Historical Value

Who knows? If 70K$ in the future were a sure thing, only a fool would sell for $35K today.

Don't forget to include ownership/maintenance costs; If you don't drive the car it will deteriorate in storage; if you do drive the car it will experience normal wear and tear and maintenance expenses. And generally only the best available examples of any make will ever command premium prices.

This is a much-discussed topic here, and if you search you'll find innumerable threads with arguments for both higher prices in the future and lower. Read them, and place your bets.
(Me? I've placed my bet: Buy a driver, drive it as long as it's fun to drive, don't count on any residual value at all, and hope that it'll be the executor of my will who is worrying about that residual value).

 

Supply and demand. They made tens of thousands of 308s and 328s.
Compare that to the 401 Enzos or the fourteen 375 Californias.

I tell people my 328 is "the Camry of Ferraris".

Back in '99, I saw someone selling a 328 with 300 miles on it. He'd bought it as an "investment". The only miles came from when it was serviced.
He was getting no takers, asking the original sticker price.
And he'd missed out on over a decade of driving it.


I've just about given up hoping that my one-owner Alfa Spider will appreciate to the point of being an even swap with a 550.

 

^

DGS

LOL - good post my man -

I would alter one thing though - The 360 is more the "camry" than the 328

 

All Ferraris eventually go up in value. The questions are "how much" and "when". 328s, Fiberglass/Dry Sump and Fiberglass US-spec cars will be worth all around the same with QVs slightly behind, then 2V carb, then 2V injected. This is just based on the way the collector car market generally works.

The lack of rarity will actually work in the 3X8's favor. Like a Camaro SS or '57 Chevy, people actually saw 3X8s, and therefore will covet and feel nostalgia for them. Will they be worth the same as a 250TR? Obviously not, but don't think for a moment that ten years from now that good cars won't be trading above $100K. Does that mean you'd be foolish to sell one for $70K today if all you care about is the money? No, because investment is about time value of money. With that money today, you could buy and flip a bunch of other cars or boats or houses or stamps or coins or stocks or politicians...


The interesting issue is more about the GT4. Once totally unloved, the fact that they are more and more being known as the "best classic driver's Ferrari" might actually make them take off a bit. Just a couple weeks ago, a collector (who was driving his Bugatti T57) told me he had owned a number of Ferraris and driven everything from SWBs to BBs and he thought the 308 GT4 was the best driver's car. With endorsements like that also appearing in magazines, it is not unfathomable to see good ones start inching up and explode to double or triple current values. (Not hard, since you can buy one for $20K.)

Again, rarity doesn't mean that much for value. Rarity is only good when it is a high-performance or racing version of a popular model. If it is just "rare", it often means nobody wanted it when it was new. There were far fewer '70 Corvettes than '67. Far fewer '64 Buick Specials than identical-platform '64 Pontiac GTOs or '64 Chevelle Malibus.

 

Not long ago the Dinos were under appreciated, selling for much less then Pinin 308 cars. Then suddenly their prices shot up into the family. And at present, the 308 are highly prized in Europe and selling for astronomical prices. What you can't forcast, is the number of people being able to afford them. Right now the US economy is great and 3x8 prices have risen but as the dollar tanks, the depth is totally uncertain. Using the past to predict the future can be very costly. Live for today, work for tomorrow. Guess I sound like bumper stickers.

 

Never say never.

In four years, I saw the value of my 330 2+2 4-headlighter, long considered a vintage-era dog, double. Today, it would be marketable at $100K.

 

Scott- this is why I say that given enough time, no Ferrari goes unappreciated. 330s and 250GTEs were downright cheap 15 years ago, as were 365GTCs.

As for the economy, as long as the top 1/2 of one percent keeps pushing the prices of other Ferraris out of reach, it takes all the others with them. In five to ten years, the individuals in the world economy will find ways of making money. While the American muscle car craze might be on the way out (at least for resto-mods and expensive mass-market cars like '69 Camaros and '57 BelAirs,) top collector vehicles popular with the world market will come back.

But as with anything -- it's timing...and not buying at the top of the short-term market.

 

Doubt you could sell it for 6 figures; for a Series II maybe.

The 4-headlighter will always be the dog, and most undesirable of that model. Not trying to be a curmudgeon but just stating the facts.

P.S. From where did you get the $100K value?

 

Check out pricing tables in any recent Ferrari pub or at online dealers, also 330 Registry:

http://www.330gt.com/Detail/RecentlyAvailable.htm

After my 330 was declared a total in August '07 and I had the $80K insurance check in hand, I offered a local owner $90K cash for his early '66 Series I and he turned me down flat...he wouldn't even talk below $115K.

I have no desire or ned to sell the 308 in the near future. Though my wife is all for our Ferrari ownership, she's made some comments about wanting both of our cars to have auto trans and power steering. So, I'm keeping my eye the 360 F1 market...maybe down the road a few years, who knows.

 

It seems to me that once those V-12 2+2's went past the 40 year old mark, that's when they jumped in price.

Ugghhh, what's with the GT4 and 4-headlight 330 bashing?

 

Isn't that what so many Ferrari owners do? Or is it that they're afraid they'll have to pay for the required service?

 

The fundamental difference betweent the Stratos and the GT4 was that one was made as a purpose-built rally racer and the other was given to the designer with specifications that it had to be a usable mid-engine four seat sports car.

While I've never driven one, just standing next to a Stratos, one can see that an owner would have to be under 5'8" to fit comfortably. The whole sh'bang is entirely function over form. I do find it an amazing car, but you'll find that most non car people don't tend to like the Stratos. (I usually hear "it looks like a bug".)

The better comparison is to the Lambo Urraco -- and in this the GT4 is much cleaner and better proportioned. When placed next to the Urraco and Giugiaro's Lotus Esprit, the GT4 fits right in and looks the most elegant. We could even throw in the TR7/TR8, which was the next step in the flying wedge look. Unlike the TR, the GT4 doesn't look so diminutive -- it has presence that the TR doesn't. (I've owned a TR7 and TR8.)

I was never a huge fan of the GT4's looks, but in the years I've owned mine, the lines have really grown on me.

 

I personally know of a 330GT 2+2 4 headlight that sold three years ago for 130K.
Your numbers are screwy.

 

"All Ferraris eventually go up in value."

I don't agree; the 3x8s are not really going to go up in value - at least in any reasonable time frame. A 1989 328, which would have sold for around 86K USD in '89, would have to sell for around 150k today in order to cost the "same" as it did then based on inflation. That's just a break-even price, not considering maint or operating costs.

A 328 won't even sell for the same dollar amount (forgetting inflation) it did in '89. IMO There's no money to be made in these cars. If that's a consideration for purchase, they are just going to lose money like virtually every other car though they do so at a lower rate than most.

 

Buy a Ferrari 308
Drive it - enjoy the car
When you decide to sell.... See what the market is.... Sell it

I've had mine less than 60 days and put over 2,000 miles on it

I buy them to drive them - my 308 QV is pure driving enjoyment, plus it got a fresh coat of wax this evening, guess I'll have to go for another ride

 

A GT4 is not for everyone. And that's fine by me. Ugly, no sir only your words are.

I'm sure most people have never had the pleasure of driving a FULLY sorted out GT4. Hell I know of "Ferrari specialists" who haven't had the pleasure though they think they have.

To do so can be described as having the homley Reverend's dauhter have her very pent up way with you leaving you breathless, speachless, week at the knees wanting more drooling and in utter shock.

Don't let the looks fool you, there is a beast under those sheeps clothes...

 

+1

 

I purchased my first 308 for $30,000 back in 1990 it was an '82. Sold it two years later and made money. Paid for everything, gas, maint., major , insurance etc. The only time I ever came out on top with a car and a few bucks in my pocket. Apparently speculators were just hitting the Ferrari market and folks with cash in hand were lined up to buy my car. At the time I didn't think to hold out for more but learned that I should have. My recent 308 QV cost about the same. Therefore I paid much less this time around. No plans to sell this time. My daughter has her eye on it one day.

 

That's why I don't own one anymore. A collector who has one of almost everything Ferrari - including at least one Corsa Cliente championship F1 car apparently, so he's not a bottom feeder like me - talked me out of mine at Concorso Italiano this year.

And the GT4 is a remarkable looking car. Lined up between the 246 and the 308 GTB it is the least pretty, I agree. But in the real world next to Camrys, Jettas and Accords it truly looks the exotic part. A car from a different time, and it looks special. More raw, less refined than the later 3X8s, and there's nothing wrong with that. And the dash board layout is better, I think.

 

I'm not bashing the 330 4 headlight, I'm just saying the 2 headlight has always always been the most desireable. If the 4 headlights are selling in whatever price range, the series II will probably be priced much higher.

I believe most will agree that the aesthetics of the 2 headlight are much more pleasing than those of the 4 headlight.

 

Hey, that's where its at.. enjoy it.
I could care less if its not the most desirable, the most exotic, or what the value is by the end of the ride.. that's not why I bought mine. But we all know that if its well kept, it'll be worth something.