Mike Sheehan - The Ferrari Curmudgeon

I like Mike.

 

That was the one sale I made while I was there.

 

When I started looking for a 330 2+2 almost ten years ago, Mike Sheehan was one of the names that came up on a search under "Ferrari".

We had a couple of conversations. He didn't seem to be much interested in advising first time owners or in '60s 2+2s or other lower-end models, though he did have an extra nice 308 on his page the first time I looked at it.

Perhaps his outlook has changed with harder times. I've seen a sprinkling of 330 and 365 2+2s on his page in the last couple of years and he described them in the same glowing terms he uses for the big $$$ stuff.

I see no potential problems in buying a car through him.

 

Buying these kinds of cars - especially vintage - demands a heavy background check into the car's history and real value. The seller's good reputation should be enough to get you into their showroom over another, but when it comes to price, document legitimacy or pedigree, the seller's opinion should have little influence. Remember: they're trying to sell you the car. Outside opinions from specialists can mean the difference between ten thousand dollars, potential repairs that would otherwise go unmentioned etc.

We all know a well maintained 308 or Dino run far less than the more pristine and desirable vintage Ferrari's, but allow a new owner to take pride in buying a Ferrari, and make excellent Sunday drivers for countless owners. A Dino being a boat anchor is laughable. It sounds arrogant and biased to say that. Something clearly from somebody who hasn't the need to even think about a car worth so "little." A true enthusiast understands the emotional value the less expensive Ferrari's have, and that should be enough.

 

you may want to check out the values of vintage ferraris, and paintings of noted artists vs any other financial index you can muster.....i would be willing to bet that over the last 25 years, only gold has done better than enzo era cars.

so you can consider the people who trade in these cars to be fools, but their wallets say different.

these kinds of emotional tendencies will continue to support vintage, historic, and interesting cars across the spectrum. not because they have intrinsic value as you said, but because they have a place in people's ambitions and sense of achievement.

but as another poster said, we may all be right in the end. right now about 3 billion more people are aspiring to the lifestyle we have enjoyed for a century, so it is not far fetched to imagine a tiny fraction of that bunch, lets say 3 million of them, to aspire to owning vintage ferraris, or picassos, but since there arent enough of either, this wave will raise even 3x8, and norman rockwells to star status.

 

Bang on



Seriously, I wouldn't be surprised if I read on F'Chat 15 or 20 years from now guys boasting over the find of an "old" 348 or 456...

 

April, 1985 issue of Road & Track: Phil Hill says the 308 is just as good as the 250 SWB.
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Phil Hill also was quoted in Road and Track that a 412 "would be the most logical Ferrari for me to own in America today."

 

I'm sure many of you received Sheehan's email yesterday advertising that he has a 246 GTS for sale for $249,500...

 

Anyone that defines their self worth in the terms of the material items they accumulate must lead a pretty unfullinging life...

 

and you were FABULOUS. you got it done, big guy!

 

I will never understand why a buying a Ferrari "must" make some financial sense. That's ridiculous. I own a Ferrari because I want one. I am willing to pay for the enjoyment. If I was interested on ROI with my spending money - I would drive a Honda and put the Ferrari money in an investment account. Boy that's fun.

When was the last time someone made money taking a cruise or traveling Europe and staying in nice hotels? Same thing to me.

If someone wants a $30,000 Ferrari and spends $25,000 on extensive engine mods - who CARES?

 

As always, "Priced right".

 

I enjoy Mike's articles the same way as I enjoy many other writer's articles. Take some things, leave some things, although with some of Mike's articles I leave many things. I recall speaking with him many years ago regarding a early Boxer which I walked on due to that conversation. I am 1000% kicking myself now for walking on it because of what the early Boxer market is like now. No one to blame but myself in the end. Also, his articles regarding bargain Ferrari's is very misleading for people as there is no bargain Ferrari. For one who preaches taking care of a Ferrari to the highest degree, the words bargain and Ferrari should never ever be near one another regardless of the buy-in price.

I am still trying to figure out how Euro spec 308s are getting 40k+ Euro overseas, yet Mike still states early 308s are a go-nowhere car. If long-term investments have taught us anything, it's that Europeans prices set the standard for car pricing and they eventually bleed over to the rest of the world. Early Porsche 911S anyone? Those things blew up in price in Europe first, then the states. Early Boxers had the same phenomenon.

 

You too, huh? Somehow we have to find middle ground, but I know in my case - anything more than 1 is too much.

 

IMO Sheehan is doing what brokers do: soften up or "educate" owners on what a worthless pile they have, especially without expert assistance and then put out cars he represents as magnificent and more valuable than the norm.

I love the 246, a "time capsule" even though it was restored in 2000.

But Sheehan does what he needs to do and the length of this thread shows he has got name recognition, a must to be a go-to guy. Not a fan here, but I have to appreciate how hard he works and he is very knowledgeable. I also think he tries to focus on the high dollar cars so a commission makes more financial sense for his time. Nothing at all wrong with that.

 

Dr. Tom,

There are some here, including me, who might see that as a cavalier attitude. I can maybe convince myself it's OK to spend $30,000 on a non-necessity. If after doing that a bill came due for another 25,000, I would have to be depressed for a while. If your point is that we shouldn't be in this in the hopes of making money, then I agree it's not a likely outcome.

Cheers,
TomB

 

that is an opinion. i wont, and am not arguing with you. i am only trying to explain why these types of cars can maintain a high value regardless of their 'intrinsic' worth.

i cannot speak for those people who do this since i only buy what i love. but i know there are legions of wealthy people who collect things simply to say that they have it. like it or not, this keeps prices for these objects high.

 

Agree on all points.

One of my life's exisitential questions: Spend the $25K hotrodding my 308 or save the dough and the 308 for a future 550, 360, or vintage 12.

My wife hardly ever drives and is content with our well maintained and long-ago paid for '99 4Runner. She has absolutely no desire for a Range Rover, Lexus, or similar ride as a DD, and neither do I.

She's cool with my car thing within the bounds of financial reason, and in consideration of other things that guys spend their spare time and personal $$$ on...small airplanes, boats, hunting and fishing, mountain climbing, etcetera...she's only too happy that my main interest is in cars.

She has also come to appreciate the "Ferrari mystique" and history of the make over the nearly nine years that I've been an owner, and has told me she'd like for us to have another vintage 12 model down the road.

 

Two completely different and totally unrelated things being discussed here.

1) Wealthy individuals looking to purchase investment grade automobiles from a noted expert in the field, hoping to find some assurance that their investment will appreciate.

2) Guys with good jobs who want to drive Ferraris within a limited budget. (While that budget may stretch into the mid 6 figures, it is still limited)


Sheehan's business caters mostly to guys in the first category.

Guys like us consider owning one or two or a handful of Ferraris a hobby. Hobbies cost money. Guys like Sheehan and Shaughnessy and Carini have built businesses catering to guys who are assembling collections, and expect those collections to appreciate in value.

 

I will never sell my Ferrari. That being the case, it doesn't matter how much money I put into it. I am paying for enjoyment and as long as I feel the value it is all good.

 

Here's another way to look at it; Show my someone who bought a 308 owned it for 15 years, driven it 50,000 miles, maintained it by the book, repaired as necessary, is keeping it - and has profited financially from it.


It doesn't happen. It's impossible. This makes no "financial" sense in any way. Therefore, from a financial point of view, you should never buy one, use it and keep it. Ever.

But that's really not the point is it? And that is my point.