Why Ferrari over other brands?

In my mind the Ferrari always represented the "Best of the Best." Others tried to emulate (s/p) but nothing is like a Ferrari. From the time that I feel in love with cars I knew that one day I would own a Ferrari. I would like to own other cars such as Lambo's, Lotus, Bentley, etc. but as soon as I could afford a third car I knew it had to be a Ferrari. I might keep mine a long time or I might upgrade in the future, but now that I added a Ferrari to the stable I will always have at least one.

 

Yes Thomas Magnum and my passion for the Prancing Horse!

 

Is this a technical question?

 

This should be in the general discussion section. I decided to get A Ferrari. Then I looked at several options for which model to buy. It will most likely not be permanent, but a few years before I move on to something else.
BT

 

It was Crocket and Tubbs that sealed the deal.

 

We really need a section for "Touchy Feely" questions which this is. Then those of us who want to deal with technical/substantive issues can jsut ignore this section.

 

Russ, I think you need to ask yourself why you feel the need to attack another person on this board. Go rent Analyze This and maybe you can get in touch with yourself. Or just listen to a Jewel album about 10 times in a row.

BT

 

If you have to ask.

I was born on the same day Alfredo "Dino" Ferrari died. Since I can remember I have been enamoured with Ferrari and everything Italian. My earliest memory was around 11 or so when I saw a Ferrari I think it was a 275 and fell on my knees infront of it with all the vigor of the worlds most fanatical religious nut. Most of my Ferrari friends all have a simillar story. In Italy it is called the Red Religion and I have it bador is that good. I love my Dino gt4 and could never consider bidding it farewell, however there is alway hope that a stable may hold more than one cavallino!

Tech Part:
I think you need to consider your garage size and tool capacity before deciding on what model to own. For example; when I came home tonight my neighbor pulled up and his child was going "daddy's home daddys home". In contrast, when I opened the garage I thought I heard the faint cry of eight carburetor throats seductively calling "feeed me, feeed me" which I found perversely satisfying, in a strange sort of "got carbs" way. But I digress.....

What was the question again?? Oh yes 75 ft.lbs

Dad even sent me a card
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Hmmmm. Well, like others, I somehow knew what a Ferrari was before I ever knew about it. It was like by two or three years old, I loved mechanical things, and I just somehow knew someone, somewhere, was building the best most coolest car ever. And the test of the best was and is, racing. I guess I really always wanted a V-12, but man they went way outta sight in the 80's. But the looks of the early 308, is just stunning. As much as I am impressed with an early Boxer, I like the 308 more. The only car I really like more are the Lusso's, or else a real early car, like a 166 MM, or a pontoon fender 250 TR, somthing like that. But then that darned Countach showed up on the cover of R&T, and spun my head around. Dont ya sometimes feel like a kid in a candy store with one nickle?

 

Hey krowbar, the one nickle candy bar went the way of a gallon of 100 test gas at 25.9 cents per. Later, like in my early 30s, Robert Wagner's GTS Dino was parked outside the stage (I was a soundman at Universal). THAT DID IT!! It took a while but now, when I drive "Rachel", I must look like "Bob" in the TV ad for "man maker pills". I can't get the grin off my face!!!

Cheers, Hank

 

When I was much younger I drove my TD to the SCCA races at Torrey Pines near San Diego. I saw and heard Ferraris in full song going through the rolling hills. You never forget. After 30 some years, another MG and 3 Alfas I saw my Dino on a used car lot. Drove by for about a month and finally could stand it no longer.

Sat in it and it felt just right. Touch everything with shoulders touching seat back. Wheel position was perfect. Drove it. Clutch was so light, smooth. Gearbox was fine except for the funny placing of Reverse. Enough power! Cornered like on rails. No body roll. Steering was so light, so fast, yet not violent in feedback. Point it at a turn-off 1/2 mile away and watch it go right down the middle. Sounded GOOD!

Bought it, 1986. Have looked at everything since. Nothing fits me like the Dino. Built for a 5' 11" male driver and his lady to go in style, comfort and speed for a fantastic weekend. And to drive to work daily. And be fixable by humans with simple tools. That is quite enough; actually a hell of a lot.

Looks good too!

John

 

Who's gonna post in the "Touchy Feely" forum? Unless this would be where would chat about the best Kenny G tunes to take to the track...

 

I had some cash that was burning a hole in my pocket. I was going to buy a boat, but then my lifestyle is so busy that I just wouldn't have time for a boat. You can't take a boat that is sitting on a trailer in your yard out for an hour, it's an all day affair. So I thought sportscar. I was going to buy a Corvette but then figured out I could get a 308 for the same money. Being a Magnum PI fan myself this was a no-brainer. '79 308GTS Red/black. No regrets. I expect to own it for a long time. Although I would like to have a 348 or 355, I don't see one in my future. I think when the 308 goes it will be because I no longer have an interest in sportscars.

BTW - I did end up with a boat also. 18' daysailer.

 

I hope i don't make enemies here but I believe Ferrari was a horrid decision up until the 355 came out. Previous to that, they were just horrible cars. LOL. Again, no flame. They were awkward, uncomfortable and unreliable. (and imo ugly...308,328...good lord, what a disaster of a car they were) The 360 was a HUGE leap over the 355 and got Ferrari into the reliable category. The 430 is technologically over the 360 as the 360 was to the 355 which is huge.
IMHO, Ferrari FINALLY got their **** together. SIgh. Finally.

They even *almost* learned how to paint a car now.... much better but still terrible. LOL. It was always so sad to me how the car could perform so well, look so pretty but be so unreliable and have such terrible refinement and quality.

They got damn close to a REAL car now with the F430.

 

For me it was Magnum PI as well but with a twist so to speak. I was a fan of Magnum PI and loved the 308 on the show. Then I was living in Hawaii one Summer and I happen to come across an episode of Magnum PI being filmed on location…..and I actually got to see the 308 in person….That is when I fell in love with Ferrari’s…..I was 18 at the time and believe it or not had never seen a Ferrari in person, just the movies and on Magnum…..When I saw that 308 from Magnum PI on location, I said right then and there I must own one of those someday…..It was the best looking car I had ever seen. As I got older I fell in love with the 328 series more than the 308….Now for me it is a 1989 328GTB…..I like the B series better….just like the way they look, feel and drive. Plus, I am tall so I get a bit more headroom in the GTB. I will own the 89 328 for many many years.....I doubt I will ever sell it. I would for sure add to it though!

…..M

 

It was the Lotus over the Ferrari for me at the begining... But Ferrari did define the word "supercar" for me all over again after owning a Lotus Esprit for 12 years. I guess its beauty never really got her out of my head until I own one... or two.
As far as owning these current ones forever??? yes, but I guess we never really own these beauty. I'll hand them to my son, at the right age and with full responsibility of course, then he'll decide if it will be in the family forever or not....

 

After I got to relive the Ferrari seen from Ferris Beuller as a valet.. I was set that Ferrari's were right for me. Now I just have to work out that financing thing.. Buying a house set me back...


BTW. I didnt really "Ferris"ed a car but anytime I parked a Ferrari, the owners always asked me if I saw the movie.. Some of the best days of summer during highschool. (days that are long gone).

 

IMO it is glorious
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Magnum PI did it for me, not so Crocker n Tubbs. Studying in Central London and seeing the hordes of 308s/TRs made it worse and promised myself to get a Ferrari when I finish school. Took me another 13 years before I got my very own 355Berlinetta after fullfilling 'other' responsibilities.

 

There's a special freedom that comes from driving a Ferrari.

I mean, the average paper-pusher in his minivan/SUV is going to hate anyone who looks like he's enjoying the drive ... but heck, they already hate you for being in a Ferrari, so live it up.

I particularly appreciate the social engeenears who use their $60K special edition SUV to block the road just to annoy the rich b*st*rd in the 308GT4.

But then, these days it's not just the Ferraris that get this special attention.

---
Is it paranoia if they're out to get everybody?

 

Crocket and Tubbs continued it
Ferris Bueller was a bad influence to it
Road & Track was the bible for it

and after 25 years and maybe a 1,000 car mags, reality exceeded the fantasy.

If you have the means, I highly recommend it.

To answer your other question - I'm quite ok with my 348 spider being with the family for a very long time. It's the first time I've felt that way about a car. Even my kids have come around - although they're ok if it's upgraded, as long as it's a 2 seater Ferrari convertible. For an opinionated 10 year old she's pretty smart.

 

ferrari is more than a "brand", it's a cultural icon

 

That´s funny. You´re not trying to flame and all, but Topgear (they have been known to know a thing or two about cars) calls this exact car ´epic´ and lightyears ahead over the Porsche 997 and Aston Martin DB9, and you call it ´almost a real car´. Maybe you´re just a little bit unrealistic in your expectations and subsequent criticism. Is there any car that does meet your expectations?

OT:
With me, it came somewhat gradually, but I suppose it was something in my personality, present from birth, that made me a Ferrarinut in the first place. I remember being introduced to the brand when my mom gave me a present for being sick at home. It was a plastic red sportscar with a nice feature: popup-headlights that actually worked! I was immediately captured by it´s forms and shape. It was so elegant, yet agressive. Clearly something that is fast, but with a truckload of style. Couldn´t keep my eyes of it. Well, eventually I did and lost track of it being just a kid. Can´t remember for the life of me where it could be. In hindsight I know it was a 512 BB.

Then there was Magnum PI. Again a car with style and agression showed up. This time there was even the sound of a hungry Italian V8, and I was even more hooked. By this time, I understood this was something called a ´Ferrari´ and by then I had decided that I liked Ferrari´s and I liked them a lot.

Not much later (the interest in cars in general had begun to develop), I browsed through a bookstore, stumbled upon a magazine and saw the presentation shots of the ´84 Testarossa, as shown in Paris. The addiction had neared completion. This car was stunning (remember, I was only 8 or 9 years old at the time). It actually made me lose sleep. Not much later I came across the Bburago 1:18 Testarossa and simply had to have it. Back then, I had to save up (it cost about $20,-) I did, and I can vividly remember taking deliverance of my first Ferrari. A Bburago 288 GTO followed soon thereafter.

An interest in vintage cars took a little more time to develop. Another ten years or so. I don´t know why, but as a kid and a teen, vintage Ferrari´s struck me as kinda odd. Even the 250 LM with it´s chopped up rear. But as you read more and more about Ferrari, the history, the people, the racing, the succes, you can´t help getting into the vintage models as well. Now, I even feel a slight preference for pre-1980 Ferrari´s.

 

Fell in Love with a 355 after seeing & HEARING the Yellow/Black Spider in "The Rock". The 1 Mr Cage "Borrowed" from the Valet.
I also think there are Other GREAT Sports Cars, in fact i know there are !