Keith Martin's 288 Commentary in AutoWeek

Well his choice of alternate purchases IS strange, he picks an older model that probably WILL appreciate over time, and a new model whose value is falling like a stone!

Pink Floyd drummer Mason also discounts the 288GTO as 'derivative' of the 308GTB, but you may as well compare apples to oranges!

The 288GTO values continue to pace the F40, a pretty strong indicator of desirablility, as far as I'm concerned...........

 

If what you say is true, old Nick needs to take another look at his 250 GTO. Its definitely not a brand new design either.

As far as Keith Martin's comments are concerned, I'd pose a question. Which design, 288GTO or F40 looks better today? Clearly (to me) the F40 is too "over the top" by today's standards (like the Countach is) and will not stand the test of time. The 288 IMO is a timeless design.

 

I NEVER argue with drummers richer than I am!!! LOL!

But point well made on the 250GTO as well, definately evolutionary......

Kieth Martin's comments are meant as entertainment I think, otherwise his job title would be "Investment Advisor"......that price is absolutely market correct, if not a 'good buy'..........

 

We see F40s on the street ALL THE TIME here, no kidding.

There's a Rice University student that drives one. He trumped me while I was on display at the Art Gallery on campus as an Art Car!

 

288 GTOs are for real insiders only. They are five times as scarce as any F40. A 288 is a wolf in sheep's clothing. Pure understatement, compared to the F40.

 

... his last comment doesn't make much sense - how can you compare the 288GTO to a 360 Spider..for someone covering auctions that's the dumbest comments have read in a long time.

 

288GTOs are bad to the bone. I followed a nice one at the FFQC recently, and he left LOTS of room for me to do my........uh.........parading! LOL!

I also recall the time spent gazing at one at FoH, comparing detail after detail differences from the contemporary 328GTB......Night and day!

 

i would sell body parts for a 288. the guy its nuts shunning them. i have said it before i would settle for a Ferrari based non turbo rebody for grins. the looks of the 288 just "do it" for me.

 

Keith Martin's is usally good, but I don't completely understand that one. I do think that $322,589 for a 288 GTO is a little crazy. I think what he is saying is that for that amount of cash that gets you a car that sort of looks like the 308 is, alittle over aboard.

 

Keith has it in for the whole Group B scene, the 288, 959, Spoert Quattro, Lancia HD, RS200, he thinks they were so irrelevent to the US Sports Car scene as to be of no consequence to collectors, which is after all his market. His attitude carries over to the collector insurers who generally do not recognize the Group B cars as collectibles refusing to provide coverage at agreed value or referring to the daily driver coverage market.

Someday the market may understand that these were the last production cars built to an almost unlimited standard in the best muscle car tradition, but it aint now.

 

I'll pay $300k+ for a clean 288 when the time comes. Anyday.

 

As far as F-cars go, my list is as follows:

288
F40
Enzo
360 CS
575 M
400i
F50

Obviously, I'm not a huge fan of one open-topped car on that list. The GTO is the purest definition of putting a car on 'steroids'; it was built in Enzo's day and the fact that it has no racing history does not bother me because it was built for a race series that simply ceased to be.. Porsche was also caught with their pants down and I think history will ultimately be very kind to these cars.

It's not for everyone, but purchases such as these shouldn't be rationalized.

-Chris

 

People forget that Keith Martin started out his auto commentary life as an a Alfa buff. It's quite a stretch from there into supercar realms, the stretch made obvious by his clearly uniformed commentary. You really have to take Martin with a huge pinch of salt. He has inveigled his way into places that he doesn't belong, but he's there anyway and we all read the results of his drivel every week in Autoweek. I simply don't ascribe too much weight to his opinions. Markets are simply that - markets, and the price paid for a particular car on a given day is the market for that car that day. I really don't think that Martin's commentary is useful in any way. What is useful is his publication Sports Car MArket, as it simply reports prices fetched at various auctions. That information is real.

 

To me, this sentence,

"...looks like the garden-variety 308 on to which someone stuck a "Fast and Furious" wheel arch kit."

tells me that he just doesn't "get it". No need to delve further into his motivations/agenda re. the 288GTO imho.

 

More importantly why would you care what he, or anyone other than you, for that matter thinks?
The NYT art critic said of Renoir: "His ability to paint is a poor as his choice of color."

 

He needs to be committed or arrested for indecent exposure of stupidity and aesthetic blindness.



Forza,


Cavallini

 

Ah, jealousy rears its ugly head. Why must people degrade items just because they can't own them? Appreciate things for the time and effort that someone put into them.

As far as Keith Martin goes, the 400i is a true gentleman's car. Anyone who doesn't understand its purpose will never be one.

Its your money, spend it on things that make you happy.

 

You are exactly right. Keith Martin's publication and his various columns contain two very different types of information.
Firstly - Reporting of actual prices fetched at various auction, categorized by type of vehicle -VERY USEFUL, especially for someone looking for real world data for insurance appraisals, prospective buyers or sellers etc.
Secondly - Commentary and opinions of the foregoing - TOTALLY USELESS except for entertainment value.

 

Most of the so-called journalism coming out of Auto Week is just crap anyway. Do any of their writers actually know how to drive?

 

The 288GTO is the most practical of the Ferarri supercars. In the EVO artical were they tested all 4 of the super Ferrari's..it was the one that got the best marks for it's streetability. The 288GTO in my humble opinion is quite possiably the best supercar Ferrari has ever done.

 

I found this pretty funny. Kieth Martin just published a book entitled "keith martin on Ferrari" The book is entirely made up of articles, not written by him, but rather mostly written by Micheal Sheehan. The articles are lifted from Martin's magazine in the section dedicated to marque experts. One of those articles Martin published was Sheehan's comments about the 288, which Sheehan marks as one of his favorite Ferraris, reciting virtues far exceeding the F40, and answering questions as to why the market values these cars so highly.

Comments from experts are important to market, which most people care about because they often affect, or reflect the value of the car. Martin may be commenting on Ferrari's, but I'm not sure he's anything of an expert. Poor and misplaced commments IMHO. His comments that a 360 would be a better choice suggest he is giving an expert opinion, which is clearly wrong. If he'd no authority, his comments are worthless other than to tell you what he likes and doesn't.

 

His SCM publication is hilarious! The one liner joke/reviews are so lame that you wonder if he just prints them to laugh at himself. Rarely are the opinions based on any fact. Also, the facts presented on model reviews are often incorrect.

One of my favorite passages from Aug '04:

"And finally, 0-150mph in the McLaren takes just 12.8 seconds while the Ferrari is a few tenths back at 13.1"

"While the F1's mid and high speed acceleration easily beats the Enzo..."

0.3 seconds to 150 is "easily" faster? Was this an actual road test?? On the same day/driver, etc???

Luckily, known Ferrari sources (ie. John Apen) submit decent articles from time to time to keep some sense of credibility. I wish we could just get the auction results without all of the other incorrect info and old timer jokes to save me some bookshelf space.

LS

 

Yeah, like a dummy I brought this book thinking, well, thinking that it would have original content. Imagine that!

Actually, I think that Keith and Steve Jackson have moved on and left us behind. Drum brake muscle cars that go like stink until you have to turn are all the rage. Who cares about them dinky furrin cars.

Dale