The day you bought your first Ferrari

I was looking for a Maser Merak or maybe a bora in bad shape when I got my GT4 about 5 yrs ago. The car needed paint bad which I can do with my kids (still haven't) but the engine was/is in unusually good condition. The guy who had it must have really known these cars. I got a flipping steal bc the dealership bought 3 cars he owned in an estate sale-they made a killing on the other 2 and were having an issue moving mine bc the paint was so rough. Fit like a glove for me though. The 308 engine may actually be the best thing since sliced bread and I love the 'what is a Dino' faces. I should know. I had the same face years ago parking in the state st garage at my first job. This guy used to park his silver gt4 in there. I loved the design and I knew the car had something to do with Ferrari-just like the 246 Dino. I didn't think I'd own one 10 yrs later!

 

Bought my BB 512i after a trip to look at cars in Chicago and Denver in 1986. The first owner in Chicago just took me for a drive, but wouldn't allow me to drive the car...REALLY??? The second owner outside of Denver took a lot of time talking w/ me about the car, then tossed me the keys for a drive. I was in Ferrari Heaven! I gave him a deposit, arranged for transportation...and the car arrived in VT just before Christmas. It was the BEST Christmas present that I ever bought for myself! I still own the Boxer and drive her regularly here through the driving season. Owning a Ferrari was always my dream...and I'm still living it some 29 years later. The BIG services are expensive, but I've had way more than my share of fun with regular driving, FCA concours events and many days on the track from Lime Rock, Summit Point, Mosport, Watkins Glen, Indy and Road America.

 

I'm sitting in the dealer right now while they wash her up. 2010 458 Italia. It really hasn't sunk in. I was on the hunt for a scud and fell in love with this particular car. The de eling is surreal at best. I just can't believe I'm about to get in a Ferrari, my Ferrari and drive home.

Tom

 

What I remember most about the day I picked up mine was taking it for a quick spin after it was delivered to me at the crack of dawn. I was about 3 miles into the run when I noticed a HUGE deer just waiting to jump out in front of me. I decided it was time to go home, and I don't think I went over 35 mph; reminded me of Risky Business and the ride home for the shop in the Porsche.

 

Congratulations. Great car...

 

I bought my first Ferrari on October 25, 1974.
I also had promised myself that I would own a Ferrari before I turned 30 - I made it by 11 days!
The car, serial number 8195 was in LIKE NEW condition. Not a scratch or mark anywhere.
The car was owned by Michael Blew from Solebury, PA and Phil Tegmaier arranged the deal.
$7,000.00!
This was my daily driver for around one year. I sold it in September of 1975, then in November, I found my GTC which I still own today.

Bob Z.

 

Bought my first Ferrari in early 1999. Got it from a lady in Reno, a 348ts. Always wanted one and I had the money squirreled away. Was going to fly my plane to Europe in May, so a friend took it to a local repair shop to have a rattle fixed. Sitting in the Eiffel Tower in Paris, my cell phone rings. Car totaled. Insurance paid, sued the repair guy. Bought a 348 spider in Chicago, and my friend who took the TS drove in to SF in 21 hours. Then a 355, 360, 430 and Mondial.

Don't think I am going to sell either the Mondial or the 430.

Art

 

Few better feelings.
Enjoy.

 

Some great stories here, thanks for sharing all.

I will share my story very soon.

 

I had been in the hospital 4 months. Drs. tried to kill me but I was very lucky. a 2000, 550, 1,800 miles. wreck came up on Copart. it was two more months later that I got out of the hospital. I still have the car. 19,000 now. I love it.

 

The day I bought the Ferrari.........my bank account cried.
The day I paid the local import duty the bank account twitched in its death throes!

 

Like everyone, I wanted a Ferrari from a very early age.

I always had some sort of Ferrari toy car when I was a kid.

When Magnum PI and Miami Vice was on TV, I was completely hooked.

I would always tell my Mum, Dad and friends I was going to buy a Ferrari one day.

Fast forward to 2004, I was working 7 days a week saving as much money as I could to buy my first Ferrari.

I waited until I turned 25 years old in 2005 before I bought one as no-one would insure me under 25 years old.

I started to look at 348s from March onwards. There was only a few for sale in Australia at the time. I looked at 4 out of 6 of them. The other 2 were in South Australia and Western Australia, a little too far to travel for me to bother about them.

I eventually bought the last one I looked at and I told some friends that if I didn't buy it I was going to give up as I was really frustrated looking for the right car.

There was always a story or the condition was poor and didn't look like what I saw in pics etc.

Anywho, I found my car. Talked to the owner, test drove it................and bought it straight away. I paid cash, the bank did the bank transfer the next day.

I had the owner tint the windows for me before I picked it up a few days later to drive it to the transport depot to truck the old girl home. *He put the stick on shields on also, don't know why*

Was definitely an experience I will never forget. Only seems like yesterday I went to see the car and drive it with my friend. A week later the car was in my Brothers garage.

Have had some great times in that car and an even better time here on Ferrari Chat.

Would like to share some pics of my car-

Some pics from my old camera phone when I first saw the car.

Some pics off my old camera at the Brothers place when it first arrived.

And the most recent pic of my car 10 years later.
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Ebay----gets tricky.

 

PAP - great story. Congratulations on the 10-years of ownership.

 

Cheers Mike, hoping to have around 50 years of ownership of this car.

I hope to get to 75 years old and still be able to drive my cars.

Who knows, might get to 90 driving this car.

 

I wondered just how old you where. A great personal story. Thanks for sharing

 

Cheers mate, I am still a young pup..............sorta.

I had a big week at work this week, I currently feel 75.

 

I've had my first (and only) Ferrari for about 4 years now, and still find myself doing this.

 

I must be unusual because it takes me about 5 years to hunt for the right car. No impulse just a calculated progression on deciding the exact model. Color doesn't really matter.
I probably look at a dozen or so but if the right one comes up after the "go" button is pushed then so much the better.

My first was a 308GTSi chop top that I just about stole. Very sexy at the time. Slow as an old dog but everything was slow in the smog years.

 

When I was 10 years old in 1979 I saw My first ever Ferrari - a red 308 GTS with cream leather interior parked amongst a row of Ford Cortina's, Escorts, Capri's, Morris Marina's, Vauxhall Cavaliers, and other family saloons, in the local town.

The thing was, this car was half the height of the cars around it and looked more like a spaceship to a 10 year old boy brought up on tractors in the countryside.

Having been brought up in the countryside, up until then, the greatest machines in the World were the County 1164 & 1174 tractors that My Dad drove (The 1174 was the first vehicle I ever drove - I was 8 at the time! [Dad was in the cab with Me just in case and we were in a massive field with nothing to run into] ).

When I got home I excitedly told My Dad about this car I'd seen so he got his car encyclopaedia out and we discovered it was a Ferrari 308 GTS.

"I'm going to own a Ferrari one day!" I declared with a big smile on My face.
"Good luck with that son, they're only for rich people to own!" he replied.

Then in 1980, Magnum P.I came out and he drove "My Ferrari"!

I loved that programme, especially the episodes with the Ferrari (to this day they're still the best episodes), and I told all My school mates that I was going to own a Ferrari one day.

All but one of My school mates said: "Never going to happen!", but one day, one of them looked at Me and said: "You're going to get that Ferrari one day and prove them all wrong! - I can see you'll do it!"

Then I went to college and Miami Vice came out - More Ferrari's!

I told My college mates: "I'm going to own a Ferrari one day", and again I got: Never going to happen!" as a reply.

I started work still dreaming of owning a Ferrari one day, telling all of My work mates: "I'm going to own a Ferrari one day", to which I got the reply: "Shyeah! - Right!".

Having bought a house and having various bills and expenses to pay, the chances of owning a Ferrari looked less and less likely, and it looked as though I'd just have to settle for looking at My large collection of Ferrari models instead.

I managed to save a bit of money (not enough for a Ferrari though), and then My grand parents passed away and left Me some money.

I started looking at buying a 2nd hand BMW M3 or M5 or possibly even a Maserati 4200 and then noted I the prices of the Ferrari 328 GTS. I was weighing up spending @ £25K on the BMW or Maserati, and realised that with a bit more saving, I could actually buy a 328 GTS for @ £32K. Another factor was, if I bought the BMW or Maserati then I would pretty much be guaranteed to lose money on depreciation every year, whilst the Ferrari was likely to go up in value.

Then I looked at the cost of servicing a Ferrari compared with an M-series or Maserati and the Ferrari worked out being cheaper to service.

Finally, I looked into the insurance, and due to classic car status, the Ferrari won again.

Bizarrely, from a financial point of view the Ferrari made far more sense than an M3/M5 or 4200, so I decided to start saving hard!

I was 2 months away from being ready to buy a 328 GTS when BANG! - The market took off!
Prices went from £32K to £40K overnight and I knew I had missed the boat!

Okay, I thought, the next affordable 2 seater open top Ferrari is the 348 TS, and they've been sat @ £20K~£28K for @ 5 years. Now the 348 has a bit of "Miami Vice" about it and I loved that era so a 348 TS, whilst not as perfect as a 328 GTS, was still very acceptable (had to be red with cream leather).

The trouble was, they were now running @ £28K+ and every time I rang up about one it was sold already!

£28K car? - "Sorry, sold it!", £29K car? - "Sorry, sold it!", £30K car? -"Sorry, sold it!", £32K car? - "Sorry, sold it!".

There was red 1990 348TS for sale for £32K at a very reputable Ferrari specialist that I went to see, but when I asked about a test drive, I was asked to come back on a day that was better weather-wise as it had rained in the morning, the (country) roads by his house where the car was were a bit mucky and he didn't want to get the car mucky.
I got the impression he didn't think I was a genuine buyer and so said I'd let them know if I was still interested in the car later on.

Then I spotted a 1990 348 TS in red with cream leather and 47K miles on the clock "Coming soon" at The Ferrari Centre in Kent 190 miles away, for £32K.

I phoned them up straight away and asked if they could give Me First refusal on the car when it came in. I told him that as long as the car was straight and true and drove okay then I was a confirmed buyer for the car. "No worries!-As soon as we get it, I'll let you know!"

I got a call to say the car would be in on the following Saturday but would not have been prepared for sale yet so I'd see it "warts and all" if I came down.

I did a six hour round trip to see the car and was left to look it over by Myself as they were incredibly busy that day. Eventually I got to test drive it and discovered that I didn't fit in the car due to a lack of leg room (I'm 6'2"), and I was catching two pedals at a time every time I pressed a pedal!

We eventually got back to the dealership and I then discovered that the roof panel had been left behind the seats (in all the excitement of driving My first Ferrari I hadn't realised that they'd put the roof panel in the car!). With the roof removed, there was decent leg room (with the seat all the way back), and although the pedals were still a bit close together, I could operate them without catching the pedal next to the one I was pressing (it did require a bit of ankle twisting, but not an excessive amount).

Now £32K is an awful lot of money to spend on a car for Me and I was having a head Vs heart debate as to whether I should buy the car or not. The heart was saying: "It's a life-long dream, a chance to prove all those who said it would never happen wrong, a chance to find out what Ferrari's are really about, and the value looks like it could double in a couple of years time so if you did have to sell, you wouldn't lose out!"

Meanwhile, the head was saying: "It's a massive amount of money for a car! The value could drop just as easily as go up! If something major goes wrong it could bankrupt you! It's going to cost £2.4K per year just to park it at a secure storage facility with 24/7 access! Forget it and buy a more sensible car!"

Whilst this argument was going on in My head, I heard a voice saying: "Okay! - I'll take the car"

I looked around to see who had spoken and thought: "That sounded like My voice! Did I really just say I'd buy this Ferrari? "

I was in a daze, thinking: "What the Hell am I doing?" when the salesman said: "Okay, we usually take a 10% deposit on cars sold", to which I replied slightly blankly: "Okay, no worries" and handed My bank card over whilst still in a daze.

"Okay, that's gone through. You've just bought a Ferrari Mr. J******!", followed by: "Are you okay Mr. J******?"

"I feel queezy and My legs have gone to jelly!" I replied.

"That's understandable, you're not just buying a car, you're fulfilling a lifelong dream Mr.J******!"

My legs came back to Me and we walked back into the showroom where the car was now sat. I stared at the car and the salesman said: "Everything okay?", to which I replied: "I can't believe that's going to be My Ferrari!".
"Oh no Mr J******! - Unless you want to back out of the deal, that IS your Ferrari!.

I hadn't told any of My family that I was buying a Ferrari and the day after I did the deal we were having a family meal at My mums house.

We were discussing My younger brothers forth coming wedding with My brother and his Fiancée, and the subject turned to cars for the wedding (they couldn't agree on what car to have on the day). My future Sister in Law said: "The only thing he has said is that he'd quite like to go to the wedding in a Ferrari!".

I sat there just smiling at the time and didn't say a word but thought to Myself: "I can make that happen for you".

Two weeks later, the balance for the car had been paid and My car was ready for collection and so I went down to fetch her home. I left the dealership and just up the road pulled over.

I then phoned My younger brother and said: "You know you said you'd quite like to go to your wedding in a Ferrari?"

"Yeah - Can't see it happening though! They're expensive to hire, even for a day!"

To which I replied: "How would you like to go to your wedding in My Ferrari?"

"Sorry, go in your what?"

"My Ferrari, go to your wedding in My Ferrari"

"F:censored:k off!" and he hung up on Me!

I rang him back and said again: "Would you like to go to your wedding in My Ferrari?"

"You haven't got a Ferrari!" he stated, so I said: "Really? - Listen to this!" and I gave the twin Fiamms a couple of blasts.

"Seriously!-Have you really bought a Ferrari?" he asked incredulously.

"I've just left the Ferrari centre in Kent in My Ferrari 348 TS. I'll see you when I get home around 9pm. I'll stop off at our sister's house on the way home. Catch you later!"

When I got to My Sister's house there was an amazed family welcome party waiting for Me and I had to take them out for a quick spin as none of them had ever been in a Ferrari before.

As for My brothers wedding day, he decided against going in the Ferrari in the end so that I could have a few drinks and celebrate their wedding rather than have to stay sober to get the car home later that night (I tried to convince him otherwise but he dug his heels in about it).

As for the car, I've had it for a year now and love driving it, especially the reaction it gets. The other day a boy @ 10 years old shouted out excitedly: "Mum! - It's a Ferrari!" and I wondered if his next thought was: "I'm going to own a Ferrari one day!"

I have to say though that if someone asked Me which is My favourite machine: A Ferrari or a County Tractor, it would be a tough choice! (You can take the kid out of the countryside but you can't take the countryside out of the kid! )


Sorry for the long post but I had to tell the whole story.

 

That's a great story, I really enjoyed reading. Thanks for sharing

 

Not a Ferrari but I would still like to share my story

I have always wanted a Ferrari (599 particularly) and will own one soon... hopefully within the next 3-4 years...

But I absolutely love my Maserati. Nothing else out there looks as elegant and "classy" as a Maserati GTS. Yesterday I took it out for a drive all over Chicago (downtown, Lincoln Park, Wrigleyville) and the amount of attention was unbelievable. I'm 22 by the way.

One day after work I was just browsing for cars on AutoTrader and I saw these pics of an amazing vehicle... white exterior with red interior (and white stitching)... I couldn't stop thinking about it and I actually dreamed driving it...

That weekend I drove down to Indianapolis... the first time I saw it in person I couldn't stop smiling and just saying "wow". GTS' are one of those cars that you have to see in person in order to capture its beauty...

The next day I put in my deposit and drove it home...

I love it. And I can't wait to own a F599. I have never driven one, but I just love the way it looks!
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After 16 years wanting nothing in life more than a 308, my dream came true one Sat afternoon in Atlanta back in 1997. I drove it home in a daze of excitement and as neared my home I realized the water pump failed. I pulled into my driveway in a cloud of steam.

It sat still for the next week. I would sit in it everyday after work.

The next time it left my driveway was on a flatbed.... total buzz kill

 

bought my first and only ferrari about 1 week before my 30th birthday back in 2011. had to drive it back on a 20 degree day with snow all over the ground but thankfully it had been so dry the salt on the roads didn't stick to the car on the 90 mile drive back to my house. It was truly a one of the best days of my life and i even have a photo to commemorate it.

 

I was actually in the market for a Rolls Royce Silver Shadow, I found good candidates but she-who-has-to-be-obeyed was not aligned to my plans (I recall insanity being mentioned).
Each night as I put our 5 year old son to bed he would ask “Daddy why can’t we buy a Ferrari?” and I explained that they were generally a bit expensive an only seated 2 people while a Rolls-Royce would fit the whole family of 4 and be comfortable.

Around eastern 2 years ago I “missed” (i.e. was forbidden to buy) a particular nice Silver Wraith II, in the evening I logged into the local equivalent to Craig list and searched for key words of exciting cars and when I looked at Ferrari an odd model called Mondial T popped up for sale by the Swedish enforcement service. It was dusty, had hideous wheels, been standing since 2007 and was not red. Reading more about the model on Wikipedia and Ferrarichat I realised that perhaps not all Ferraris was too expensive to buy while service would be on par to a Rolls Royce. I decided I would inspect it on place so I went on a 6 hour trip and did a visual inspection of the car – back home I stated my intent to place a bid in the closed action and my significant other gave me a “Do whatever you want!” (for the unmarried crowd I would like to point out that that statement usually should be interpreted exactly the opposite to the lexical meaning).

I placed a bid and 2 weeks later they called and informed me that I won the bid – oh crap! What does not breaks you make you stronger and our marriage did survive and is stronger today - but I have a feeling that my wife was quite upset at me for a couple of weeks based on the tone of her voice... …and the words she said, when I think more about it…

It turned out that it was difficult to arrange transportation of the car so I rented a flat bed for picking up the car. My plan was to drop the kids of at school, pick up the flat bed, transport the car and then return the flat bed and pick up the kids. Picking up the car was surreal, the agent at the enforcement agency informed me that the previous owner was on the run from the authorities (presumed to be hiding in Bulgaria) and we did the paper work. I pushed the Ferrari out of the warehouse and loaded it on the flat bed.
On the way home I realised that I was running late and would have to pick up the kids from school with the flat bed and the Ferrari. When I arrived at the school I managed to find a parking close by and noted that the car behind me was a Porsche Panamera that belonged to the father of one of the girls in my son’s class. The kids goes to a private French school and some of the parents are a bit "aloft", that guy in particular would not respond to greetings when you meet him at drop off and pick up time. Our son had a bad day and was trailing me and my daughter when we left school until he saw the Yellow Ferrari on the flat bed, it took a while for him to be convinced that we had bought a Ferrari and I let him sit in it while he was still in a bit of chock – then his classmate and her father approached their car and my son got up an yelled at the top of his lungs “LISA, MY FATHER HAS BOUGHT A FERRARI!!!” – and what do you know, the former aloft father was suddenly comfortable to chit chat with me and since that day he always says hello when I meet him…

Cheers, Niclas