the 05 Ingrid 612 at FoSF info??

For an F1 equipped 612 it seems pretty cheap. Could be the unpopularity of grigio ingrid or maybe 2+2s generally, nomatter how brilliantly executed. Prices of 612s continue to drop. Mercedes Benz of Oakland, right across the bay, has a manual 612 in TDF/cuoio with daytona seats, upgraded wheels and red calipers with comparable mileage for $164.9K obo. Considering how long they've had it and that there have been no offers on ebay, they'd probably sell for around $150K. With the narrowing spread between the 612 and 456M, I may be trading up sooner than I had planned.

 

Car looks real sweet, and that seems like a very attractive price....

 

That car was used as a press demonstrator -- the proof is in one of the magazine test articles, which clearly shows a picture of the serial number plate on the dash of their Ingrid test car -- same VIN as the FoSF car.

Now it should be that the car is robust enough to survive some ham-handed skid pad work with plenty of life to spare, and the price certainly gets one's attention, doesn't it? As a matter of personal taste, I also didn't like the color of the contrasting stripes on the Daytonas -- but I do think that the diamond-stitched headliner is pretty trick.

In the end, I passed up that car for an '06 with 4k miles -- cost me more, but I'm more comfortable with the provenance.

Hope that info is useful.

Best,

Gary

 

If that car was in the magazines, it will probably be worth more in the future!

 

http://www.roadandtrack.com/article.asp?section_id=3&article_id=2608&page_number=2

Best,

Gary

 

They certainly didn't care for its F1 gearbox.

 

I don't think ANYONE with a passion for cars likes the F1 box in "auto" mode, which was what they were reviewing. The auto-mode shifts are slow and annoying, the F1 box is only any fun when in full manual mode, which makes both upshifts/downshifts more crisp and satisfying and *livable*.

 

They were reviewing the entire experience when they said they'd opt for the manual, not just creeping along in traffic in auto mode. The reason I was interested is because there are two manual tranny 612s (both TDF blue) currently for sale with asking prices lower than the ingrid FofSF F1 612.

 

It was clear in the article that they were using "auto" mode which is a very unsatisfying experience. Sure, the F1 in creeping traffic can be a pit of a pain, and I think most would prefer the stick during those times, and if your driving was done mainly in this fashion, the stick would be a better choice for sure. However, for drivers that do not spend most of their time stuck in traffic, the F1 gearbox would be a much more rewarding choice and I think the reviewers would've agreed had they not spent most of it in auto-mode.

 

...driving my 512TR in creeping traffic seems at times to have the potential for making my clutch leg twice as large as my other leg! Even for tooling around town, I find the F1 box on the 612 to be quite usable. In the end, I think it depends on whether you're a 6-speed die-hard or not -- I find both experiences enjoyable (and just about never use the auto mode on the F1 box), but in the end am happy about making the transition to F1 on this most recent car. And I'm definitely going F1 on my 599 when I get to that happy point in the queue.

Best,

Gary

 

So you're not soured on the F1, even after you were stranded on the way to Big Sur? Off topic, we've stayed at Ventana, but only had dinner at the Post Ranch Inn. Do you have a favorite room?

 

As with some other things in life, when someone/something you love is once again delighting you, it's easier to forget (or at least forgive!) those moments when you were less happy...

Reply to off topic -- If you want to see the ocean and coastline at the Post Ranch Inn, the Slate room is our favorite. The layout of the room is very interesting (twin circles joined in the middle), quite comfortable, and plenty big for two adults plus stuff.

The identically shaped room is available facing the mountains as well. The "name" of the room is escaping me at the moment (I think it starts with an L), but its designation is "Mountain Upper." It's farther away from the restaurant, down near the North end of the path and close to the North hot tub. This is the room where we've spent the past 2 New Years' -- and already have reserved for a few days beginning Jan 1, 2009.

As long as I'm at it, we like the breakfast buffet at Sierra Mar (restaurant at Post Ranch), but find the prix fixe dinners a bit much to deal with -- especially as the quality is not up to that of Masa's, Fleur de Lis, or a bunch of other places (some considerably more modest) we like to eat. New Years' Eve 2006/7 was particularly poor -- and the price was out of this world. This year in Big Sur, we ate once at Sierra Mar, once at Dietgen's (funky, but the food was actually quite tasty) and the Bakery Cafe (best meal of the trip).

Hope that's some useful info -- at least from one person's view!

Best,

Gary

 

Thanks! We liked Dietjen's, too; relaxed and gemutlicht ambience at Christmas, the last time we were there. I remember the elegance of the Post Ranch's restaurant, but, on that day at least, the food wasn't memorable. On trips along the coast, we're more interested in the environment than in finding a gourmet dining experience anyway.

Allan

 

Hi Gary,

Did you look at this car in person?

 

Yes, I did look at it in person a couple of times, and as I was shopping for a 612 I gave it pretty serious consideration. There are some scrapes/worn spots on the edges of the under-nose fins, other things you'd probably expect to see on a car of that mileage that had been driven by a number of people.

I did not drive the car, though, so can't comment on how it performs. I do like the Ingrid color personally, loved the diamond stitched headliner, and found much to like about the car -- but the odd contrasting striping on the Daytonas really got to me, and in the end I decided that it had TMM (Too Many Miles) for me.

This was all before I more or less accidentally tripped across the C&D review that revealed that it had been a press demonstrator.

At the time the asking price was also significantly higher (at least $20k more) -- at today's price, I'd give it some pretty serious thought (again, just one person's view). In the end, I fell in love with the low mileage TdF/Cuoio/Blue Medio '06 with the modular wheels (not polished, thank you very much) and had to have it.

Hope that's of some use to you.

Best,

Gary

 

Thank you so much for your fast and always helpful responses.