I think I'm done with Ferrari

It is:
Ferrari rated world's most powerful brand ahead of Apple - Autoblog

 

I used to have a bunch of porsches in fact, grew up with them. Sure they're fast, stable and among other good things-reliable. But everytime I pull up beside one, the 14 year old ferrari makes any of them look like a volkswagon.
I've had the priviledge of knowing what the inside of a brand new porsche smells like... very distinctive.
I have no interest of knowing what the new smell of the inside of an f-car is like. I like the f-car oldies.

Bob ain't leaving... he's a partner. ;-)

 

Yes of course...

 

I saw the new Corvette in the wild yesterday in black..

First I thought.. oh there's a corvette.. and then I recognized it was the new vette.

It's creased, but it's just another vette. I wasn't too impressed. As someone prior said.. 6 months every tom will have one and the novelty will be worn off.

He'll be back soon enough.

 

I like the way you put that.

 

See now you lost me there.

First, I know how much you love a great interior. Sure, the vette interior is improved. Significantly. It doesn't hold a candle to a GranTurismo interior.

You've also replaced a dozen year old GT with a new, world class sports car. Maserati doesn't make sports cars, they make GT's and passenger sedans. So naturally they do not have something "in the same class" as the Corvette. Unless you're talking price point, in which case they actually do. The new Ghibli is gorgeous, a whole lot of car for the money.

I think you just like the new vette, a lot. You're not alone. Don't hold out later returning to Maser because we're all expecting the honeymoon to end just to prove us wrong

But you can't tell me that Maserati didn't have a really great replacement for your Maserati.

 

Well, you're going to do fine on depreciation with your new Corvette, I have no doubt. I lost my ass in depreciation on my '12, $15k in one year and would have eaten another $10k in year 2, admittedly in no small part due to the new model. My GranTurismo is going to do better than that. The Maser has further to fall but will do better in the early year compared because percentage wise Corvettes drop like rocks, too. But as long as you're going to keep it as long as you kept your Maser, as Jerry would say, your science is tight.

 

Mayor, is one of these available around you for a test drive?

Seems like it ticks all the boxes.

You would not believe how great this car sounds and looks in the flesh. I prefer the Coupé, but I know you like a drop top....
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The F12 is brilliant, and a step in that direction as it is smaller and supposedly a lot better to drive than the 599 that pre-dates it...

 

What are your thoughts on the Aston Vantage or Jag F-Type? For sure depreciation would be big on a new one, but if you can catch one at year 2-3 it may not be as bad. Or are you only looking at buying new?

 

I drove off the lot in my well optioned '13 GranTurismo Sport for $115k, $132k sticker. You're suggesting my car would be worth $65k in 2015 at best. I'll take that bet. Comparing '13's to '11's, they've suffered a little over half that depreciation. The only Maser that takes the kind of hit you're talking about is the Quattroporte. I realize we're derailed and need to get back on topic, but come on. I think my point wasn't made as well as it might have been. Your new C7 will hold value better than my last year C6. But my C6 did WORSE than my GT will do over the same period, maybe even extended out three years.

 

I love the F-type, especially with the V8. hopefully I can afford one in a few years when the big depreciation curve is over.

that car to me ticks a lot of boxes:
-beautiful (IMO)
-rare-ish
-sporty but not "crush your spine" sporty
-fast but not "only on a race track" fast

in other words, a car you can live with and enjoy every day.

 

I understand where your coming from. I drove a McLaren 12C this past weekend. 620HP moving 2850 lbs. Holy Moly that thing was fast! Its was fun and all but after my grin went down I thought to myself, the track is the only place you could actually 'use' that car as intended. To keep your license you just putter around on the street ....

 

The 8C is great, has a wonderful exhaust note but are still at/above $200k so I think Bob has balked at things in that range before.

Our quck video that has some sound:
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paLPGHwVyu0]Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione, Ferrari Dino 246GTS, Ferrari 550 Maranello - YouTube[/ame]
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After trying all the new machines, I decided to just keep the boxer for the reasons above. Maybe in Germany its different and you can regularily max out a new car. In the USA I can max myself out in the boxer on a mountain road at something below totaly insane speed, In real terms I am probably not going a whole lot faster than I would in my e46 M3. The difference is that you really have to work and work hard to get your speed in the boxer making it totaly involving.

Its the same reason one might ride a Ducati monster over say a MV F4. Speed is relative. To me the newer ferrairs drive at normal road speeds like hyundais, whichm means pretty good and easy. Fun only starts at 9/10ths and by then you really need to be at track. There are btter and less ruinous ways to go fast on a track than a 458.

Part of the issue is loss of steering feel. Another is eliminating the human machine interface with things like paddle only. Starting and driving an older ferrari is an event, the newer ones, they are just cars, stunning to look sat and fast cars, but just another consumer durable. Frankly for that there are lots of other great choices too.

 

Funny ... I got a ride in the MP4-12C at the track this weekend!

 

I really liked the Top Gear episode where they pitched a Prius against an M3 on the track. The Prius went full bore, while the M3's task was just to keep up. Their point was that an M3 uses less fuel than a Prius at maximum performance. I just was thinking about how the driver in the Prius was probably having more fun....

 

Driving a Porsche 911 in France, 40 years ago... oh yeah, that IS Steve McQueen! - YouTube

 

There is that old saying that its more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow. The great part is whereas a prius is probably not really engaing older sportscars tend to be fun or at elast engaging at most speeds beyond a crawl. Older ferraris also tend to be objectively fast on the road if you know how to work up the speed and maintain it> Yes on track the moderns are in a different category, but for fast road runs even the older stuff is more than capable.

Lets face it if you are taking your 458 to the limits on the street, your corner speeds are so high that most roads dont even have the sightlines to do it, so even going fast on road you are likely to be just as quick in something like say a boxer or 288, if not quicker because you are more focussed and certainly having fun..

Older cars can be vastly improved with better rubber(still period widths) and brake pads.
They may lack certain modern amenities and be a pain in stop go traffic/hot days. On the other hand they are tactile, engaing almost living machines that talk to you as you go though beds and down the straights. In many cases the older cars performance that exceeds road condtions by a big margin. From a sports driving perspective, for weekend fun, that makes the modern ferraris somewhat pointless.

But yeah in a modern you can go to the trendy spots though stop and go traffic as easily as a hyundai, the ac keeps you cool, the stereo is great, bluetooth works the paddle shift makes traffic a breeze> But on crisp sunday morning, moderns are sort of pointless, at least on most roads. I think moderns are more like a M3, a jack of all trades, great paper spec but somehow lacking. Plus you get all the negative crap from new dealers and social stigma. The moderns are a great example how how tech for paper lap times has robbed the machine of its most basic appeal.

Tech should be enhancing the experience, not dulling it down and diluting it in the name of fractionaly betetr paper lap times. These are not race cars, they are road cars for driving joy, the driving joy has been diluted out. From a road driving perspective, what we are left with is epic accleration and hey look at me styling..

 

TheMayor, I understand what you are saying. I feel today's cars just don't feel special when driven at everyday legal speeds like cars once did. The romance is gone. Sure the new cars are great at 150mph but how often can you do that?

I know you mentioned that you are not into Porsche's but did you ever look at a Singer 911? Its raw, full of emotion, rare, are well built and they will not depreciate. You could drive it and turn around and sell it for more $$$ then what you paid for. There are rumors that Singer is working on a speedster version of the Singer 911. So this is one option to consider if the new Corvette or the Alfa Romeo 4C don't work out.