It's about time for a Ferrari, after soooo many years ...

Hi all, greetings form a Belgian (Flemish) living in France.

I'm 50 years old, always been into (sports) cars, and it's about time for a Ferrari, just hesitating between 2 models ...

I'm not unfamiliar to sports cars, I have (and have had) quite a few : at 19 I had a Matra Murena, at 30 my first Lotus Esprit Turbo SE, Then an S4, a TVR, some Lotusses, etc ...

Currently in my garage : a Noble M12, a Lotus Elise Sport 220, a Porsche 996 MK1 coupe, a Porsche 996 4S convertible, a Porsche 997 C4 coupe, an MX5, a BMW 740D (my comfy daily driver) and a PGO buggy.

I promised myself a Ferrari for my 50th birthday, but I didn't succeed So now trying my best to get one for (or around) my 51th birthday

Biggest issue here : I'm hesitating between a California & a F430 (coupe or convertible).

Why I'd chose a California (the V8) :

- convertible, hard roof
- double clutch
- more comfort

And why I'd chose a F430 :

- more raw
- looks
- mid engined
- investment wise the better choice ?

For the F430, the Spider is my favorite, but only looks nice with the top down imho. The coupe is of course beautiful as well, but it's a coupe ...

I have never driven any of them, I have 0 idea which one would give me the most joy/pleasure, which one is the more reliable, which one will cost me the least in maintenance or breakdowns (I suppose the "Ferrari"tax there is pretty hefty), etc ...

I do have comfy sports cars, and raw sports cars, each have their own character : for long comfy sporty trips, I take a Porsche, for spirited pure fun driving the Elise cannot be beaten, and to sh*t my pants, I take the Noble

So, what are your opinions ? And another question : how "wrong" is it to not prefer red as color ?

 

Welcome aboard. First off, I offer plenty of support for “not red”…
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When we bought this (at the time, a 5-year-old 2005 model), we also considered the Cali briefly. The Cali is a newer car by several years, so that’s a consideration as well.

For me, I’d owned a Fiat Spider, and had an Alfa Spider at the time. No other sports cars and definitely no exotics, so our situation was quite different from yours. For me, I didn’t want to ultimately feel that my first Ferrari was “not exotic enough,” so the Cali was quickly off the table.

This is not to say the Cali isn’t a blast to drive. I haven’t had the opportunity, but I’ve heard it’s plenty sporty. The 430 is definitely more raw, but the Cali is certainly a real Ferrari.

I should add that other than when in for service (as in the picture above), my top is down all the time. I used to drive the car top-up in cold weather, but not much any more. I agree the car looks so much better top down - also sounds a lot better from inside that way, too.

 

I haven't driven a California but have other double-clutch cars. I've driven the F1 430.

Me personally I love the single-clutch F1 system. It's a manual box, you need to use it that way. The shifts are more dramatic, I enjoy that.

It's just a different experience, and in my opinion...what most think of when they think about a Ferrari.

The California I have heard is a great driving car, a true Ferrari. But no doubt a different experience.

I think you need to decide which experience you want. How you will be using the car.

 

I just coached a friend through this and he's happy with his first Ferrari - a F430 Spider. A well-maintained F430 is a low-risk purchase. If you don't like it, you can turn around and sell with little to no loss.

 

IMO the California variants will continue to depreciate, 430 will not.