My journey to my purchase of my first Ferrari….a 1989 328 GTB

March 6th 2006…..I am Sitting in Bank of America in a nice green argyle sweater and jeans sending out a wire transfer for the purchase of my first Ferrari…..it takes 15 minutes total…everything is going through my mind….am I ready to be a Ferrari owner? Will the Ferrari I am buying be good to me? Am I making a big mistake in purchasing a Ferrari? Will maintenance kill me? Do I really need a Ferrari? Will my wife enjoy riding in it? Etc etc…..Suddenly I gain a new found confidence and settle into my chair in Bank of America…..I am ready to be a Ferrari owner…. I start to visualize myself driving the Ferrari…dreams of driving my first Ferrari start to run wild through me….I am ready…send the money…..”click” the money is sent…no turning back now….The road to get here was long.

May 21st 2004…..My first post on Ferrari Chat.com. I was looking to buy a 1987 328 GTS from my neighbor here in Mill Valley, California. The 1987 328 GTS had 6K miles (so I thought) and was in excellent shape body and interior wise…..The 328 had been sitting for 10+ years. Turns out my neighbor was no less than “Thresh” Dennis Fong, a prominent Video Gamer and champion player of the video game “Doom”. “Thresh” had won the 328 in a high profile “Doom” gaming contest from John Carmack, who created the little game called “Doom”. I must thank Tillman on FChat for this insight as he connected the dots with the Ferrari license plate I mentioned to him and the owner “Thresh”. It was because “Thresh” was a famous video game player I was able to track this 328 on the Internet. Turns out John Carmack had originally bought the 328 new (and was his first Ferrari) and had this particular 328 fitted with Noorwood’s Turbo’s…..I dive a little deeper with press releases and Internet searches…..Thank goodness this was a famous Ferrari as it could be tracked through the owners John Carmack and “Thresh” as they talked about it in various magazines etc…… I now know it is a famous 328 Ferrari. It turns out Carmack had pretty much destroyed the 328 engine at around 40K miles, and had the engine replaced and the 328 repainted and the speedo replaced as well as it was broken (thanks to James Patterson at Norwood’s for this insight and service history on the 328). After Carmack got his 328 back to new condition, he offered the 328 up as a prize for the winner of his “Doom” game contest…..”Thresh” Dennis Fong was the lucky winner……”Thresh” thought the 328 was new, after all it just had the broken speedo replaced, engine replaced and a nice repaint job….Looked brand new…..Carmack spared no expense in getting the 328 back to 100% original condition…..only upon my investigations 10+ years later when I was looking to buy it did “Thresh” the current owner find out about the history of this 328…”Thresh” had never driven the 328, just won it in a contest and then let it sit for 10+ years….He was too busy working at forming other gaming companies….What was I thinking in telling the owner the history of this 328? Well at first I thought he was trying to sell me a 6K mile car when it really had 46K miles!....I thought a good bargaining chip on price. Had I kept my mouth shut I could have bought this 328 for $18K….yes $18K…the owner knew nothing of the history of this Ferrari or the Norwood turbo’s….. big mistake…once he knew the history he knew he could get more $$ for it….especially being a Noorwood’s Turbo version……the price rose to $50K+…..ah what was I thinking in telling the owner the history….Guess I am too honest.

As a side note, John Carmack was well known for hot-rodding Ferraris and running the wheels off of them. His twin-turbo F50 was in Norwood shop at that very same time I was inquiring about his former 328. The 328 I was looking at was fitted with a $15,000 turbo upgrade from Norwood’s and made 360+ HP….I decided to pass on this deal as I figured I would never get a 360+HP Norwood 328 past SMOG in California. God how this 328 would have been a blast to drive……but not to be in California.

The Ferrari bug has bitten me….I start my search for another 328 GTS.....In late 2004, during my search I find the elusive 1989 328 GTB….. ….oh the beauty of the lines on a GTB….How perfect….I just admire the lines of the 1989 328 GTB….A GTS will not do anymore…it must be a 1989 328 GTB

June 2005…..I start my search for the perfect 1989 328 GTB with ultra low miles….. …..I come close two times to finding the perfect 328 GTB…….On one, the price was just way too high and on the other it had the wrong color interior for me (red/black)…...I let the two deals slip through my hands. I start to wonder are first time Ferrari purchase jitters getting the best of me?….I convince myself no…I am just waiting for the right one….how long do I have to wait?.....2005 passes with no Ferrari….

2006 is a new year and I have a new found confidence…….I will find and buy a 1989 328 GTB with ultra low miles. I have the wife, a daughter on the way, the house, and the job…..why not I finally say?….Life is too short not to enjoy a Ferrari. I have read most posts regarding 328’s at least twice since I joined FChat…..I feel like I know this model already. I start searching Ferrari Chat.com for a 1989 328 GTB….none to be had…..but wait….there was one guy on FChat who mentioned he knew of a guy who knew of a guy who had the most supreme 4K mile 1989 328 Red/Tan he has ever seen….this God like figure to me by the FChat user name of “CornellCars” sent me a PM…he thinks he knows of the perfect 328….My heart beats fast in anticipation….we PM for several days…He is digging deep into his contacts to find out if the guy still has the 1989 328 GTB and wants to sell her…..I say “can you get me pictures?….tell me everything I say”…I am ready to buy if this is the right one…..

Here I must say I am so impressed with FChat member “CornellCars” in Florida…..the story gets complicated….”CornellCars” is a high end car dealer/broker in Florida…..who knows of a guy who knows the seller who is in Connecticut….ok I say that is great…get me pictures…..the seller is contacted and is still interested to sell….this 328 has never been on the public market….just word of mouth from the seller, who also has an F40 and is looking to make room for a Ford GT…..the 328 must go….the 328 is at a dealership for an oil change, can not get pictures…..”CornellCars” in Florida somehow knows someone in Connecticut where the 328 is located who can swing by where the 328 is located at the dealership….. and can get me pictures…..This in the middle of a snow storm! Unbelievable! This is pure Ferrari devotion on the part of “CornellCars”…..I get pictures a few days later…..Oh My God! The pictures were unbelievable….we work out the deal over the next week and now I am the very proud owner of a 1989 328 GTB with 4K original miles…..beautiful 328….no Scuderia Shield decals and no rear spoiler. This 328 GTB was one of the very few to make it out of Italy into the USA market with no spoiler and even has a letter from the Ferrari factory indicating this was a special order “Spoiler Delete” Option 328 GTB for sale in the USA….I love the clean look of the 328 with no spoiler…and since it was a special order option not to have the spoiler, no holes were ever drilled in her where the spoiler goes…beautiful….. As a side note I have always liked the 328 with no spoiler (more like Euro models that way)…..I always thought the lines of the 328 would be perfect with no spoiler….and alas I found one. As of today I am the new owner of a 1989 328 GTB Red/Tan with 4K miles on her…..She is a beauty.

Before I even drive her I will have a Major Service done here in the Mill Valley area and place a new set of tires on her for good measure….she will come back serviced and ready to be driven….. Once I have her in sunny Northern California I will treat her well…No more cold Winters from the East Coast..... it rarely gets below 50 degrees here in San Francisco area….I will take her on nice drives along Highway 1 and Mount. Tamalpias (I will include pictures soon from Mt. Tam)…..A life long dream of owning a first Ferrari will be realized. This dream like so many others began by watching Magnum PI drive a 308 in the 1980s…..who knew what effect the beauty of that 308 would have on me over the years……but alas I have realized one more dream which is to own and drive a Ferrari, and in my case culminating in a 1989 328 GTB…..Many great drives to come……I am so happy I can hardly sleep……life is great!

I am sure I will be experiencing many of the same things as FChat new Ferrari owner “Bullfighter”, who has recently described in his on-line diary of being a new FCar owner. I must again say thanks to “CornellCars” and all the other folks on this forum as you have all been so very helpful. Until I get her home and can take some decent pictures of her on Mt. Tam, here are a few pictures from the dealership before she gets shipped out to Sunny California…..Thanks again all FChat members…you have been so very helpful in all aspects of finding my dream car….

 

Thanks! Yes I plan to use Valtellina....I talked to them about a week ago and many Northern California folks have given them a good recomendation.....No plans to use Ferrari of SF.....I have not heard too many good things about Ferrari of SF as of late (well really Ferrari of Mill Valley...I live about 5 minutes from there dealership in Mill Valley)....So yes I do plan to use Valtellina.....