Augustine, Take us through your lineup of multiple 328's. The timeline, background and what your thinking process was to buy, sell, and repeat with your cars. Are you done or shall we expect more movement. Looking forward to the story. Sorry I have not heard it before. Robb
Please take your time and give as many details about 68235 as possible. She has a great home now and looks as beautiful as always.
Robb, Thanks for the heads up about this thread. Somehow I missed it completely! I have a lot to tell and it is late here so I will revisit this within the next day or so. I'm so flattered that anybody would even be interested in hearing this stuff. Of course I will provide photos of all of my 328's, past and present. Good night and watch this space!
I'm going to start off with a little background of my love for these cars. I don't remember exactly when I first saw a Ferrari 328 but some of my earliest memories are of a red/tan GTS that was owned by a plastic surgeon in the Atlantic City area during the late 80's and early 90's. He drove his car to the office every day, rain or shine, and it was always parked right out front. I even remember him driving it to work in the snow, believe it or not. The reason I know that he drove it all of the time is because I used to beg my mom on a weekly basis to drive past his office so I could ogle it. I was absolutely entranced by that car and I knew that I had to have one someday. I also remember seeing them during family trips, like one we took to Southern California in July 1988, and also in South Florida where we spent time every year at Easter. 328's were all over the place, from Worth Ave in Palm Beach to A1A in Boca Raton and Delray Beach. I was still a kid well below driving age, so I would bug anyone with a car to take me to what was then Shelton Ferrari in Ft Lauderdale or to The Auto Toy Store when it was still in the old building on Sunrise Blvd. That place was particularly exciting because the showroom was only a few feet from the street and the floor to ceiling front windows were filled with nearly-new Ferraris like 308's, 328's, Mondials, Boxers, and Testarossas. It was sensory overload for me and the images are still vivid in my mind. I started to collect anything I could find that had anything to do with the Ferrari 328, including books, magazines, posters, models, etc. I even compiled albums of the photos I took at all of the dealerships I visited. I still have all of these items today. The 328 truly became an obsession, a thirst that I could not quench. Fast forward to 2003 and I finally got my turn to experience it all from the other side...
After college I returned home to NJ unsure of what I wanted to do for work. My father had a Chrysler Dodge dealership outside of Atlantic City at the time and he was in need of a used car manager. Since I didn't have any real direction and I desperately needed a paycheck, I decided to take him up on his job offer. I've never really been crazy about the car biz but the money was good and I was having fun. After a couple of years I was doing pretty well and I still lived with my family so my expenses were minimal. I was 25 and driving a 1988 Porsche 911 Carrera coupe that I bought from a dealer I knew in PA. This guy specialized in air-cooled 911's (my other automotive passion) but occasionally he would get something really special, and I surfed his website at least a few times a week. On the Friday before Easter 2003 I was perusing his website just as my life was about to change forever. My heart skipped a few beats when I spotted a light blue concave-wheel 328 GTS in his inventory. I was overcome with excitement upon seeing it, but my first reaction was not an inclination to buy it. I was on my 3rd 911, which I knew as a relatively easy car to live with, but this was a Ferrari! I never even considered buying one at this point because I assumed that they were hugely expensive to insure and maintain. I called the dealer and asked him, half jokingly, what he wanted for it. When he told me my heart skipped a beat again. It was $6500 less than the first 911 I had bought from him! I asked him what ownership was like and when he told me that they were fairly reasonable to maintain the gears started turning in my head. I hung up the phone and did some calculations. It took all of about 15 minutes for me to make up my mind and call him back. I told him that I would be there in 3-4 hours with my Carrera as a trade! I practically flew home to get my car, powered through a family dinner that felt like an eternity, and raced up there with my then girlfriend Josie (now my wife). I had never even driven a Ferrari before but I didn't care. This was my obsession and frankly I didn't even care what it drove like. The shape and sound of a 328 was so amazing to me that I figured if it drove well too it would be a bonus. I was pleasantly surprised. I took my Azzurro Metallico 328 GTS for a test drive just before I signed the paperwork and I felt like I was floating down the road on a cloud of ecstasy. It was awesome! I'll never forget that ride home to A.C. It was about 11:00 at night by the time we left the dealership and I had an hour and a half ride to the beach. I filled the car with gas and we were on our way. I remember grinning from ear to ear the entire way. I also remember thinking it was hysterical that Josie, although exhausted, managed to sleep almost the entire way back despite how loud the engine noise was inside the car. That drive home may be my favorite one of all time. My dream of owning a Ferrari 328 had come true, and way earlier in my life than I ever imagined possible. I always envisioned owning a red or black one, but the Azzurro car was and is my favorite of all, and to this day I still regret selling it. Then again, if I hadn't, I wouldn't have six more 328's to write about! Today this car is lovingly owned and cared for by fellow F-Chatter Steve McCarthy (SCM) down in VA. I have been friendly with Steve since before he bought the car and I occasionally visit him and his family, and of course my old Azzurro car, when I get the chance to get down there. Hopefully some day I will get the chance to own her once again. Until then, my memories of #81641 will remain priceless to me. Here are a few photos of the car while I owned her. Interestingly, when I bought the car, it was fitted with a Testarossa steering wheel (which I later changed). I don't know if this was installed at the factory or afterward, but you can see it in one of the shots below. I'll post my next installment tomorrow. I hope this wasn't too boring of a read. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
This part of the story takes place in the Spring of 2004. I wanted a change of career and was seriously thinking of dropping everything and moving to Southern California. I went out to visit 3 times in early '04, and met with several fellow F-chatters including Dave (Darth550), Dom Vitarella, and Jerry Slagle, among others. I loved the car culture out there, and the weather wasn't too bad either. The problem was that I had only one car, the Azzurro 328. I must have really wanted to make that move because, during a brief lapse in judgement, I traded my Ferrari on a Porsche 993 coupe, figuring that it would make a good, fun daily driver. Well, the move never happened and although I love 911's, it just didn't feel special enough considering that it was going to just be a weekend car now here in NJ. After roughly three and a half weeks I decided to sell the 993 back to my dealer friend and start the search for another 328! I decided that since I originally fell in love with the earlier concave wheel cars that I was going to look for one of those this time around. After a frenzied couple week search I landed on a car in the suburbs of Chicago. It was a 1987 328 GTS in black over tan and it had just 11k miles on the clock. One unique feature of this car was that it had a custom color-matched leather subwoofer installation underneath the center dash area attached to the console. It looked somewhat odd but it really did improve the stereo sound quality tremendously. Of course, anyone with a 328 can tell you that it wouldn't take much to improve on the stereos in these cars. Another thing I first noticed with this car is that all 328's (and I guess any Ferrari from this period and earlier) sound and feel different from one another. They were largely hand-built and it really showed. This car drove and sounded noticeably different than my blue car. Not better or worse, just different. It gives them all personality, which is a wonderful thing! My ownership of this particular car was the most brief of all of my 328's, at just about three months. It's not that I didn't like the car. I just change my mind constantly and I could afford to make silly decisions back then. I enjoyed the car for the summer and put about 4500 miles on it in a very short time. By September I was ready to sell and the car found a home with a guy (a doctor, I think) living in New Hope, PA. His boyfriend had a red 328, so he wanted one too! The sale was facilitated by a buddy of mine, Bill Thomas, who was the former head of the service dept at Ferrari North America in Englewood, NJ. That was the last time I heard of #72355. I wonder where she is these days... Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Equally good story. I had seen a couple of those photos but did not know that it was yours. Thanks for sharing your mindset and experiences. Door number 3... Robb
I'm enjoying it too, Gus. It's bringing back fond memories of the Morristown and Florham Park shows. Barry
I have a feeling the third chapter is going to be about the car sitting in my back garage right now.... Can't wait to hear the details
Jeff, it it the same color as your car? BTW, this is good thread idea. It inspired me to take my black 328 out for a nice top-off drive today. I may have to revise my ebay ad, as I'm adding miles to the car today.
Great thread! Btw - I saved that picture of the blue deck lid covered in rain years ago, for a screensaver. Never knew where it came from! Thanks. Kevin
Don't know, but the pictures remind me why I love black over tan. Augustine, was that black or black metallic?
Jeff, That car was solid black, which does look rather fetching on these cars if I say so myself. Wow, I had no idea this thread would be popular. I'm enjoying it on my end, partially because I'm getting to relive all of these ownership experiences all over again.
Spotted a typo in my first installment. I said I spotted a light blue concave wheel car. Obviously it was convex instead, being an '89. Oops. Wax, That is high praise considering I'm not even close to being done yet! Thank you though.
By September 2004 my second 328 had a new home and I was itching for another to replace it. I decided that this time I wanted the ultimate 328. By ultimate I meant that I wanted the speculator car. The one that would have been locked away in a climate-controlled garage when new and held for a future time when the value was supposed to have skyrocketed. I'm talking about a red/tan 1989 328 GTS. Why did I want this "ultimate" 328? Well.....why not? I was talking about Ferrari 328 #3 already, which was ridiculous even to me, so why not try the one that drove the collectors crazy at the height of the market boom of the late 80's/early 90's. I had my ideal car in mind. Now I just needed to find it. This time I decided to try a different resource for locating the car as well. If you haven't noticed already, I have the patience of a 2 year old. I just didn't feel like scouring the internet and classifieds and traveling all over the place looking at cars. I wanted it to be quick and easy, and that's just how it ended up being! I found a gentleman by the name of Dave Olimpi in Northern Virginia. Dave was an ex-Algar salesman from the early days who was now dividing his time between selling real estate in Virginia horse country and selling select collector cars to discerning clientele. I liked his website and he looked like a good guy, so I dropped him an email telling him what I wanted. He contacted me almost immediately and got to work right away looking for the right car. Within a few days he had found #81967 in the Palm Beach, FL area and, with my blessing, had started negotiations on my behalf. We agreed on a price point and fee for him, and after a pre-purchase service he had arranged at Shelton Ferrari in Ft Lauderdale, the car was on its way to NJ! I was really excited about this car, and my experience dealing with Dave could not have been better. I think the whole process, from initial email to delivery of the car, took less than two weeks! So one Saturday afternoon in mid-Sept 2004, a Minuteman delivery truck pulled up to my dad's dealership and my third 328 was a reality. I couldn't believe how clean and fresh the car was. It was truly stunning! One of the unique features of this car was a targa top that had a glossy red painted finish, like the body. To be honest, I wasn't crazy about it because I like these cars to be, for the most part, as Pininfarina intended them. I eventually had the top painted matte black. The next owner actually found the red paint below and brought it back. Anyway, the red top still looked good and the car really looked and drove exceptionally well with just 28k babied miles on it. This car would end up being my partner in crime for many of my Ferrari-based social adventures during that time. One such event was the infamous "Times Square Shootout" that took place at 6am one Sunday morning in Oct 2004. I got together with a bunch of F-chatters from all over the NYC Metro area for a non-approved Ferrari photo-op, dead smack on top of the center island in Times Square in Mid-town Manhattan! It was one of the coolest things I've ever seen! We all just met up, and one by one backed our cars onto the sidewalk to create a big Ferrari display amidst the sparkling lights and advertisements of the Square. As you could imagine, it drew quite a crowd of tourists and onlookers, even at that time of the morning. The cops were even cool with it, despite the fact that we didn't have permission to be there. What a scene it was! After the Times Square photoshoot, we all drove out of the city on the LIE to meet up again at the inaugural Americana Manhasset Concours. Josie and I had a fantastic time that day, of which there are some photos below. I continued to enjoy #81967 for several more months, but by March of 2005 I was ready for another new 328 experience. After my ownership of the car it ended up in the hands of fellow F-chatter Robbie Padgett, owner of site sponsor Sticky No More, and is now owned by another F-chatter lizard1. I'm sure they'll both agree that it's a wonderful car. I know it was everything I had hoped it would be and more. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
great stories and beautiful pics Augustine ! love the passion! ------------------------- * All 328 ownes register your beauty at www.328registry.com *
GREAT # 3 328. I had seen a photo or two from the times square shoot, but never knew the background or inside story. What a cool occurrence. Can't imagine that is easy to pull off. That photo would definitely be in my garage. The car looks great. Very cool to track the previous and future owners. Even cooler that it is still owned by an F-chatter. That's the way to go. Glad so many views on the thread. Good stuff awaits behind door # 4. Robb
