advice on buying Dinos please

They all watch Top Gear?

 

Welcome to Fchat. If you are lucky enough, you may have the guys who have actually owned them/restored them chime in and give you some friendly advice. I cant help you out sorry. Dont be scared to fill out your profile also.
Cheers.

 

Glenn Coad has a beautiful Silver one with blue interior for sale... currently sitting in Mark Coffey showroom in Richmond.

Asking price about AUD$75k which is right up there but it IS lovely... Interior is like a time warp... fantastic, excellent mechanicals, just minor details required to make into concours competitive (but not winning!) car. Silver really suits the shape too.

There's another red one floating around that's really nice inside and mechanically but has no history.... asking about $42k for that I think.

Can still find scruffy but drivable ones down in the $30k or even less if you have good contacts.

GT4 most definitely IS a true Ferrari. Don't be told otherwise. They're great little cars, in many ways better than a 308 GTB/S.

 

Hey...its Pap348. This place is great! Its full of great guys in the know and we can all be very helpful at times. Welcome again and i hope you will have a great time here as i have been having.

 

Richmond Melbourne..

You can call either.., they're both brokers for this car.

Mark Coffey 03 9421 3488
Glenn Coad 03 9428 3712

 

Tell 'em I sent you! But they'll know already I'm sure....

 

246's have become expensive cars, but for anyone in Australia there won't be such a thing as a "cheaper one overseas". By the time you've shipped it half way around the world and paid all the taxes the "cheap" overseas car will owe you the same as a locally acquired one. Same goes for any Ferrari in fact. I'd agree with the other postings that you are unlikely to find anywhere a 308GT4 as nice as that one in Melbourne. Best of luck !!

 

$75K !!

That would have to be the BEST one in Australia, and the trouble is the owners will ALL tell you this so watch out!!

And having owned both a GT4 and a GTS they are chalk and cheese in the handling dept, the seating dept and the respect dept.

A GT4 IS a Ferrari but I copped heaps of crap from other idiots on the road but the GTS gets nothing but smiles and agreeable nods.

Things to look for :

electrics are getting tired so make sure all the functions work
engine needs to have had the sodium valves done
gearbox can jump out of gear
suspension should be done (shocks , bushes)
cooling system - test it in HEAVY traffic
brakes should pull up evenly, check the thickness of the rotors
belts and tensioners should have been changed on the last major


I have a thousand things to look for really so if you find one you like the important thing to do is get an inspection done by a competent mechanic, and don't exclude NRMA/RACV/RACQ type inspections as a beginner, they may not know Ferraris but the normal stuff like oil leaks, engine compressions, brakes, suspension, rust, etc are the same for all cars and it will give you a good insight into how much trouble you may be getting into.

Remember that whatever you think you can fix the car for to triple it and then add some more, these are old cars and when you fix one thing this shows up a weakness in another part of the car.

PM me if you like for details

 

^^ Fully agreed except this.. well, of course it CAN if adjusted badly... but VERY rare I would imagine as I've never seen a 308 of any type jump out of gear (even with slogged out engine mounts), but 246 will do it often... that said, YOUR particular GT4 had some gearbox faults... I Know... I bought your box and had to rebuild it!

 

if gt4buyer drives the right-way-up it might not be such an issue...

 

my faux par, I meant hard to get into gear if badly adjusted and as for my gearbox, it never missed a beat in the 7 years I drove it and it was maintained by Cants who did a good job of keeping it on the road, they did a brilliant job on the suspension, drove like a new car.

 

Geez , one accident in 34 years of driving .................

 

despite what is written about the GT4 it is a ferrari, its the first mid engined V8 they made and set a benchbark througout the 308 range, coming off of the 246 ferrari and Bertone could have designed a car and made it out of gold and it still would not have impressed the media. the 246 is plain spunky and rated as the best looking car on the planet, so how does one better that- they dont- they change direction and create a another type of car, and those that compare the 246 to the GT4 are taking too many drugs, two entirely different cars. My GT4 is a lovely car u cannot underestimate it, and good ones will always command a good dollar, they will in the right condition never drop below 45k, cos if they do it will lower all other 308's and the 348 range. so take the plunge just do it, dont be like Joga Benito and worry, history means nothing, if u are happy driving it who gives a rats toss what others say.

 

.... and you will be, they're great little cars....

If I ever sell my BB, I'll get a GT4 and tip the balance into property.

 

when i line the urraco and GT4 together i will give a full account of what these two mothers are like..


simply put the 612 is just an expensive GT4

 

hmmmmmmmmmmm

 

indeed! for $75k i'd want to be able to drive it for 2 years/10,000km without even popping the engine lid.

 

never been in a 246, seen it in action a little, and i think it may be just a tad nimbler due to weight but purely for the drive and sound i'd lean toward the GT4.

hmm, perhaps useless people like me should just quit 'contributing'.