WHAT A DILEMMA

I would agree. And the TR is a blast! You will get excited every time you get behind the wheel. It seems to get a lot of attention as well.

 

I agree, you do have to go with what you want deep down...for me it was Vintage V12 or walk. Even though I ended up in a relatively unfashionable 330 2+2, I've never regretted the purchase and twisting the key and hearing that engine catch is always a kick.

Take the input you get here from experienced owners seriously, but keep looking. It took me a year to find my car.

 

What about a real nice 348, It should be well with in the budget and it will drive a lot closer to a 355. Good Luck

 

If it's the slats/strakes over the lights you don't like, you can get a Speciale rear grill. There are even twin tailight conversions to look like 355's.

 

The VMAN has a '95 blk/blk B with 34K mi, manifolds and headers replaced, valve guides done and a fresh major for the $$ you want to spend.

 

This is a nice car!
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The car is in Northern California.

 

You should buy a new Z06! It comes with a warranty and will outperform most Ferrari's!

 

These are the lights with the "speciale" grill (it was a limited edition 348, but I'm pretty sure you can find the plastic trim somewhere). You can find solid 348's in the mid-40's, pop a few hundred for this trim piece and you have a solution costing little more than 1/2 of your $80k cap.
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Here is the taillight conversion from www.garedcars.com (no affiliation):
(they do slant upwards a bit)
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Much, much, much harder to do that than you'd think... at least in an OEM capacity. You'd think (I do) an enterprising Fchatter could steal one from a real SS car and get a mold for a few bucks. Then, we'd be set! As it stands, they're hard to find the originals and dang expensive.

 

My advice is to start looking at all the cars in your price range (308, 328 348, 355). More importantly hang around Fchat for a few months. Read the posts. Get a feel for the issues with each model. Go to a member's event in your area. Look at the cars, determine what you like and don't like about each one.

I was in a similar position last year, however unlike you I wasn't married to any particular model, I just wanted a Ferrari. Even with Fchat bretheren advising me on my search it still took me about 9 months to find the "right" car ('86 328 GTS, by the way). Along the way I looked at maybe a dozen cars for sale. I spent maybe a thousand dollars in travel expenses to look at these cars, before I found the right one.

There's a lot of junk on the market. In my opinion, the "good" cars rarely come up for sale because they are just that--good cars. Take your time, be diligent, ask questions and you'll soon be riding in a Ferrari. Oh yeah, don't forget the PPI.