Hi Everyone, I like to type and share stories, so my apologies if this is long! I figured I would finally register and say hi, after lurking for a few months. I live in Alaska, where as you can imagine... Ferraris are quite scarce. I've been a huge fan since the age of 3, when I could first pronounce the word, but ownership has never been something I ever considered. Too exotic, too high maintenance, I live in Alaska, and on and on... the excuses flew like mad. So I gravitated towards Corvettes, which are another passion I acquired from my dad. I have a 2006 Z06 partially disassembled in my garage at the moment. Since it goes nowhere for six months during the winter, it's a great time to work on any issues and give it a good, solid detail. I correct issues with the paint, yank out the interior to fully clean it and shampoo the carpets, and even get underneath the car to clean the undercarraige. I've been enjoying the car for years, but then a strange thing happened. I was introduced to a new friend up here this past summer, who asked me to detail his 360 Modena. Not only that, he tossed me the keys and said, "bring it back when you're done!" I'd never even touched a Ferrari before; and now here I am, driving a 360! I was only able to drive 14 miles total (7 miles each way between his business and my garage, and I drove like a granny, lest I abuse this incredible privilege to drive his car), but the damage had been done: I concluded my Z06 now handled like a bowling ball and sounded like a Honda. He allowed me to keep the car overnight, so I even got to pretend, for a night, that I owned a Ferrari and it was sleeping in my garage just yards away. All told, I spent about 15 hours bonding with this car as I detailed every square inch of it: Interior, engine bay, paint polishing to remove swirls and other imperfections, the whole nine yards. The experience was amazing. I daydreamed for a while afterward... tried a trip to Hawaii to get my mind off that car but it did not work. Some time later, and I don't know why... I searched for pre-owned 360's and found the prices were MUCH lower than I had expected; suddenly I realized that this crazy, insane dream could become a reality. After lurking here for a month or so, reading everything I could get my hands on regarding ownership, maintenance costs, model-specific issues, and so on... I've got a plan in place that I hope will put me back in the driver's seat; this time of my own 360, within the next year or two. I will continue to read what I can and learn more about 360's in particular, as well as refine my understanding of the prices on these cars and follow them more closely. When the time comes, I hope to be well-educated on the matter and able to find just the right car that will pass the PPI with flying colors. I suspect I'll also be looking for a reputable West-Coast Ferrari dealer or mechanic to handle the routine maintenance; I am expecting that I will occasionally need to ship the car down from Alaska to have these things handled. Anyway, just wanted to say hi, and thanks to everyone for the good, informative posts... they are invaluable for people like me, seeking to learn and research everything I can. And, if any of you are in Alaska...I'm sure I've run into some of you at the annual car shows! I occasionally see a small handful of Ferraris and enjoyed chatting with their owners. Drive Safe!
Hello! Glad to see another Alaskan here on FChat. I might have to drive down south to meet up with some of you Anchorage guys this summer.
Thanks for the reply! It would be great to cross paths sometime; if you make it down to Anchorage, let me know. Hopefully next summer will be better than this last one; though you folks up north likely had a much better summer than we did. I think we hit 70°... once. Rained just about every day. Take care!
