Octane article

Octane's Hot Little Number
Ferrari 400/412
Undervalued classics to buy today - the misunderstood Ferrari 400/412
By Dave Selby

19th February 2010
Ferrari 400i

Ferrari 400i


True, 9mpg is pretty hurtful but, as this Ferrari’s got a decent sized boot, it can be converted to LPG, which could make sense
It must have been an odd little boy whose bedroom wall had a poster of the Ferrari 400 – probably the
kind of lad who ended up as a staffer on Octane.

Not only is the 400 the most forgotten and cheapest Ferrari money can buy, it also possesses some most un-Ferrari-like characteristics. At its launch purists were aghast that the 400 had an automatic option. Not only that, it was a four-seater, the size of an XJ6, and even had a decent-sized boot. The only way it could have been worse was if it had had four doors!

It was, in essence, a family supercar. And it cost Rolls-Royce money. Yet all of the things the purists held against it now work in its favour. The fact that it’s been shunned by die-hard Ferraristi has kept it cheap.
For the money, there really is no other way to combine four seats with a Ferrari V12.

True, 9mpg is pretty hurtful but, as this Ferrari’s got a decent sized boot, it can be converted to LPG, which could make sense. There are signs, too, that the market’s waking up to these chisel-chinned dinosaurs.
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Price points

price points
Bespoke motoring at an
off-the-peg price

• Price new in 1976 was £22,464; by 1984 a new one cost £44,800.

• In 2001 Elton John’s 412 sold for £42,300 at auction – most 400/412s sold in 2001 made £7000-10,000.

• In 2007-’08 auction prices ranged from £7000 to £22,400; anything over £13,000 was exceptional.

• In November 2009 a RHD manual sold for £14,950 at auction. Buy now, buy the best, the world’s waking up.
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I suppose "chisel chinned dinosaur" beats K-car, frumpy and crap supercar.

 

Also old BAAAD photos- The car shot from the right angle looks insanely good-
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