Your first time...

First in-the-metal Ferrari...very tired '56 red Boano coupe with fender shields on a used sportscar lot here in Dallas, 1965, asking price $2995; soon after, brand-new silver 4-headlight 330 2+2 much like the one I own.

For Dallas, I had an amazing number of vintage 12 sightings, and I mean serious machinery, over the next 20 years...before they all became too valuable to take on the street.

I never watched one episode of Magnum PI, but there was a rich-kid client of the architectural firm where I was working in '83 who had a new 308. I thought it was neat but wasn't into cars at all at that point in my life.

 

Technically, that can't have been the first Ferrari you saw because that was a replica.

Mark

 

The first Ferrari I can recall seeing was a silver 365GTC/4 parked on the street in the late 70s. At the time, I knew nothing other than that it was a Ferrari, but thinking back on it I can clearly see that it was a C/4.

 

I was always taken by cars from as young as I can remember. My Dad was a roofer, and would take rainy days off and go drive cool cars. He never bought anything really cool, but I remember he drove a Austin Healy 3000 home once. Then we moved to Siberia. Duluth Mn. The only spots cars I seen were rusted hulks in back of shops we would get inside of and play. Old Tr2's, 3's, and 4's, a few Sunbeam Tigers, Fiat 850's no one knew how to make run. But at 9 or 10 years old, I could be Mario Andretti. Then this girl who lived down the street from us, she had some boyfriend visiting her from the cities, and one day, parked two doors down from us, sat a brand new Maseratti Ghibli. Black, with red interior. Oh that car made a sweet sound when it left. I was about 10 years old. Some time later I seen a new Pantera. But knowing it had a Ford motor kind of ruined the thrill for me. Even at 12 years old. Never seen anything exotic again until around 1978 here in the twin cities.

First Ferrari I seen was a 250 something that was brought up to Brainerd Raceway, old Donnybrook International, on a trailer. Then I seen a light green metalic 308 in a shop in the cities, then I started seeing a lot more.

Funniest story, is after I met some Ferrari guys locally and was invited for some rides. We got five Ferrari's together and met up just across in Wisconsin and went off to the south south east. 308 GTSi, 2 308QVGTSi, 1 328GTSi, and a TR. All red. So were driving along on these country lanes, and we are about the third car back from the leader, accelerating out maybe gaining 80-90 mph through farm country. This lone house, I see this guy near the back of his house, and he must have heard cars and looked up, but I actually seem him run through his house passing his windows, and he got out to his front porch as we flew past. I bet we made his day!

 

The first Ferrari that I saw was a 456. I was 10 I think. Saw it in a mall parking lot of all places.

 

My first time was in front of the Beverly Comstock Hotel where I stayed with my family in Beverly Hills, CA around 1979. A 308 GTB dark blue speeded pass the hotel front up and down the hills... what a gorgous sight and sound...!!! I still got that picture in my mine.... I guess you never really forget your first time.....!!!!!

 

in the bay area ferraris have never been rare...a friend had a 340 america..another a 166 touring coupe...by the time ferrari had 8's i was buried in[real ones back then] porsche speedsters and spyders....however the first car that stopped me [and my ratty tub] was a brilliant red detomaso mangusta...i was speechless...it was achingly beautiful and well beyond rational desire. despite the fact that right up the street was an early "start-up" with a pair of swb's parked in front....as i was living in pre-war open wheel world ,i never really got into f-cars until recently i was able to trade a really ****ty porsche roadster for a 308gt4...it's a little tatty and i'm chasing leaks and such but ,for me , it represents a ferrari experience that is totally in sync with my other automotive experiences.

 

I used to live in an area of Old Town Alexandria called Del Rey. About two miles from my house was a dealership in Crystal City called HBL. They originally sold Ferraris in my area along with Porsche and BMW. it was there that I saw my first one a light metallic blue 308 GTB in the showroom. That was like 1978. I've been enamored ever since. Incidentally, the first one I saw on tv was in the Gumball Rally in like 1975 or something.... I rooted for the Cobra before I knew better...

 

I remember my first Ferrari it was a red 328 GTB in Beverly Hills. I believe it was being test driven around the old Symbolic dealership on Wilshire. I’ll never forget the sound.

 

The first Ferrari I saw when I was a very young girl, was a 308 at an event somewhere here in Denmark. We were out driving my fathers old MG TA from 1938 and met a lot of other car enthusiasts

But the first driveout was in a niiice Testarossa from Germany, owned by Wolfgang

And my first time behind the wheel of a Ferrari, was in Holland, a Mondial, at our friends Roel and Lenny, He's in here too... Dino 208gt4 he's called

Thanks to both Wolfgang and Roel

 

My first sightin was a red 355 spider, id have to say in 97` parked in front of my house the guy was in the park right next picking up his kid from summer day camp...i live in a not so rich area of mtl so was wierd but it shocked me and itll remain burned into my memory forever...

 

Having grown up in San Jose we used to stop by Ferrari of Los Gatos after school and on the weekends to drool over the inventory. To be honest, I was most interested in the Morgan Plus 8's. I very clearly remember one afternoon though as we were walking to the lot I heard a very high pitched wail coming down the street. It was a middle aged man driving a Mondial Cab with a salesman in the passenger seat and his trophy wife (or daughter ) in the backseat. That sound is what pulled me to the dark side.

Side note: My 308 GT4 was sold new from FoLG, and was traded in to them and re-sold right around the time me and my delinquent high school friends were hanging around the place. Chances are I put my fingerprints on what would turn out to be my car 20 years ago.

 

My Dad had just bought a 1969 Grand Prix (new) and he was talking about how fast it was as a 365 (?) took off in front of us at a light. (The 4 seat deal with the triple tail lights.) My Dad saw the horse and said words to the effect, "I can stay with that Ferrari". He didn't. I only saw the back of that car! LOL

But I was a Miura fan as a kid. I saw one in the early 70's going down the West Side Highway in NYC, weaving in and out. My Dad saw it coming and said something, so I saw it nose on, side view and rear as he vanished ahead of us in traffic. I was blown away!!

Ken

 

Was not really into fast cars or exotics when I was younger- mainly no mun/no fun, college and family responsabilities, getting that first house, etc. But I never forgot the Dino that Tony Curtis drove in the short-lived TV show of about 1970-71 called The Pretenders. The thought of owning one never left me, and I finally realized my dream in the fall of 2001. To me it's still the prettiest car ever made. My Baby.

 

Pozzi Blue Daytona in the rain on the New Jersey Turnpike in 1977. My older brother contested my assertion that it was just a 240Z. After he pointed out a few differences (including engine note) it did seem a little more special than an ordinary Datsun.

 

My first Ferrari was a red 246 GT. I might have seen Ferraris before it, but if I had they hadn't made much of an impression.

I was 14 at the time and just beginning to figure out the things that would occupy me through high school and into college. Cars, girls, and football figured highly on the list, though I really could only claim to understand the last of the three. Which is why I was out running on the August evening I saw my first Ferrari.

My memory has no doubt made the car more perfect and the background more picturesque than they were. But the sight and sound of a 246 howling past and turning into a street not far ahead was enough to make me follow. When I arrived, it was sitting there in the fading light, the engine ticking as it cooled. It was beautiful. I was captivated. If I close my eyes, I can see it still.

 

As a kid in the Fifties I knew of Ferraris. We had several movie types summering in town on long Island each year. I can't remember which cars after all these years they drove. There was an exotic used car dealer down the block. I believe there were several Ferraris there from time to time. The Dino in "The Pretenders" and of course Magnum's car left a very strong impression. Mine is silver.

 

We used to vacation in Palm Beach when my grandparents were alive. The place was like Disneyland for car-addled kids like me. There were countless Mercedes SLs, a few Ferraris (up from Miami, my grandmother sniffed) and an impossible number of Rolls and Bentleys. I felt like a diabetic in a bakery.

I used to hang out at the Rolls-Royce dealer in West Palm. His warehouse was about a mile from the showroom and he sometimes let me shuttle the cars. I may have been the youngest person in Florida ever to drive a cream on cream Silver Shadow with delivery miles and a window sticker.

One day, the dealer told me he had something special coming in. He was right: a 1954 Silver Dawn with RHD that the 20-something owner was delivering on consignment (he was going to buy and customize a hearse to drive cross-country). "Ya wanna drive?" the owner foolishly asked me. So, for about an hour I got to learn how to shift without opening the door as I chauffeured the owner and the dealer around Palm Beach in this stunning old dame.

Needless to say, Dad declined to part with the $11,500 asking price.

 

The first Ferrari I ever saw was in my hometown 24 years ago. It was a 1979 308 GTB Red/Black. I was driving by the cemetery and about drove into a tree on the side of the road. As it turned out I married the guy driving the car less than a year later! And yes, I would have married him even if he had been driving a pickup truck (which, by the way, he drove most of the time). Many Ferraris and 23 years later we are still happly married.

 

Cute story, Debbie--Congrats!

 

First true exotic encounter:
1979 in Ocean City, MD and I was 12 years old.
In the parking lot at the restaurant, a new (1979) Porsche 930. It was black and the most outrageous thing I had ever seen in the flesh. I had read all the write ups in R&T, knew all the specs, etc. but to see it in person.......I still remember it today. I didn't want to go in to eat. At the time, the car cost more than 4X the price of a new Corvette. In that year, the 930 was the fastest car in the world and had no rival. 13 years later, I bought one (in white).

 

Growin up, Kirk White lived in my neighborhood. He owned an exotic car dealership in Philly, and was always bringing the best stuff home. He's living in Florida now, but he's done some pretty amazing automotive things in his lifetime. I see him selling stuff on Ebay.

I'd occasionally spot him zipping by in one or another car that I could only hope to drive someday, that he no doubt borrowed from the showroom that afternoon.

He also ran an annual car auction, some would say it was the precursor to Barrett-Jackson and the like. Held first at a local church, and later at a college nearby and there were tons of amazing cars for sale. I have a catalog somewhere, I'll try to dig out and post photos sometime.

Ok, back to the story. Kirk went zipping up the street one afternoon in the early 70's in a red Dino 246GT (may have been a GTS) it was love at first sight. I had to have one. Knew it then, and carried that thought with me until 2002. I was probably 16 at the time, maybe a little younger.

In between that time and now I've owned all kinds of cars, but the purchase of my first Ferrari 3 years ago was as close to heaven as I'll ever get in a car, the Dino 246GT.

That car will be the one they'll have to pry the keys from my cold dead fingers to get away from me.

DM

 

My first time was way back in 81 when I was 13. I was out in my front yard when a yellow 77 308 GTB screamed past my house. I had a little Suzuki DS 80 that I jumped on and was able to follow it thru my neighborhood to where it was going. I had no idea what it was but I knew I liked it. It did not belong to the guy driving it. He was actually just doing some work on it for the owner. He was really nice to let me come up and look at it. He actually owned a 330 2+2 that was in the garage. These are two of the photos I took that afternoon 25 years ago:
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The first Ferrari I saw was on Magnum PI Nice, but nothing that shook me up. I owned Datsun 1660s, MGBs, Jag XKE, Austin American, Datsun 280 Z, and a few others.

HOWEVER... in my former career about twenty years ago I was representing a client in negotiations with Ferrari of Walnut Creek, where he had bought a Boxer allegedly legal in California, as previously owned by the owner of Circus-Circus casino in Vegas. It hadn't been processed, and eventually we forced them to do so, and pay my fees. My client turned to me and said: "You've collected your fees, and still owe me some time. Why don't you test drive the car for me on the clock" So here I was driving this 12 cylinder Boxer through Crow Canyon in California, being paid for my time.

Probably the best job I've ever had!!

And as of a few days ago, I now own a 12 cylinder mid-engine Ferrari.

 

I was about 11, it was summer we were driving across Texas to visit family. I had been reading and obsessing about Ferraris for about 3 years at that time and even had a 1/24 250LM model sitting in my lap. I can remember pearing out the window just hoping to see a Ferrari. I grew up in a small town in New Mexico and the most exotic car I had ever seen was a Porsche 924. We were driving through my Dads old home town Lubbock, Texas and in the showroom of a little Corvette Dealership was a red 308 GTSi, I begged and begged my dad to stop, he was an old American car guy and had no interest in italian cars, but after about 3 miles of contant begging he turned around and we spent about an hour looking over the car. I can remember being nervous just being near it and I will never forget how it felt when the salesman let me sit in it. My dad told the salesman that I was going to own one someday, and now it has been 2 years since I purchased my very own 308 GTSi.