Just got back from Eureka Sunday nite, everything is going perfectly. We do have secure, reserved parking downtown and at the Hotel. Roads are fine on the routes we are taking with no speed bumps.... We changed Saturday night to dinner at the Lodge of Whitney Mountain, so the views will be incredible for dinner! We have 5 rooms left as of today, so we would love to get some Arkansas participation! Remember, Ferrari's are meant to be driven, not sit in the garage! Chris Parr Ferrari Club of America
I too just got back from Eureka, and I'm with Arkferrari on this - I'm not sure I would want to risk my baby either on those miserable streets. Now, regarding the 'secure downtown parking'... The parking you are referring to is used by both the Crescent & Basin Park (they are jointly owned by the same company). It is completely unattended, and *not* secure. There is no 24hr security, and it is in an isolated lower section of 'downtown' well beyond the shops. Definitely not a place I would feel comfortable leaving my Ferrari overnight at. Hell, we stayed at the Basin, and I would walk down every few hours to check on my 'lowly' daily driving vehicle! Keep in mind that the Crescent is *NOT* walking distance from this parking lot - you would need to take the shuttle from either hotel, and they are few and far between. I've waited 45 mins for the Crescents shuttle before. Based on the parking situation alone, I am not going to attend this. If the parking venue could be changed to be *AT* the Crescent itself, within window view, I would certainly consider.
I need to hijack this thread to ask a general question about the Arkansas car ownership experience since I'm moving to Hot Springs Village at the end of the month. I'm going to clear enough money selling my house in Maryland that for the first and no doubt only time in my life I will have enough money to buy a Ferrari (used, less than $80k). Is it realistic to consider owning a Ferrari in Arkansas? Is there anyplace to take it for mechanical work?
If you had asked and not assumed it would be much better! We have roped off parking at the Crescent with a guard. If you want a room overlooking the parking lot, no problem. You cannot get much safer... The parking lot you mention is at the Basin, not the Crescent. You should not assume what you do not know to be fact. By the way, this is Eureka, not Little Rock, the biggest crime in Eureka is jay walking. Our "secure" parking lot downtown is next to the Police Station at the Courthouse on Saturday, so that attendees can shop without worry. We will have a person watching the cars at all times... No need to take the Trolly as you have "secure" guarded parking in both locations.... My "lowly" driver is a F40, if I am not concerned, I think you can feel confident your car is safe.
Sure it is realistic to consider owning a Ferrari in Arkansas. As far as mechanical work, there are a few shops that work on them, but no authorized dealer service locally. Depending on the model, many can be serviced at home if you have the skill.
Actually, the parking lot which I referred to is used for BOTH the Crescent and the Basin - I have stayed at both. I'm confused though - your first stated that parking was downtown, but, now it is available at the Crescent itself? What is the deal? I'm not worried about during the day as much... I'm much more concerned about the evening.
We have secure parking at the Crescent 24/7. We are only going to be downtown from 10:30AM on Saturday till about 4:00PM. That is the only "free" time available. We reserved the parking at the Courthouse all day on Saturday for those individuals that might want to go downtown and shop or eat. So between the Crescent at the Courthouse parking lot, your car will be watched at all times... If you chose to go somewhere else, you can, but we have provided secure parking where we are having events... If you will read back I said we had parking at BOTH the Crescent and downtown. "We do have secure, reserved parking downtown and at the Hotel". You just assumed it was at the Basin's Parking lot, I guess I understand how you got confused... I am not sure why anyone would park at the Basin and stay at the Crescent, the Crescent has ample parking available...
Seems like cmParrF40 wants everyone to know his "lowly" is a F40. Hey Larrymz3, a trip to Eureka might be fun to fall in line with the "jay-walking" residents to watch the skid plates scrape over the cobblestones. As I said in an earlier post, "Good luck, enjoy"
I was nice enough to try and invite you guys on our trip, all we get is attitude? My point was my F40 can handle this, so I know your F355 would be fine... I do not know if you friend has a Ferrari, (nothing on his profile) but I think he asked some good questions that were asked in a nice way and answered with the respect I felt he deserved. We offered, we tried, sorry you do not want join us, we are going to have a great time! By the way there are no cobblestones in Eureka... lol Again, if you guys are not interested, I am sorry, we just thought you might want to meet some other Ferrari owners.... lol the funny thing is if you knew me, pompus is the last word you would use to describe me... Best of luck, maybe next year.
I was noticing you used to like Eureka Springs... Posted by arkferrari: "Not much in Russellville itself but north a couple of hours is Eureka Springs. Great town (somewhat eclectic) and the drive to and from will be spectacular. Tell em Daisy Mae and Abner sent ya." And a Fly Yellow F355 is the best color... mine F355 was yellow!
Now I remember why I prefer to hang out with Ferrari owners from Memphis rather than the ones from Little Rock. The guys I've met in Memphis tend to think like me... It may have a prancing horse on it, but it's still "just a car" ..."Let's have a good time & drive the snot out of them"... While the Ferrari owners in Little Rock tend to act, well, more like these posts. Rather sad! On a side note, I met the owner of a 575 in Little Rock yesterday who seemed very nice.
i will attest the validity of this statement.....chris parr is the KiNdest, Koolest, generous to a fault and unassuming kAt one can meet. my sponsorship isn't because we socialize in the same club circle. if he is ******, i will say so........ infact, i don't think the guy cares much for me since i've abandoned ferrari and went over to the lambo darkside......and about his F40, he doesn't flaunt it...he takes it everywhere (grocery stores, charity benefit events....ect..). frankly, i think he knows my lambos are sexier and secretly wishes he has my lambos....instead.
CmparrF40, I was woundering if you guys would mind if a little Subaru WRX came out and enjoyed your guys car for the afternoon? I saw your F40 at Indy this year and I must say it was amazing. I was one of the million peolpe drooling over in in the infield. We talked for a minute about your car I was the jounger guy from Tulsa. Anyways it is not very often a large group of Italian stouion come around these parts. Plus I know the roads you are talking about and the are so much fun to drive on. Will you guys be going up through the Shakespeare Forest? Jim
Sorry to get off track, but I spotted a blue Maserati 4200 spyder on Markham outside of Office Depot/Michaels. This is the second one of these I've seen in the Rock, the other was identical, just yellow outside of downtown. Who owns these?
Gary H. owns a yellow spyder, although I have seen a few different yellow ones around town. I'm not sure about the blue spyders, my friend Chip M. owns a blue coupe.
Do you know where they go for service? I'm moving out to the Hot Springs area at the end of the month and I've been looking at 2 used Maseratis at Ferrari of Washington but I was worried about owning one so far away from a dealer.
Larry, I have the skill and knowledge to service my own cars. If there is something that I don't have the tools for, then I will out source the job to the most qualified mechanic. For example, after completely rebuilding the brakes, suspension, steering rack, and installing new tires on my Ferrari, I eyeballed the setup as best I could. But since I do not own a set of scales or an alignment machine, I out sourced the work to Dales Automotive. He does a lot of work on race cars from the area, and knows how to align a car for the task at hand. We put my car on the scales and corner weighted it, then setup the alignment for aggressive street driving. I have been to Donnie's, and not only do they not have service manuals for Ferrari or Maserati cars, but they tend to balk on servicing them, and for good reason. Because they know that their mechanics are not qualified to service exotic cars like Ferrari. And while you may have heard via word of mouth that the owner of BBC is a prick, the fact still remains, that BBC has the expertise and experience to service exotic cars. And has done so on numerous cars like the 308, 348, 355, 360, so forth & so on. Would I recommend them? Well it depends on the car and what you want to have done. Like I said, I prefer to use the most qualified mechanic for the job at hand. For example, I used Norwood Performance in Texas for the electronic ignition conversion on my Ferrari. If an owner locally wanted someone they could trust leaving their exotic with for a couple of days for basic service needs like changing the oil, or a high end detail, I might be willing to do so if I knew the person well enough. As far as exotic car service in the Hot Springs area, I'm at a loss.
