Best part of owning a Ferrari is... But the worse is?

Pigs to work on, expensive parts, terrible fuel economy.

But you know what ? I don't give a damn.

 

+1

may look like pure masochism, but after spending huge $/£/€ on stupid (but expensive) things, after being left on the road a few times (eg by that stupid throttle wire...), after accepting that the 6 Weber's will never like each other (yes, carbs are key to me), after realizing that an oil drain is more than 4 gallons, after all... you open up the hood, look at this piece of art, contemplate 12 spark plugs, fall in love with the shining crankcase, step back and follow the Pininfarina design, the 4 blinking eyes, the PrancingHorse on the front grill... then engine on ! the V12 symphony fills the air, the ROW standing still (except your wife that keeps on calling it "rumour"...)

sorry, I've gone a bit far... but you see the point... and if you don't, any owner will be happy to give you some real experience

Cheers, Marco

 

I'm not in love with the light switch and the fact that the headlights pop up even when only running lights are needed. I suppose it can be rewired and the old guard will suggest that I just get used to it! Fresh air vents are surprisingly weak; it really seems to be designed for ac on once it gets a little bit warm out.
I got a huge kick out of the car fanatics at a recent Italian car show I attended. Many claimed that the 400 was one of their favorite cars (it was the only 400/412 at the show) and that they never see them. While relatively few took pics of the exterior there were a LOT of engine bay 6 Weber shots! Interesting though that only 2 other Ferrari owners came by to chat...

 

300mm too long in wheelbase, 30mm too wide in track, 375mm too long in body, 40mm too wide in body and 500kg too heavy. Damn, but then it would be a Daytona and we couldn't afford it.
Apart from that, getting the bloody starter motor out.

 

Agreed - not a pleasant job.

I intend to fit mine with an old-style cranking handle for when the starter packs up in future.

 

Rebuilding the engine is very easy.

However before contemplating removal of the interior back shelf for recovering. Consider totally dismantling the whole car by implementing the use of a thermo nuclear device.

Oh and just hang around because you will have lost the will to live anyway.

 

It's a Ferrari- so it's gonna be a pain to fix, but once sorted they are fairly reliable as transportation.

The only downside is in the States NOBODY knows what it is. Well, not nobody, but few people know it's a Ferrari.

 

Terrible steering lock makes manoeuvring a pain.

 

Which is exactly why I love them so much. They don't attract attention and are appreciated for what they are, not who made them.

 

The bad parts:

*Mismatch between large weight and small engine. This is felt most often when stepping off from a standing start, but also, with the auto, when you're trying to keep up with the group and you're coming out of a corner that's too fast to manually shift to 1st gear, but not fast enough for the engine to be in the power band in 2nd.
*Lack of overdrive (auto trans). Cruising at 4500-5000 rpm is tiring after a few hours.
*Poor fuel economy. Overdrive would help with this as well: *a lot*!
*Very poor fresh air ventilation. If the underhood plenums get heat soaked, as when you make a stop en route, there *is* no fresh air ventilation. Also, whether hot or cold, the grille-mounted blower fans have almost no effect.
*Lack of AC vents to footwells and at the sides of the dash.
*Cheesy plastic instruments, housings and lenses both. Night illumination is nearly non-existent.
*Cheesy plastic cable-operated heater and air mixer controls.
*Having to pass Smog Check II every two years (a Cali-specific "worst").

That's a lot of "worsts". I hope I didn't hurt anybody's feelings. My list of "bests" would be a lot longer.

 

These cars are stunners-but I really like the more 'angular' Fcars--also, do you really want to talk with folks who don't know what they are?!!!!!

 

Good list but you forgot the METRIC TIRES!!!! Big PITA!

Al
'84 400iA SN 50605
'04 360 Spider F1

 

The V-12 is the best and even as a single item it outweighs all others.

 

General difficulty in maintenance:

Water pump bearings : engine out
Clutch : start removing everything from the diff forwards
Starter motor: oh joy
Poor access to distributor on 365 /400 - its basically under the windscreen.
Rear suspension: self levelling complex and costly to repair, eg price of small used car.
Accessory belts: spend 3+hours changing and tensioning belts
2 of lots of things to fail: alternators, fuel pumps, injection units, air conditioner.

Exhaust is too low, prone to damage
Crap main fuse panel. They will ALL fail. How many of you know there is another small fuse panel above the glove box?
Metric wheels

Still love my 412GT though

M

 

You've depressed the crap out of me now - anyone want to buy a 400a and a 365 ? I'll accept £28,000,311.48p for the pair. Paypal not accepted.

 

WAYNE????????????????????????????????????????

 

Like myself this man is a 400 sadist
But we will not change and we don't care!

Consider these cars when new were the most expensive vehicle money could buy at the time, when they were new the BB Boxer was £14 000 and the 400 was an astronomical £28 000 blow your mind money.

Don't think for one minute you will be able to get it back to totally original brand new condition for less than £200 000 pounds sterling for a full ground up restoration.

Don't believe me, one telephone call will book you in with the original manufacturer and they will charge you that and more.

Och it was never about the money for us was it lads?

Regards
Alastair

 

Don't give him any more ideas, if he buys any more cars and ships them to Australia he is likely to upset the planet's rotation

M

 

Cheque is in the mail Russ

 

Really ? No haggling ?

I thought that in today's market the price was a little excessive - it's nice to know that values are finally creeping up.

 

agree 100%... but have found a guy who re-arranged the wiring so that with low lights on, the eyelids do not open... should not be difficult, if you wish I can try and find the "how"...

 

Almost totally agree except we're masochists - Ferrari designers are the sadists here.

If your purchase figures are correct (and I don't have any idea about this whatsoever) that's mind-blowing indeed but your definitely right about it not being about the money now - if it was we'd all qualify for high level banking jobs because, like them, we're obviously great at making multiple short term investments !