Was a (#3 good) Testarossa basically $40k car for many years, now $80k ? | Page 2 | FerrariChat

Was a (#3 good) Testarossa basically $40k car for many years, now $80k ?

Discussion in 'Boxers/TR/M' started by TooTimidAndCheap, Aug 23, 2016.

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  1. gsworld2014

    gsworld2014 Formula 3

    Dec 23, 2014
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    Greg S
    #26 gsworld2014, Aug 25, 2016
    Last edited: Aug 25, 2016
    I had a post I wrote about this a few months ago. They have def came down in price but i think they will not go lower then 90-120k. In the US 10 years ago the countach was about double the cost of a 50k TR. I remember speaking to a guy that spent a year trying to find the best 88 Countach he could find. He paid 99k for it. So using your same theory in the us that would bring Countach pricing down to $180-240k if the TR comes down to where I think they will.
     
  2. PAP 348

    PAP 348 Nine Time F1 World Champ
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    Dec 10, 2005
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    Wow, thanks for sharing man. :(
     
  3. sdematt

    sdematt Karting

    Nov 16, 2015
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    Matt
    Hello again guys (and gals),

    I was a newbie around here about a year ago, but I ended up going to the dark side and getting a 911, and decided not to tempt myself with lurking here when I couldn't get a TR :p

    But, now I'm back. My question to you is this: Is now a good time to get into the market, or should I wait? I have the opportunity to get into a TR in the low $100k for a late 80's example in nice condition. I'm assuming depreciation won't happen, but moreso the price will hold steady?
     
  4. TooTimidAndCheap

    Jul 19, 2015
    105
    Well, that is a huge and wrong assumption. Learn from history.
     
  5. PAP 348

    PAP 348 Nine Time F1 World Champ
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    Dec 10, 2005
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    Why wait Matt? :D

    Life is too short, buy a car now and enjoy. :)
     
  6. Total Recall

    Total Recall Formula Junior

    Aug 21, 2014
    324
    East Yorkshire, UK.
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    Dominic Bradley
    That`s so true!

    If I could afford a Countach now, I would buy one now regardless of whether they are worth 1 mil next year or 50k - I could get run over by a bus by then!

    The same goes for anyone wanting a Testarossa.

    Still, I can`t get my head around why prices should go back to what they were "before" - but that the Testarossa won`t ever be worth the same as a Countach again - even though they were "before."

    Don`t underestimate the influence the Testarossa had on a very large generation ;)

    As for production numbers - look at E-types yet they made 10`s of thousands of them.....

    Also this isn`t a repeat of the 80`s - interest rates are historically low, not historically high like they were back then!

    Regards,
    Dominic.
     
  7. sdematt

    sdematt Karting

    Nov 16, 2015
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    Matt
    I meant moreso that I don't see them crashing back down to 50k.

    I could use the extra pennies saved for repairs. I'm just a kid! :p
     
  8. Gialllo uno

    Gialllo uno Formula Junior

    Jul 5, 2014
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    Mark
    Buy the car!!!!!
     
  9. sdematt

    sdematt Karting

    Nov 16, 2015
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    Matt
    I'm flying out to see it in the next few weeks. Hope the 5,000km trip is worth it :p
     
  10. Shark01

    Shark01 F1 Veteran

    Jun 25, 2005
    5,684
    There is more to it than that.....until about a decade ago, Lamborghinis were not considered to be collectibles. Now that the genie is out of the bottle, serious collectors buy Lamborghinis. And alot of Lamborghini variants are VERY rare.

    I have a Diablo Roadster....with only 450 ever made of Lamboghini's first V12 convertible (sorry Miura & Countach) each one is pretty rare. Now in 1999, there was an extensive re-design that was only built for 1 year (as Audi decided to start working on the M and G). Only 142 built.....EXTREMELY appealing as collectible but they were in the $120k-$150k price range for several years before taking off.
     
  11. Shark01

    Shark01 F1 Veteran

    Jun 25, 2005
    5,684
    LOL...this is a rediculous statement in regards to the TR. A Boxer is FAR more iconic.
     
  12. Total Recall

    Total Recall Formula Junior

    Aug 21, 2014
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    Dominic Bradley
    Well, no doubt it depends on who you ask - but even old grannies knew what a Testarossa was back then - I doubt you could say the same about the Boxer.

    Images of the Testarossa were everywhere from car polish to beach towels!

    Not saying that the Boxer isn`t a great and exciting car - but I`m sure 90% of people will say that the Testarossa (and Countach) to the general public are way more Iconic!


    Dominic.
     
  13. Shark01

    Shark01 F1 Veteran

    Jun 25, 2005
    5,684
    OMG....LOL...you rely on the general public (who are TOTALLY clueless about cars...witness all the people that call Ferraris Mustangs) to guide you on what cars are most iconic?

    Well, we can't have a logical discussion with this as a starting point, so good day to you.....

    You did add some levity to my day however, thank you!
     
  14. sparta49

    sparta49 F1 Veteran
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    Mar 3, 2001
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    Not even close. They weren't officially imported into the US. The TR was and is everywhere. I would say it is more iconic than the Countach.
     
  15. boxerman

    boxerman F1 World Champ
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    May 27, 2004
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    And there were lots more crappy corvettes about and on walls than either. A part of what makes a car collectable is posters and public awareness but a bigger part is what it is, how it drives what it looks like rarity and looks.

    A 250 gto is the most expensive car in the world and until the price tag got big hardly anyone knew what it was.

    Tr's were produced in large numbers, have zero racing history, and are arguably visually challenged. That they were in a hit tv show helps, but then 308s were on magnum pi and Rockford drove camaro rs.

    Tv shows create a premium, witness the premium for a bandit trams am, but it's a premium off what base?

    The tr will one day have its place in the sun, it's a mid engines 12 and the ac works, one day it's looks will be appreciated as evocative of an era like a tail fin caddy is, but that day is not yet here.

    If a tr is so iconic and that is such a great arbiter of value why is a 550 worth more.
     
  16. Parnelli

    Parnelli Formula Junior
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    Aug 30, 2013
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    Per Webster's dictionary


    Definition of iconic

    : of, relating to, or having the characteristics of an icon

    a : widely recognized and well-established <an iconic brand name>



    Would have to agree that the TR, while not a BETTER car, is more of an ICONIC car than the boxer given Webster's definition :)
     
  17. godabitibi

    godabitibi F1 Veteran
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    Jan 11, 2012
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    The Testarossa is definitely an Iconic car no doubt about that. The BB is not.

    Don't confuse connaisseur and collector cars with Iconic cars. Totally different.

    In a conversation about car with a causual person if you mention Testarossa or Countach they know what car you are talking about, if you say 512BB they have no clue at all.
     
  18. boxerman

    boxerman F1 World Champ
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    #44 boxerman, Sep 1, 2016
    Last edited: Sep 1, 2016
    Well put.

    In the pantheon of desireability and $value.

    Countach Lp400 (purity of shape, the concept car realized for the road un compromised shape and all the drawbacks that result, as a car to actualy drive a question mark, really a concept car that runs, its so way out, so uncompromised, so pure and somethign like this will never happen again, pure art)

    Countach DD (Best overall driving performance of all cars here, and the icon shape from the posters, everyhting came together on this one, still comprmised so you can only see forwards, still crude in execution, worth the sacrifice as it steers great, is raw in way Trs lack and what power)

    365BB (considered a great drive, raw, the first bb, most evocative engine of all cars on this list, a little weird in the rear which appears short and a bit soft at the limit like all bbs)

    Countach Lp500s. (the iconic shape Ct, all the drawbacks but not really such a great motor, like all cts kinda crude in execution, imo youre buying the looks and great steering, the rest kinda sucks)

    512 Bb and BBi (arguably the best of the BBs, well sorted and smooth, raw and extremely viceral by todays standards, but a bit Gt comapred to a Ct, Motor is another league comapred to a Lp5000 and it feels faster, comapre a chevy v8 to a porche v8 and you get he picture, the car can live in traffic but the occupants cant and will roast, doesent steer as nice as a Ct, great all round visibility, perfect sunday drive car if you have the right road, a classic ferrari that can handle too, as fast as you can semi-sanely go on the road and pinin was on his game, one of the few cars where the later series looks better than the origional)

    512 TR, (probably the best Tr for driving, the motor took it into another league, still potent by modern standards, like all Tr series the ac works and it can live in traffic as can the ocupants, big and a bit lardy, not everyone loves its looks, not exactly the high point of itlalain design but as they say its iconic and for the tr series its the one where evrything came together)

    Testarossa single mirror(some think this weird appedage makes it unique and special, which is true, but its still lopsided, crappy tires)

    Testarossa.(Like all Trs a visual question mark, some love it, and the performace delta to the 512 Tr not so relevant now that they are all older cars and overshadowed by the latest and greatest, the one to buy now, the best car listed here to drive day in day out if thats your thing, Today a testtarossa has the perfect balance of price and semi classic ferrari traits, if you keep it somewhere in the next 20 years youll be considered a genius for your great taste and the value will more than return what you put into it, plus enough about that they are still dispoasable if you drive hard as you should, and have a shunt.)

    I leave out the 512M because its so godawful ugly kit car like but rarity seems to give it $value. The 25 anniv countach, like the 512M, a kit car company couldnt have messed it up this bad if they were in las vegas and tried to make an abortion. Both these cars drive the best of their series and are the "fastest", but rarity cant make up for the Ms looks and the 25 anniv, its looks insults the Ct lineage.

    Personaly having owned both I would put the Lp5000s below the boxers, but the market $wise does not, to own and drive if you really like to drive a boxer beats it in so many ways, except perhaps steering and a boxer steering by modern standards is superlative.
    BTW all CTs at speed are light in the front end and above 160 unstable while a boxer hunkers down with speed, provided the widows are closed. Open the widows and a boxer feels like a calamity above 140, weird I know.

    As to Iconic vs desireable and tasteful, wella f40 is iconic and has the most performance, most people(public) have no clue what a 288 is and maybe think its the car magnum pi drove, but of every car listed here its the most valuble and certainly the most desireable as a road car to drive.
     
  19. Total Recall

    Total Recall Formula Junior

    Aug 21, 2014
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    Dominic Bradley
    Hi,

    It`s a shame people have to come onto the forum looking for info and advice and read a comment on the general public like that.

    The "general public" are the ones who make a car iconic!


    The Testarossa isn`t iconic because of its` cost or rarity (obviously) - it`s iconic because the general public have loved it and talked about it from the day it was made :)

    I know that the ultimate value of an old Ferrari isn`t determined solely by how iconic it is - but it`s got to have a strong influence - especially when a number of those "general public" from that generation grow up and decide to buy the Ferrari they always talked about.

    I`m a car nut but I`m certainly not a collector - just a member of the general public and I drove my dream for 4 years and there`s thousands like me....

    The same goes for the 308 ofc - and probably the more common well know Ferrari`s of recent times in future generations.


    Still I`m not trying to change anyones` minds on what they think - I was just saying what I thought was common knowledge.


    Was nice to read up on how all those different cars drive Boxerman.

    I`ll use it as a buying guide if I ever win the lottery!


    Regards,
    Dominic.
     
  20. boxerman

    boxerman F1 World Champ
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    On another thread someone claims to be looking at one for 75K. Now we all know a car with some needs can easily eat 25-50K. Still maybe Tr prices are getting really tempting.
     
  21. sdematt

    sdematt Karting

    Nov 16, 2015
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    I think that one he's referring to is the BHCC Yellow one - which apparently has a seized engine, I read somewhere on here.
     
  22. Newman

    Newman F1 World Champ
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    Dec 26, 2001
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    Says mechanically sound. Take that for what it's worth but that would indicate it runs.
     
  23. Newman

    Newman F1 World Champ
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    Won't see another nice one for $45k cdn like I walked away from a number of years back and proceeded to pay $90k for a different one d'oh! Fortunately I rode that one up the ladder then sold. But seeing ones like the yellow one makes me think the prices will continue to adjust down and I'll get one again.
     
  24. boxerman

    boxerman F1 World Champ
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    Hemings shows an 89 silver with red, 24k miles, tube exhaust sold at auction in connecticut for 102,300. I think the prices are getting reasonable again. Ie 2013 prices
     

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