casually looking for a 360, and a general hello :)

g'day aussies,

my name is arthur, been looking at fchat over the last few months, gee you guys are active lol. so yesterday i registered and here i am, please go easy on me! been into cars all my life but never had a ferrari. was originally from sydney and will be returning there early to mid this year after 10 years in japan, hk and singapore. a mate in the office gave me a drive of his 360 last year and i loved it. looked nice, more power than anyone could possibly need on the street and it had this odd quality, the faster you drove it, the better it felt. steering a bit dead though, really my only complaint. i also drove a 328 the same day, expecting it to be a let down, it was anything but. small, nimble with more than enough power that you could actually use and it looked beautiful. only problem for me, i didnt fit in it.

so im looking around for a 360 and the $$ is so healthy im sniffing at cars in the uk and asia. yeah, i know about rust/compliance/resale/etc so no need to go there. ideally id like a 360cs and there are quite a few in hk and singapore, but they dont come up for sale that often.

i have a question if i may. what do you guys do for maintenace in sydney? was looking on the net and found this:

http://www.pless.com.au/mechanics.htm

i understand that no mechanic can ever keep everyone happy, but it just reminded me of my experience in the early 1980's. i had an aston dbs v8 (the 1971 model) and the mechanic i used was a respected guy, but in actual fact, he shafted everyone. my car was always needing work, for something breaking or going out of tune. so i taught myself to work on it and then drove the thing everyday for 6 years, never missed a beat.

had the same experience with a bmw 3.0csi i bought from john ould motors in melbourne (does anyone remember those sharks??) was always running rich until i fixed the injection myself. problem for me is ive just had a back op so dont relish the thought of getting under the car at this stage. really hoping to be 100% later this year, but initially at least, it will have to go to someone for servicing.

my mate with the 360 introduced me to fellow aussie last year, a chap from melbourne i think named carl. we met in singapore for a drink and had an hilarious night listening to some stories about the ausie car scene. carl seemed to know a lot about the older cars, but when i mentioned i was thinking about a 360, he called me a homo, then began flirting with my girlfriend over a bottle of wine. like the cars, the people seem to be equally as idiosyncratic lol.

best, ab

 

hi aircon,

you mean a 308 has more room, odd, would have thought it was the otherway, must try one then.

say hi to carl for me, trust hes up to his old tricks lol

ab

 

thanks uzz32, i guess by your name you have one. saw a few in japan when i was there, i always thought theyd be a tasty bit of kit. from memory they were really expensive too. that v8 is a really nice mill.

back to the 360, yeah, i could bring one from singapore, but none for sale atm. there are a few in hk, but the condition is pretty average.

there was a singapore 360cs that came to australia last year, i saw it before it left, it wasn't that great either, the paint was quite oxidised, perhaps been outside. was also the silver one for sale in melbourne, but i know it had a hit on the front, not necessarily a bad thing if properly fixed, but heard from a realible source the repair was pretty average. there are two really nice ones in singapore, a silver and a yellow one. ill keep my peepers open. anyone know of a selling price in aus for one? (360 cs that is)

ab

 

aicon, the 328 was great, i just didn't fit in it, headroom for me, pedals fine. i am attracted to the 360 because its got a lot of room AND i can take it to the track and have fun, especially in the case of the 360cs. i like the cs as its light, and they didnt make a lot of them, a tad over 800 from memory. honestly, if i could have fitted in the 328, i would be perfectly happy with that as a street car. i dont get the people who have to have such a fast car for the road, you just cant use it, and ultimately they frustrate you, especially in aus. i suspect a carb car is fab, perhaps i should try one.

ab

 

a cs looks about 80kg lighter than a 430 scud, and both will get you locked up in second gear in aus. the performance issue is a no brainer anywhere, in any country on the street, the slow 360 does nearly 300 kmh right? fast enough for you? i'm not that keen on buying the latest car to get a plastic trophy either at a gentlemans track day. but there are no late ferraris unless you spring for a F40/F50/Enzo where they made less than 1,000 right??? And the cs you can drive to the track. unlike an F40, 50, enzo, stupid bloody things those cars in aus. ive not driven one, and prudence tell me not to judge a car before i drive it, but something tells me id love an F40.

okay, a carb car is a must then if i want to get off the homo list? must try one, not many left in asia, a few 246 but no carb 308s in hk now to my knowledge and dont know of any in singapore either. few in japan, lhd mostly.

ab

 

and they have been for sale, for ages.......................

ab

 

luckily ive read enough of fchat not to bite.

buy your own!

ab

 

yeah, a 430 scud looks kinda nice, but its just got the wrong side of too much electronics, like that electronic diff thingy for me. imagine trying to replace that cos the dealer forgot to fill it with with oil when the apprentice took it for a test drive. ouch. chain driven cams though, now theres an idea, they must have copied the layout of a lamborghini urraco from 1974!!!!! ferrari, always the innovator, cough.

at least with the 360's, you know you can't spend more than about 25K for the f1pump.

btw, i tend to keep my cars a long time, so stuff that breaks long terms matters to me.

ab

 

lovely parking meter. compensating for something?

ab