Gordon's 355 spider has arrived... in the snow!!!

Thanks. Actually I snuck it out this morning for its first ride at 18 degrees fahrenheit! I let it warm up for 15 minutes and my wife took a short video clip. Road was sort of icy so I did not tear up the pavement but here it is (make sure you crank it up!!!):
http://media.putfile.com/Gordons-first-ride-in-the-255-short

More to follow when the roads get better!

 

Well, I paid $69,500 for the car (the seller originally had it listed for $89k if you can believe that, then dropped it to $79k when I saw it) and planned on spending $15,000 for everything but ended up closer to $17,000. This was due to new tires, new radiator, extra leather work. So I came pretty close but now I have EVERYTHING in the car that I wanted (except the new Escort radar/laser jammers which will follow soon!) and the 30k service and everything else is up to date. So this puts me at $86,500 total investment for a pretty nice car with all the necessary extras like Capristo, Stebro, Test pipes, new headers (from Kevin at NAperformance which are super by the way!), new larger tires, totally redyed leather seats, totally redone center console, dash had been redone last year, yoshi shields, challenge grill, and whatever else I may have forgotten. When I was looking (and I really did my homework) I saw prices for similar miles, age, color etc cars anywhere from $85,000 all the way up to ridiculous$112k for newer models. Now on cars.com there are the following 97's: $99k with 14k miles, $99k with 12k, $94k with 12k, $76 with 28k $93k with 32k, etc...
BUt the majority was really between $90-$100k and alot of the cars I saw did not have the 30k service done, no challenge grill, higher miles (the cheaper cars) etc...
In the end I think I saved a little chunk of money but more importantly I know WHAT has been done to the car and that it was done right which was really my goal from the beginning! That is really all I cared about.
gordon

 

Yeah the spacer and the 295's look awesome! Sorry I haven't been able to put the top down yet as we have snow and about-10 celsius!
But I tell you it sings might nice even with the top up!
Listen to how loud the car is in my video from how far away my wife was when she recorded it!
Thanks to you for the great idea with the spacers and 295's in the rear! I am sure you inspired a lot of others here on fchat~!

gordon

 

By the way to all the people who wondered how my 275 lb 6'4 frame would fit in the car - all I can say that I fit in it fine. Yes, my right leg could be 5 inches shorter but with the right shoes it is no problem. I also have big feet (go figure - size 13) and was worried about the tightly spaced pedals. But I went to the Mall to Journey's shoe store and bought a pair of nice brown/beige Puma Speed Cats for 69 buck and I tell you they are perfect! They are narrow and I never hit the adjacent pedal at all when I drove this morning! They are perfect! Look pretty sporty as well!

gordon