Best V 12 motored car to buy ?

In the world of classic V12 ferrari's... Reasonable price is in the eye of the beholder. care to narrow down your price range?

a) $50-150K
b) $150-250K
c) $250-500K
d) $500-1M
e) > $1M

Cavallino mag give price range of all ferraris in each issue. great resource in trying to decide what models fit your budget, and you like style wise. I would start there.

IMO best classic buy right now, at a reasonable price (again, my def of reasonable) would be a 250 PF coupe

 

Why are you starting a new thread with the same topic you already posted?

 

new repost record.. you reposted your own thread!

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=99126

But since I was the only reply so far, here's my $0.02...

In the world of classic V12 ferrari's... Reasonable price is in the eye of the beholder. care to narrow down your price range?

a) $50-150K
b) $150-250K
c) $250-500K
d) $500-1M
e) > $1M

Cavallino mag give price range of all ferraris in each issue. great resource in trying to decide what models fit your budget, and you like style wise. I would start there.

IMO best classic buy right now, at a reasonable price (again, my def of reasonable) would be a 250 PF coupe

 

I'm a fan of the 250GTE. If money is less of an object, 250 GT/L. If you're REALLY looking to spend some money, the 250SWB is the end-all, be-all in my book.

Aaron

 

It is not. Threads merged.

 

No worries. Newbie mistake.

Having said that. Welcome to FChat and good luck with your search! Keep us posted please. We like pictures.

 

A few more questions you should think about...

where do you live? Is A/C required. if it is the 250GTE is out.
Do you specifically want a 4 seat?
In your price range convertibles are out.

I love the 250GTE's but I live in florida, and think I would find it too hot 6 months of the year, so I doubt I will ever get one.

there is a lot of good info in this site on al the cars you mentioned. use the search function.

also tom yang is a 250GTE expert: http://www.tomyang.net/cars/ferrari.html

simon

edit: also, it may help to fill out your profile. let people know a little bit about you. people are helpful here!

 

I'm happy with my Series I 330...see profile pic...have about $65K in it now and it's "sorted", with about $1.5 K worth left to do...it was a very nice and solid fixer-upper.

 

Peter,

Welcome aboard! You can find any of the 2+2s you listed in project to OK driver condition within your budget; however you will quickly exceed your budget in maintenance and parts costs. Rebuilt or really good cars are beyond your budget already.

Don't forget a key point - maintenance costs on a 250 GTE are the same as a 250 SWB, so factor this in before taking the plunge. Also a significant part of the cost is parts, you would be amazed how fast the cost goes up when you multiply by twelve.

The three cars have very different characters.
The GTE has great performance for an early '60s car and fantastic
styling. The 250 really needs to be revved to perform (if you can find
one, a 330 America is the best of all worlds). A very nice GT, but not a
sports car;

The 330 has better performance due to the increase in displacement. The
series one has very distinctive styling but may find it ugly (I love it!). The
series 2 has more conventional styling (some say that it is a little bland)
and updated mechanicals. There is a series 1.5 which has the older
styling and newer mechanicals. Driving wise - well balanced, easy to
drive, but an older feel. Still very much a GT, though not a sports car;

The 365 is the most refined of the group and provides the most comfort.
Much more of a high speed cruiser than a GT.

In my opinion, all three are great cars which give you much more bang for your money than the equivalent Aston Martins. Bear in mind, they are 40 year old, hand built cars. Each individual car will handle differently so you should drive several of each type to get a general sense of it.

Good luck in your search.



Scott,

Are you saying that you would sell for $65K? Remember, you bought your car when they were available cheap. Complete project cars are now in the $40 - $50 range.



Simon,

A/C can be fitted to the older ones assuming your goal is a driver, not Pebble Beach.

Regards,

Art S.

 

Art, you've pretty well touched on the complete 60's 2+2 picture. I considered all of them during my Ferrari search, as well as the 365 GT/4 & 400/412 models, and checked out a couple of 308's.

For Peter's benefit:

I paid $32K for my car on 11/30/02. It was a case of long-deferred maintenance and 20-year benign neglect...but it was kept clean and garaged and driven occasionally as well. Most original parts were still in place and body/chassis was 99.5% corrosion-free, paint very decent, 39.5K miles from new. All vitals checked out excellent on the PPI and this has since proven out.

Out of the $33-$34K I've spent on top of purchase price, $4k was acquisition: PPI, Transport from CA to TX, sales tax/title/license, misc costs.

Rough breakdown of the other $30K:

$10K for: work that could be considered "elective", interior, body and paint work, and items that I've bought or had reconditioned, and installed myself. Add in 160+ hours of sweat equity on my part.

$18K for: necessary professionally-done mechanical labor and parts.

$2k for: professional routine maintenance.

Using asking figures from recent Ferrari Market Letter and Cavallino, it would take $45K to $50K now to buy the same car that was $32K in late '02.

4 yrs insurance with Hagerty and gas has totaled about $2K.

I still need to have one wheel rebuilt and the instruments reconditioned...probably $1.5K, and can easily spend $500 on additional ongoing odds and ends.

What I have now is a very nice, sorted, and solid early-330 driver that I know inside and out. It's not for sale; if it were, I would be asking around $80K for it.

I love the 4-headlight styling and no-frills transitional character of my car, and do think the Series II's are somewhat bland and cruiserized in comparison...no offense intended, Series II owners, just personal taste.

IMO, the best buys around in a V-12 are the 365GT/4 and 400/412 models. The problem I see with these is deferred maintenance and repairs are going to cost very big bucks in relation to the current market value. That being said, I love those models and would jump on an excellent, well maintained one and pay asking if I were currently in the V12 market.

 

Glad people with more experience than me joined the discussion.

This car is for sale in CA 1963 250 GTE @$92.5

http://www.heritageclassics.com/ferrari/63sil250gte4/Page.html

Is this care fairly priced for the condition? guages seem to need some attention...

I'm not seriously interested, again can't justify a non-A/C car (FYI, I'm not interested in pebble beach, but like to keep cars stock, i.e. don't care about proper color on oil filter, but wouldn't change something a casual enthusiast would notice is incorrect.)

Simon

 

If air conditioning is that big of a deal I think your barking up the wrong tree. You will not be very happy with a vintage car. I would suggest looking for something from the 70's that has more creature comforts. These vintage cars are not exactly a comfortable ride.

 

Thanks, but I'm not barking... I posted this link to provide a data point for Peter/ddino who started the thread (maybe not clear the way I worded the post). Yes I dream about getting a classic, but it's not what I'm looking for, as you point out. Still keep ane eye out though... Ok to dream...

FYI a 4-seat is in my future but I've pretty much settled on a 456M-GT. I want useable, more than collectible for a 4 seat...

 

The best compromise between old and new might be a Daytona.

 

Great suggestion in general, but Unfortunately way out of peters specified price range ($50-80K).

 

Cheapest Ferrari with a Columbo designed V12 is the 400 for this price range your pretty much going to get a councors 400/412 possibly even with a manual gearbox, Electric everything you need and aircon that actually works!

 

Also in this price range is the 365GTC/4 another car that straddles the vintage and modern era (like the Daytona). It's less than half the price of a Daytona but not half the car.

 

That's a good point. The lacking things that give my car its "character" make it an unwieldy beast to drive around in busy city traffic, and/or in temperatures above low 80's F. Best suited to open country roads. Its an antique, when you get right down to the truth.

 

I'd buy a driver PF coupe driver with the disk brake modification. All these Colombo cars are pigs to drive compared to anything recent so take that as a warning. I really like the PF coupe in racing red with the top of the car painted black. Be prepared to spend $25k on an engine rebuild and don't break any of the trim pieces.

 

Scott,

Thanks for the breakdown on your car!


Simon,

There is a thread somwhere in here describing a A/c retrofit being done on a 330. check it out, the end result should be very subtle.


AndrewG.

365GT4/400GT are great cars but are even more in the cruiser catigory than the 365 2+2. Also, maintenance is considerably higher the the '60s cars as the systems are more complex. That said, I'm considering getting one (not very seriously yet).

Regards,

Art S.