I think I'm done with Ferrari

Buy a Dare G4. It is a continuation car from a 1960's design but using a fuel injected engine. Small, or tiny, depends on your perspective. Very direct and mechanical, but not old so less worry about old tech breakdowns. The original Ginetta G4 is pretty successful on the vintage circuit but it feels fast even at moderate city driving speeds. Kind of like a scaled down E type Jag.


BT

 

please do. i am transiting in hk on jan 2 on way from bali to zermatt so that would not have been a good day in any event. make some time on your next trip!

 

I haven't read all the posts, but I'm surprised no one's mentioned a superformance cobra daytona coupe. Visceral, comparatively cheap parts and easy to fix and fun to drive even at less-than-insane speeds, even though it can go there, too. Big downside, though: Problem about burning yourself (or more importantly, the GF burning herself) getting in and out around the sidepipes.

Superformance | Daytona Coupe

 

I'm actually quite surprised that the 997 Turbo is appreciated by you compared to your perspective on the Ferraris. If your streets are like ours (Oslo = tight streets, occasional poor road standard, lots of traffic lights/zebra crossings (little room or opportunities for acceleration fun)), a car as rapid accelerating and mega grippy as the 997 Turbo seems, in theory, like overkill.

Btw. I'm 100% with the "compact and fun on real world streets" car fan crowd. I have noticed that when Jay Leno tests cars, he is having far more fun reviewing Fiat 500 Abarth (not the old one), MW's 911 hotrods, modified Datsun 510 etc. than some of the super fast cars. That's a man with maximum car credentials and frequently comments on how the supercars empty their gears too fast and how you enjoy the lightweight old cars because they are so usable and toss-able on the streets.



A couple of videos if you haven't seen them before, where you can sense JL's enjoyment (just forward them to the driving towards the end if you want to ):

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwhwwrkYMpc]1971 Datsun 510 - Jay Leno's Garage - YouTube[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VB3JZlV6RDM]1971 Porsche 911T - Jay Leno's Garage - YouTube[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9lAsSZNVnU]1972 Porsche 911 72STR 002 - Jay Leno's Garage - YouTube[/ame]

 

I have a BBI, I have never been stranded and never had it towed, in 21 years of ownership.
But then I do take care of it, and use it as inteded. The worst I can say is the Ac goes out every now and again, even when working the ac sucks, the casette stereo broke a few years back, and from time to time I have to replace plug extenders as some cylinders lose spark.

Yeah on a 30 yo car I did have to replace the valves, partialy this is attributable to the flat layout, years of use and poor valve stem seals from the factory. But it never left me stranded, oh and redoing the belts ever 5-7 years is a pain.

On the other hand, every drive is an occasion, its fast but it makes you work for your speed, so its absorbing and engaing always. On the right day and raod its absolutely sublime, but on the wrong day and wrong road its somethig you tolerate and it tolerates you. So its a sunday morning fun machine, or if you are in the mood and have the energy sometimes fun to run errands around town in. It always "feels" like a "race" car, tamed to run ont he street, even though its not a race car at all.

Now a modern does not seem sublime to me, the driving experience is so "useable" that the sense of occasion is lost. Yes maybe it could be fun on track, but mostly styling and noise aside, its just another car. Useable easily every day, but lacking in occasion and that sublime experience, faster for sure, reliable and easy to use, but the magic is lost.
A modern does not feel like areactive living thing, it does not do the machine as an extension of your mind/body driving experience.

It need not be this way with moderns, these are marketing,design and engineering decisions. I think this thread proves there is a market out there. I also read words from Luca the king himself saying futire ferraris need to be enjoyable to drive at normal spoeeds too, so all is not los apparently.

 

Building a SPF Gt40 now, although it will be more of a track focused machine. Maybe not the fastest track car out there, but hopefully most fun, and in the right hands a match for most.

 

I largely agree with your views in this and other posts regarding driver engagement adding to driving pleasure. It is unclear to me at this early a juncture (as technology marches forward) how modern cars will evolve. Many of us that were brought up on manual transmissions may be resistant to change and therefore not appreciate the new engagement. Part of that was due to the poorly executed early F1 transmissions. Modern cars offer many new benefits that the older cars lack. To each his own regarding what flips your boat.

The special cars that fit the true sports car enthusiast sell in very small numbers (light weight, manual transmissions, etc.). Therefore, it's logical that we just get scraps. Ferrari is in business to make money, just like all the other companies and Ferrari's method is better than most.

Ferrari has not changed. They have evolved slowly and deliberately and done it so well that they are on top of the super car heap/ brand.

I love my light weight Porsche Boxster Spyders and I expect to love my 458 spider even more. We shall see. I do not live in a congested area of Florida and the state of Florida is pretty reasonable when it comes to speed enforcement on the highways.

As always drive safely and enjoy the special times in which we live.

 

The only thing I hated about the vintage Ferraris is the brake technology which was top notch at the time, but totally lacking in modern traffic. Many a time I had a major heart attack when in traffic, and a sudden slow down would occur. I held my distance generally, but occasionally I would get caught out with not enough room....

What I love about the Spyker above anything else, is the deliberate omission of all the nanny features. No power brakes, but if you stump on the pedal, the AP racing brakes give as short a braking distance as any modern Ferrari. Being lighter than a Fiat 500 has also something to do with that
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

I have to get in on this one....

I drove my 1962 Bertone 250 GT SWB 3269 for ten years and 100k miles and never had a problem!

It was my DD for those ten years.

cheers,

Bill

 

Fantastic cars. I love my Lotus 7 too. I am with the OP as far as big exotics go these days. Zero interest in them.

 

There is a thought here that is worth our attention and, perhaps, mentioning a comment that I've seen elsewhere. Within the not-too-distant future it may (will?) be virtually impossible to drive any of the performance cars we love, whether the current over-technoid driving instruments or the more visceral yet still fast-enough Ferraris, Astons, McLarens, Maseratis et al. from the 1950s, 60s, 70s and 80s? - on public roads. We will need to belong to private track clubs or to buy track time at them in order to enjoy driving our cars on road surfaces and at speeds for which they were designed.

 

well, I was wrong. more useful stuff has been posted here, Jeffrey. Boxerman's experience with his Boxer prompts add'l thought. When I had decided to sell the 365GTC that I'd owned for almost 30 years I knew I would not be happy being Ferrari-less and, being comfortable but not rich, I cast about for a Ferrari to buy and fixed on one of the 2+2's beginning with the 365GT4 2+2 through the 400's and 412. I had owned a 400i auto 15 years earlier and found the auto transmission made the car a very pleasant interstate cruiser but a ghastly car to drive enthusiastically on the back country Adirondack mountain roads just north of Saratoga Springs NY. I had sold the car within two or three months. I found a 412 5-speed manual in as close to flawless condition one could expect from a then 20 year-old car and have had something analogous to Sean's - Boxerman's - experience with his Boxer. Of course the 412, weighing close to 4000 lbs, is less nimble than the boxer and far less so than the GTC at 1000 lb less weight. But it has the oh-so-satisfying visceral mechanical aspects to which El Mayor and others have referred. And other than being the first Ferrari with ABS, none of the electronic gadgetry that they disdain.

P.S. these cars are grotesquely undervalued in today's market, perhaps because they are 2+2's but more important because, being so inexpensive, many non-traditional buyers bought hem cheap and didn't service them properly. So most are in very poor condition meaning: cheap to buy but very expensive to put into operating condition. But find a 5-speed 400 or 412 in good serviced condition and you will have a real buy.

Sean, where in CT are you?