Very nice!!! Congratulations!
I guess getting in the car for the 3rd time and strapping in for 788 miles isnt the smartest thing to do, but I figured it was my only mini vacation of the year so lets do it. I went back to Competizioni at about 8:30am saturday and Richard was there, he has the car already running, warming up. Oil checked, wheel bolts tightened, fantastic customer service from that shop!! A few last minute instructions and I was off...well i over revved first gear then I was off technically.. Gorgeous 68 degrees, sunny, and winding mountain roads through maryland and pennsylvania was the best! At one point I hit a long mile or so tunnel going through the allegheny mountains, I turned on the cell phone video as I entered. The straight pipe/tubi combination in that long tunnel was AMAZING! Sounded like an F1 car, had people all around me snapping their heads around to see what was making all that noise. At one point on the video I let out a huge belly laugh at the sound in there. I almost turned around to drive through it again. It was great. Leaves turning colors, mountain passes, up and down, zipping past several porsches (of course blasting them with exhaust note) was fun. Stopped at a harley dealership in pennsylvania to grab a sweatshirt and hat, was getting chilly and in about 2 minutes people were all over the car, videos, pictures, and an 80 or so year old man asking all kinds of questions, He wanted to get in the car, but I KNEW with the kevlar seats Id never get him in nor back out! He had 2 hearing aids so I was nearly screaming to him about the car with him yelling back "HUH?" after everything I said. It was pretty funny. Had to snap on the lid in Ohio, got a bit cloudy and just a spitting of sprinkles for about 20 mins, the car hardly got wet, but handled better than I thought on wet pavement. Out of Ohio, the lid came back off for a sunny bright 75 degree drive home. Decided to take a little detour and drive the car around the outer edge of chicago, great night for a sunset drive by the city, then about an hour home. In all 780 miles in 11:22, so not too bad for my first real drive in the car. Today it gets a claybar, wash and interior scrub, then the next chapter in the 348 begins. Have to thank LABRAT for finally selling me the car (ok i stalked him for about 5 months then he sold it to me). Look forward to meeting more of you as time passes. Paul B Ndpendant.
Congratulations Paul...WELCOME TO THE BROTHERHOOD! Your story is awesome and in many ways reminds me of my F-car purchases... I bought em and drove them home 1,000+ miles. It's all part of the experience isn't it Paul? She's a beautiful car and one to be very proud of. Nothing quite as nice as a strait pipe tubi is there? ...seriously, HOW MANY TIMES DID YOU PLAY THE RADIO? ENJOY!!! BTW: I love the carbon fiber console!
congrats!! not to hijack your thread but I love the 348 and the 355 and have always wanted the 355 but I wonder when it comes down to it and time for me to buy mine; I wonder if I should just buy a 348 and save the money both on the purchase and cost of ownership...355's my favorite fcar to date and probably always will be but throwing ridiculous money at up keep costs, just not sure... course then I wonder if I should just save more and wait until the 430's more affordable for me...
