Greetings

Hello everyone,

I didn't see a more appropriate subforum for this, so wanted to post here to introduce myself and seek out some advice. I live in San Francisco (Twin Peaks), work down in Los Gatos, and currently spend most of my free time playing with a couple of toys (pictured) in the form of a 993 C4S and an '00 M Roadster (one of the best roadster values out there IMO). I think it's time to expand my scope of understanding beyond German cars (the Porsche is my 11th or so).

To that end, I've become increasingly interested in learning more about Ferraris and have spent quite a bit of time looking at the possibility of jumping into the fray by starting with a 360 (manual) of some sort. There are two primary concerns for me at the moment:

(1) I haven't yet actually ridden in or driven any Ferrari and really don't know anything about the "feeling" of a 360, and
(2) I'm a bit concerned about the details of properly insuring a 360; for now, even my 993 is sharing a Geico policy with an M Roadster when it really belongs with the likes of AMI or Hagerty though some of the caveats with those insurers bother me (i.e., I'm worried about driving the car down to the office one day prior to an evening car club event of some sort - what happens if I get rear-ended somewhere along the way?). I've already confirmed that Geico won't even touch a 360, so I need to be really comfortable with insurance options that would allow me to potentially take the car to the office sometime if necessary and I'd like to have the option of taking the car on a long road trip at least once to somewhere like Los Angeles, Seattle, or Tahoe (summer) - I don't want to worry about hitting some mileage limit.

For point (1), where would you recommend I go to see 360s up close and potentially even take a ride with an owner? I attend PCA, BMWCCA, and some other events (i.e., Cars & Coffee in Marin and on Treasure Island), but haven't really seen any groups with owners of manual Ferraris - would be good to get to know people with this interest. I don't really want to go find random dealers and waste their time test driving a car if I'm not absolutely set on buying one.

For point (2), I'd appreciate any advice you may have - and recommendations for particular insurers if you have great experience with any.

Best regards,
Garrett
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I would look into renting a 360. If I'm not mistaken, Club Sportiva does this right in your backyard. If that doesn't work, try Las Vegas, there's always options there. It's not cheap, but it's a good way to learn the car, or at least figure out if one is for you. I have no doubt you'll love it, they're fantastic automobiles, arguably the best Ferrari value today. Beware that a manual is going to be very hard to come by.

 

Hmm, good thought - I just looked and you're indeed correct - and they even have a manual 360 available for rent! Worst case, I'll take that option, though I'm hoping to find some owners here who are planning to attend some of the upcoming car club events to meet.

Oh, I've got custom automated searches (and notifications) set up on eBay, Autotrader, and Cars.com for now, all looking for manual 360s - I've certainly seen how hard they are to find. Particularly in interesting color combos (I'm falling in love with TdF blue). I've started monitoring this forum's classified ads as well - hoping to find something great here once I've had a chance to drive one and have that final personal "YES! Gotta have it!" confirmation.

 

Welcome to the forum. F-Chat is a great place to ask your questions and learn about these cars. Lots of good people here! I sold my 308 awhile back and I myself have been eying the 360's. As MufflerMan mentioned....and I agree, they are definitely the best Ferrari value in today's market. There's a thread on here in which discusses the positives and negatives of the certain year models and options. The early F1's had their share of issues, but there are updates and fixes for those. I was considering pulling the trigger on a 2000 coupe F1 in Redwood City recently, but I decided that I also prefer the manual trans much more. There's one black on on Ebay that's been for sale for awhile for cheap, but is in need of a clutch job soon.

Yes, check out Club Sportiva located in the Club Auto Sport complex. They have a Cars and Caffeine meet once a month with an informal open house. Club Sportiva also has their showroom open and people there you can ask questions.

 

BTW, you have some nice toys! Nice M Roadster and a very nice 993 C4S! I'm a Porsche nut myself.....the 993 TT and the 993 C4S are two of my all time favs!

Oh, as for insurance I recommend Grundy. Lower premium and no mileage limitation either. I used to have Hagerty and the premium kept going up by a good amount every year. Plus they had a mileage limit. I also knew someone else that had Hagerty and had issues with a claim, and I've heard about others having issues with them. On the other hand, others have had great service.

Also, some other local CnC type meets is the Santana Row Cars and Croissants (This Saturday is the next one) which always has a lot of exotics and is a great meet, the Blackhawk Museum CnC, then the San Francisco meet which you're probably already familiar with. Maybe I'll see you and one of your cars out at one of the meets!

 

Thanks for the advice - I'm only really looking at manuals as well - automatics just don't do it for me in any car. I'm willing to buy one in need of a clutch job (at the right price) in order to get the opportunity to do some "while you're in there" maintenance to make myself comfortable (one of the reasons I'm happy to have my 993 in the shop for a lightweight flywheel, clutch, etc right now). Thanks for the mention of the C&C event; I'll check it out!

 

Nice taste in Porsches! I'm a fan of the 993TT but not their current pricing levels - a bit too rich for me! That said, my 993 C4S has been an amazing car and I love it. It's not going anywhere. For that matter, I don't think the M Roadster will go anywhere either because I like having at least one cheap DD around which I can take anywhere without worrying about it as much.

I'll check out Grundy - I was completely unaware of them until you mentioned them. May be a great option for my other cars as well. Thanks!

 

Are you sure about Geico and the 360? They gladly insured my 430 and before that my 911 Turbo.

 

I tried using the "add another car" portion of the site for my own policy and none of the less-common brands were there (i.e., no Aston, no Ferrari, etc.). I'll try giving them a call directly. It could also be some sort of California-only thing.

 

Also in Bay Area and Geico good for F430 and 360. Just select "other" and type in "Ferrari" but you will need a valid VIN before they can email you a quote.


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Oh! I had no idea. I'll give that a shot tonight with a VIN from some eBay ad or something. Thanks for the recommendation!

 

You're right, Ferrari isn't listed on the website. You just need to call them with your VIN. Took me all of 10 minutes. They were very accommodating.