. A little too low to be comfortable not to mention the dust from the road and other cars.
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I had my 360 serviced by a company called executive automotive. I only used them for small stuff like oil changes, small repairs to underbody, but shipped or drove it to denver to have the 15k and 30k service done to it. I know that they've worked on other ferraris and a friend told me that he went by their shop one day and saw an enzo in the parking lot that was there for a oil change supposedly. It does of course depend on where you live in terms of road quality. I lived near the plaza and was always grimacing with those potholes and uneven roads, but the highways and certain country roads are very well maintained and quite fun to drive on. Sorry to hear about the milk shake. It is the luck of the draw, but overall I have been very happy with the respect given to my cars in NM.

 

Yes, but it still a work in progress. www.ferrarinm.com

Milton

 

Love those rims.