360 After decades of desire, I finally own a 360 Modena

I joined this forum over 14 years ago so I could research the dream of being a Ferrari owner. At the time I was a married father of 3 with a wife that stayed home raising the kids. Money was very tight, and the possibility of having a nice car (generally speaking) was a dream. Life was paycheck to paycheck. I good friend of mine had an Acura NSX, which I was able to drive a few times, and all I remember was that it was a disappointment. I wanted a nice sports car to make me feel something primal and that car didn't do that.

So occasionally I would be on this forum researching 348s, 355s, and 360s. You know, just in case someday I won the lottery. I have a love of Porsche too, but the last time I looked at a Porsche forum was probably the old Boxster forum in 2003.

As the years went by the kids grew up and my engineering career progressed. Back in 2020 I bought a 2000 Porsche Boxster for $8k and that car had been wonderful. I don't think there is more fun to be had at such a low price. The local Porsche club in Boise is great, and we have great drives locally. But, while I do love my little Boxster it is just the daily driver that occasionally gets to open it up in the mountains. It can give me the feels, but not as much as it used to. I have thought about upgrading to a "better Porsche", but my 10 year old daughter absolutely loves the car and wants it to be hers when she can drive. Therefore it stays.

In the last few months live has been very good to me (and my new company) and the possibility to purchase (and afford to properly maintain) a Ferrari finally arrived. The thing holding me back was that I needed a mechanic that I knew that I could trust to maintain the car. Not a shop that "works on Ferraris", but someone that knew everything about the model that I would own. After searching on this forum I found out about Geary Motors near Spokane WA. That's a 7.5 hour drive from me, but it's a day trip, and was enough that I could finally actually be comfortable with the thought of starting to look for a car. I reached out to Michael at Yellow Compass Supercars last week to discuss getting either a California or a 360 and he was great - just an absolute wealth of knowledge and I felt comfortable that he could get me the type of car that I wanted - one that had an extensive maintenance history, and was properly maintained. We talked about targeting the winter to find something so I could get my finances in order to pay cash for the car.

Later that day I emailed Dave Geary at Geary Motors hoping for a response about which model to get - a California or a 360. I explained that while I loved a manual transmission that I had my Boxster, so I could scratch that itch there. I wanted a car to do day trips with the girlfriend and while I loved a "spirited drive", it didn't have to be too spirited. I figured I would be really happy with the California, but that if I got a 360 then I could have more fun with it and could take it to the track too. I asked his opinions on those models, saying that I was really looking for a good Ferrari ownership experience - I wanted a car that I could love, but also one that would love me back. I also mentioned that I wanted a car with an extensive maintenance history, and was properly maintained. By properly maintained I mean that it always had it's annual services properly done, and whenever the car needed anything done, that it got done.

The next morning I saw that he had emailed me back with a simple response. Call me in the morning. So that's what I did. He answered the phone and we talked cars. For me he recommended against a California, so we started talking 360s. As fate would have it, he had a client with a yellow 360 for sale that he had been maintaining for the last few years, with a major service done 2 years (1,000 miles) ago. The car also had all maintenance records for the last 20 years.

This was the car that I needed. The car was on consignment with a dealer in the Seattle area, so on Thursday I put down the deposit to hold the car until Monday (we had a trip to Las Vegas planned for the weekend) and flew to Seattle on Monday morning to see and drive the car. I had financing all lined up, but had to drive the car before signing papers since I have never driven a Ferrari, or any car with paddle shifters. 5 seconds into the 1st drive and I was completely in love. An hour later and we were starting the 7 hour drive from Seattle to Boise.

With no cruise control (I am a big cruise control person for highway driving!) I was worried about getting tickets (multiple) on the way home. Especially since all cars that I have driven for the last 8 years have a digital speedo in the middle of the dash - I would actually have to look at the regular speedometer. Luckily I never even got pulled over. I stayed at 5-10 mph over the speed limit the whole way - well, 98% of the way. In one small town we pulled off to get gas and some food with a local cop pulled up to me in a parking lot. I rolled down my window (after having to search for the window controls) and said hi. He said that he was going to pull me over for no license plate - I said that I had just bought the car in Seattle and was heading to Boise, but that the temp plate was in the back window and it was hard to see. He said "OK, and I love your car! How fast have you gone??? I told him I hadn't gone more than 10 mph over the speed limit. He actually seemed disappointed. But he said to have a safe trip home and was on his way.

The drive home was great - it will take a bit of time to get the shifting down perfectly, but I look forward to it. The last 20 minutes of the drive had my butt getting a bit sore. Not sure if that's just a seat thing or I just need to mess with the driving position. I will be getting a covered trailer in the spring so that I can tow this car to drives in California, Oregon, and Washington. I hope that the Ferrari club drives are fun too. This way I can drive to those events and put the miles on the Cayenne instead of the 360.

From my first conversations with Michael and Dave (to research which model to focus on) to owning my 360 it was only 5 days. What a start to Ferrari ownership, right?

Anyways - thanks for reading. Here are pics from the journey home on Monday.
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Thanks! Yes, that must be what they are - they look great! The only upgrades on the car are the taillights and a Tubi exhaust, which sounds wonderful.

 

Some day, right???