1980 Ferrari 400 Auto (Carb) Chassis 27919

Looks like a nice, dry phoenix car.
( whew,, but a 20 year project. )

 

Well its the right colour anyway.

 

I will probably inspect the car on Saturday for a friend of mine.
Will report findings here and on BAT.
Regards
Mike

 

Its NO RESERVE; current bid $5000. Maybe a parts car; lots of good pieces with some cleanup.
Ken

 

That’s the original colour of my car, and very rare to see these days. Quite a project, but cars worse than this have been saved before - it’s definitely not too far gone.

According to Maranello, the rear windscreen I purchased about 4 years ago was the last new (old stock) one available. So this car will need a modern copy (which is not a bad thing).

 

I spent some time looking at this car yesterday. Passing on observations FWIW. Thanks to Larry F. for meeting me to view the car. The listing on BAT is accurate and detailed.
First comment: Not for the faint of heart. Car needs a lot of attention.
Paint is presentable but has plenty of rock chips, door dings and a slight dent in the roof. Underside has some corrosion but no rust in the rockers. Exhaust donuts are gone and mufflers/pipes are resting on the rear A arms.
Left front quarter has been hit at one point, repaired with filler, which is visible through the vertical crack in photo 51.
Interior is pretty bad. Leather might be salvageable with Leatherique, but is worse than the pictures indicate. Leather is hard and quite dirty. Dash leather is very poor and will need to be recovered. Center console plate is intact but faded. At least it isn't broken where the rear of the ash tray hole is.
Right window lift goes up and down. Left window lift runs but nothing happens to the window position..... probably the cable or pulley. Window is down.
Some gauges work, some don't.
TRX tires dry rotted and need immediate replacement.
Hood struts barely hold the hood open.... I wouldn't depend on them unless you want a headache. As you know, these are not cheap.
Headlight lifts non-op.
Brakes apparently not seized but hard to tell without it running.
Broken rear wind-screen didn't damage the body work, but the SS trim is probably beyond repair.
Doors open and close just fine, as do hood release cables.... everything just needs lubrication and cleaning. Door gaps, hood and rear trunk gaps are all great.
Gas door and rear trunk release cables and catches work just fine.
Keys are stuck in the ignition switch and steering wheel lock is in-op. I've never seen a key stuck in a Ferrari ignition switch, so don't know what surprises are here.
No tools, jack, books etc.
Engine oil looks clean but NO coolant in the radiator, which is a bit crusty. Don't know if it was drained or went somewhere. Real red flag here.
Pulled the top off a few of the carbs, and they were not gummed up as I expected them to be. Fuel pumps run but there no fuel at the carbs.
Engine bay looks complete and original, but is tatty as seen in the pics. Really tatty.
Sure I missed something...... you can PM me if you wish and we can discuss further.
I would expect at least 20K to get this car running (tires, brakes, carbs, valve adjustment, fluids), and assuming nothing else is wrong, paint correction and a new rear windscreen easily will put you to a 30K+ investment on top of the final bid.
Just my subjective opinion.... been down this road before with a beater C/4. In my younger days, I would have been interested in this car to keep it from being parted out.... but not now,
Mike

 

Rear window with both gaskets and the trim is available from Tom Vail on eBay for about $4k with shipping... not a part easily found any longer.

 

Great write up and thanks for sharing that with everyone @Zanny1. I was tempted to jump in on that despite believing there was some bondo work where those deep cracks are seen in the paint. But the thing that really boiled my blood was that they were cranking it without even checking the fluids. I suspect the clean oil may be because they put fresh oil in there. Who knows if it was mixing with the coolant before.

I really thought it would be great to have that carbureted Colombo running. Especially acquiring a project as a first F car. I’ve restored a couple P cars, spending more than they’ll be worth for a while, so I’m not timid (or smart [emoji23]). But maybe I’ll pass on this one.



Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat

 

Good point on noting the stitching. I had the same problem on one side of the rear seat. Hey, I look at this way. If it is sold as a parts car, that may be beneficial to all of us at a future date.

 

Sold $26,760 and headed to somewhere in Europe.
Would be interesting to see a follow-up story, but doubt we will. Hope they don't part it out.

 

Hi Sam

Did you consider using Reoriginals seat covers?

https://reoriginals.com/upholstery_102.aspx

About $5000 for four seats.

Aidan

 

I bought one of these in similar condition (40271) for a little less but it actually ran and drove but was left outside in Cali for many years. Its was very tired looking and needed a lot of love. No broken windows or rust fortunately.
I wanted to make my car one of the best and to be very reliable to be used as a daily driver possibly.
Well, 2.5 years later and $200k its an amazing car now. 8-10 miles to the gallon is wonderful also.
Very smooth and comfortable car to drive. Great for date night.

 

Do you do a "frame off"/nut and bolt restoration?

Looks fantastic.

 

Looks spectacular, Mike.
You always seem to restore your cars to the highest standards.
My 250 GTE went to Croatia when I sold it... apparently labor rates are less than half what they are here, and there are several very skilled folks over there. Wouldn't be surprised if that's where the BAT car went.

 

jippiejake: What a car you have! I'm jealous of your Euro bumpers as I think they look so much better than the US conversion version.
I own 40555, so one or two down the line from yours and would love to undertake such a restoration. I was forced to rebuild the engine last year - so that is done, now on to the interior...someday.

 

Hey Schumi, Keep going. These cars take a long time to get to be 100%. The last 3% is the hardest.
As far as the bumpers go, I'm not sure if I understand? I know some of the cars have the lights in them was all. There are US Bumpers fitted on some? I never knew these cars were ever sold in the US. I thought they were all Grey Market?
Good luck and post some picture soon..

 

400i gen2 & 412 do have the lights encased in the bumper.

I also suspect the bumper on these later variants is made of fiberglass instead of foam+rubber. If someone could confirm?

 

The Euro bumpers do not stick out as much as the federalized US bumpers.

 

Exactly. They allow the muffler tips to stick out farther, and I think that looks awesome.