Ferrari of Austin - Here it comes!

I stopped by today and took the full tour. Many thanks to Beau & Mario for showing me around. It's a very nice operation with friendly staff. They brought in a Rosso Corsa & tan California to replace the blue one they sold last week. This one has red piping & stitching I believe.
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Beau pointed out to me that they have a parking lot on the other side of the alley. They are also starting to enforce the parking in front of their building. The people from the animal hospital have been taking up all of their spaces.

 

Any idea of when the grand-opening is, if there is one?

Nice collection of vehicles already. I haven't been to that location in years, perhaps towards the end of AutoStrada/Lotus days was my last visit.

The name "Beau" sounds familiar, perhaps he was in vehicle-sales w/ AutoStrada/Lotus?

 

Bo Rivers owned the Autostrada and he still owns the building. He's leasing it to Giuseppe Risi. Bo Rivers is the person who built & owns the race track facility in San Marcos called Harris Hill Road or H2R.

Beau Rice used to work for Roger Beasley. I'm not sure which division he worked for but since he knows my friend's John & Edie, I would guess he worked for Roger Beasley Porsche.

Their mechanic Mario was a BMW tech here in town for the past 8 years. They are expecting to have a grand opening within 30 days.

 

Mike you are right on the money with Bo and Beau...

As for parking I think the parking lot in the rear is gravel and that is certainly not wheelchair friendly, not to mention there is no ramp from the showroom level even up the step to the office level. They do HAVE a ramp...Bo had it in place (his brother is in a chair too) but the new tenants have taken it down. I mentioned it to Kev, but he didn't seem very interested in putting it back in place.

I had not seen any shot of the under hood area of the California yet and I must say there is a good reason no one publishes that shot... VERY DISAPPOINTING! That may be the ugliest under hood/engine shot of any Ferrari I have ever seen. Not that my opinion would ever mean anything to Ferrari as I'll never be able to afford any of their stuff new, but still... For a car costing more than $210k you would certainly think they could have put a few hundred dollars under there to dress it up a bit!

Best to you all in the coming new year!
James

 

The back lot is actually asphalt but that ramp is long gone, the guys who bought the Lotus franchise from Bo did away with it.

 

That's an ADA code violation. If ramp was there, you can't take it out, only replace it. If it isn't there and you remodel, it needs to meet regs.
I know how you could afford a new Ferrari Just think of the rest of us and don't buy a Kalifornia.
BTW, the manual 599 has been on the market continuously longer than any 599 in the country. Houston still has it listed in their inventory. Risi had a 512TR in 95 or so that was a lot lizard like this thing. But it only had 1 birthday on the lot, the 599 is banging on 3y.

 

LOL! That is funny! California HERE I COME! Yea, that is FOR SURE a code violation and the ramp is in the back somewhere. They DID NOT get rid of it. I mentioned to Kev that it should be in place. He told me they had it, but had not decided how or if they were going to use it.

Best,
James

 

well... these guys officially open yet?

 

They are open, but not fully stocked yet.

 

Cool thanks!

 

Stopped by over the weekend and chatted at some length with all the guys. Kev is dealership manager with extensive experience and contacts in Europe and US working on Ferraris (especially the older cars). Beau in sales after several years selling P-cars in the area and Mario a master BMW technician now working his way up the Ferrari chain. All took the time to answer every question and all seemed very professional, knowledgeable and personable. Not a large showroom or shop area but very nicely presented, very clean and beautifully appointed. I think there's plenty of Ferrari sales and service opportunities in the Austin area and with the Risi organization behind them (Ferrari of Houston) this crew seems more than capable of making excellent contributions to the central Texas Ferrari scene.

Nice job so far and best of luck guys!

 

Down to three cars in the showroom again... I wonder if that means they have sold a 2nd F-car already! That is pretty fast sales I would think!

 

Was it the red California that was gone? If so, I saw it there on Saturday morning and then later that afternoon it was gone.

 

I didn't go by. A friend noticed from a distance there were only three cars there when he has seen 4 a day or so earlier. He didn't know which one it was. My guess is that it was the Cali that was gone again. That 599 has been on the market for YEARS and everyone is waiting for the new Italia so I think 430's might be a little slow to move too. Just speculation on my part though.

 

So far the dealership sold the blue California, the red California & it appears they sold the black F430 coupe. I drove by yesterday & all that was on the floor was the silver F430 Spider, the dark red 599 GTB & a black California.

 

I'd say that is a pretty good start!!!

 

IMHO the dealership is too small. Then again - I am used to FoD which is quite ostentatious.

But the nice thing is that there finally is a Ferrari dealer in Austin! When is the big Open House?

 

I'm in Austin for the weekend and stopped by...these three cars are all still there. Had never seen a Cali...they're quite pretty in the flesh.

I couldn't believe that the 599 was a manual...

And there was also a gentleman that stopped by in a brand new LP-560. White. Outrageous looking car.

I hope they do well.

 

You must have never seen the old digs FoD used to have, up off of Central...not what you'd call a HUGE showroom way back when...

 

Wondered what happened to that 599 with the stick...last I saw(some time ago), it was listed out of somewhere in Houston.

Are they listing the 599 as part of 'New' inventory?? Stretching it a bit to call that baby new, even if still on MSO...

Anyone have an idea of pricing on the 599??

 

Still asking $265, same as the last 3 years at FoH. Not really a problem to call it "new" since it only has 150 files. Just don't expect to get a test drive!

 

Asking $265k for "recycled" 599 manual? That car has been at FoH forever--MSO or not, its at least 3 years old and the market on these is much lower--I've seen 2007, low mileage, fully loaded F1 599s for $230k +/-.

The 599 is a great car--but good luck on selling this dino for this price.

 

Went to the dealer yesterday with a special client's California with warrantee issues. I had already done some preliminary diagnostics and went over there for help. BTW, Beau was a real pleasure to deal with which I would expect from previous experience.

Its not uncommon for us to work with dealers for our customers with warrantee issues as we've done it for years with the local Porsche dealer and again with either SA, Houston or Dallas Ferrari and Lambo dealers.

The new dealership did not have the SD4 diagnostic computer yet to interface with the Dash ECU so at their suggestion I took the car back to our shop and was to wait for a week or two till they got their computer into the shop. Rissi found out the car was over at our place and I believe they have a computer coming over next day now.

I guess its good for all to have a little competition.....but it is also good to see a little effort made to take care of the new car issues in a timely manner as well as convenient for us on getting warrantee issues handled for our clients instead of transporting them to H,D or SA.

 

http://ferrari-maserati-houston.ebizautos.com/detail-2007-ferrari-599_gtb_fiorano-3054435.html
Someone in the 599 forum was ranting about how exclusive the stick 599's are. Obviously has never talked to anyone who has driven one. Paul, just buy one already.