Yeah I know; I try not to thing about it and count my blessings every day now. Now who do you think with a right mind would drive at 200 kph in Victoria, The Police State? But at least he fixed that 911, which is all that counts, really.
What about the candy car doing a U-turn to come after us, you were laughing your head off. You would have loved the trip Simon, Rob and I did to Melbourne from Caboolture, 4,000 kms round trip at travelling pace
I reckon the 308GT4 suffered unreasonably by following the curvaceous Dino 246, just as the XJ-S suffered following the curvaceous E Type. The 308/4 and XJ-S were completely different concepts to the earlier cars and I really felt my albeit lister manual XJ-S was a way better car than my E Types which I still feel were way over rated and overpriced in comparison too.
Agree The 308 GT4 was Ferrari's response to the Porsche 911, (which had evolved to be a 246 Dino beater). Compared to the 911 , the 308 GT4 offered the same 2+2 functionality as the 911, but with a bigger boot, bigger engine and more predictable handling. All good. While the 308GT4's Bertone styling was a step outside Ferrari's usual Pinninfarina formula , Bertone had been succesful with the Countach, and given that the early 70's were a time of change, I assume Ferrari were prepared to "give it a go" The result was that the GT4 didn't look like any previous Ferrari, and that, combined with the slow economic activity and the fuel crisis in 73-74 meant sales were slow. I think that Ferrari, by not having a 2 seater replacement ready for the 246, and by using the Dino name for the 308GT4 created the perception that the 308 GT4 was the succesor to the 246, when in fact the 308GTB deserves that recognition, both from a purpose (2 seater) and styling perspective. M
Reality is the GT4 was a sales flop, not an exclusive limited volume car. They are highly unlikely to become appreciating collectables. 4 seat Ferraris of any year are less sought after than 2 seaters, nothing to do with driving quality or practicality, just the behaviour of the market.
Great car if you just want to enjoy the Ferrari ownership and driving experience. Investment potential, very little. As always, the key to happy Ferrari ownership is to first buy a good car, then find a good mechanic, as either can make your life hell otherwise. Luckily, most of us can share who the nightmare mechanics are......the good car??....that's up to you!
In my(lofty!)opinion,there are no Ferrari that are "investments" that were built after Enzo died. Before some folk go off,that list would NOT include the limited edition stuff:'glass 308's,F40,50 etc,288GTO and some others. You have a look at auction/sales figures,particularly in the past 18 months,the trend for Enzo era cars is starting to go nuts,including the lowly "family"cars.
Just like you mentioned "family" cars, I saw a couple 400i sedans sell at auction for somewhere in the low $30k's. Seems like they were $10k last I knew! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
who says the trend in enzo era cars wont continue ? are they still rolling off the assembly line ? . nope ( except for the fakes and rebodied GT's) the Enzo era cars appeal to a particular generation The GT4 might have been a flop in the period it was released , maybe its design didnt match the fashions when it was finally put into production 4 or 5 years after pen was put to paper. but i feel its time will come and they will come back in to vogue. As far as anyone saying the Dino isnt a true ferrari , you need to consider that the V6 engine and at least 3 predecessors were designed by Enzo's son Alfredino , and while the V6 wasnt finished by him before his untimely death , its design was finished by Jano who was a Ferrari employee at that time ( he was later poached by Fiat ) The 246 V6 engine might have been cast and machined by Fiat , but the engines and cars were being assembled by Ferrari in the Maranello factory from 1970 onwards. That makes it a Ferrari in my eyes ( and my ears , heart , fingertips and soul ) LOL Now why do you exclude the 288 GTO ? they are already selling around $1,500,000 USD how is that not an investment if they are hitting 3 to 5 million in 5 years from now ?
As long as my GT4 is still worth something when I fall off the perch, because it's my kid's inheritance. Didn't buy it for investment I bought it to have fun and it is delivering that by the truck load.
That's what it's all about. MHH has a good philosophy about it. He buys a car assuming that's money thrown down the toilet and that's the price of having fun. When he sells it, what he gets back is a bonus.
And there are members here who have owned F40 and F50 and still feel the old 308's are pretty good. Buy one while you can still enjoy it.