And So It Begins: At Last

Today of all days marks a major turning point in my life. I just made a deposit on a special car, a 95 F355 Berlinetta. I have ached for this car for years. I have been on this forum for how long? Some of you old timers may even remember me. Hell, some of you I have had the greatest pleasure of meeting! I have suffered. I have made sacrifices that had enormous repercussions to how my adult life was to form. And it is time.

The best part is that I couldn't have asked for a better seller to buy from, and it's through a close friend of mine who's opinion I hold to the highest regard. He too is close friends with the seller. Furthermore I've been going to the bakery that the seller owns for years (it really is the best freaking bakery!) and never met and wouldn't have found out about this car if I weren't for sheer dumb luck.

Oh... I almost forgot. It's THE right car. It was once owned by a certain well known collector here in MI and has lived a pampered life since new. It has been serviced by exactly the same mechanic for almost it's whole entire life and it may not even have seen rain. There is a little bit of stickiness, and the leather on the dash is *just* starting to shrink around one corner of the dash vent on the driver's side. But that's it. Literally. The seats virtually have no wear on both passenger and driver's side. The car is 100% original with the tools, covers, and all. I honestly think with just a little bit of money and elbow grease it could be made to a platinum winning car. That really could be possible.

But up now is the PPI, and with the grace of God go I.

 

Watching this should be mandatory. I used to watch this every day for years.

 

LOL you are all right, its worthless without pics. Well, I have not taken delivery yet but assuming all goes well with a PPI, that would happen next week. Here is a few pics from when I saw the car.

And I have not even heard or driven the car yet. I wanted to make sure we got the terms right before that happened... otherwise I'd be inclined to pay a lot more!

Thank you all so much for your support and well wishes. I am proud to share this journey with you.

 

LOL Guess who I am going to be calling about that...sticky situation?

 

That is correct Andrew. We only get one shot at this thing called life. I am one of those guys that is just happy to have it, but will have to give her the regular exercise that she deserves.
A thought entered my mind last night- I pulled the Carfax yesterday, which produced a report five pages long. No issues reported as course, but there are 8 previous owners (not sure if its truly 8 or they are counting when it went to corporate owned as well as leased). I hope to have this car outlive me and continue the chain of meticulous care that its always had. Hopefully I am not the guy who ruins it. There cant be many of these cars with this kind of documentation and fanatical care left.

 

Thank you Andrew, its great to hear from you again! Image Unavailable, Please Login

Thank you Daisy!


In other news, it appears the car does not have keyless entry. Not a deal breaker for me at all- one less thing to go wrong, and one less programming 'thing' to deal with. I have to admit I was surprised to hear this- out of all my years of studying the 355, I didn't know that some did not come with keyless entry. Apparently I have not studied enough. Anyone know how many of them didn't have this?

 

Andrew, that was indeed a great tour- Very serendipitous. It was very kind of you to show me around town and I enjoyed our time immensely.

As for no keyless entry, I am glad to hear! I was hoping only a small amount didn't have them but it looks like all 95s didn't. So much for being special...

 

Absolutely!

 

The eagle has landed! I am sorry but I don't have much time to post- I got to jet to a friend's wedding right now but I assure you all that my nuptials have already been exchanged. Ohhhh boy!

Still hasn't fully hit me yet.
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