What I miss about my 400I | FerrariChat

What I miss about my 400I

Discussion in '365 GT4 2+2/400/412' started by Fritz Ficke, Jul 17, 2015.

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  1. Fritz Ficke

    Fritz Ficke Formula 3
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    Jan 3, 2006
    2,168
    Tucson, AZ.
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    Fritz Ficke
    #1 Fritz Ficke, Jul 17, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    Well it has been a few years since I sold my 1981 5-speed 400I.
    I really enjoyed it, put over 20,000 miles on it, "serviced the engine" New guides, main and rod bearing, chain and guides etc.
    like a old girlfriend you did not want to spend the rest of your life with, high maintenance etc., But we had good times together and I find myself day dreaming about it sometimes.
    I miss drinking wine and walking out to the garage and sitting in it, and starting it, just to hear it run.

    I miss driving it in the rain and stopping at a red light and having the steam come up through the hood grill, and disappearing as you accelerate from the light.

    I miss driving it in the cold and snow, the dual heater controls and industrial strength wipers. One of my favorite drives was taking it to Colorado springs to attend a friends wedding in January from Tucson, good times.

    The confidence of the chassis and limited slip diff. on ice and snow was inspiring.

    I like resting my hand on the gear shift, while selecting a different radio station.

    I liked walking away from it, like the cool guys in movies who do not have to turn around to see the explosion, and letting the door shut by itself.

    I have great cars now that I can afford to live with, but I have great memories of my time with a 2+2 front engined V-12 Ferrari.

    Enjoy your wonderful cars!
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  2. bjwhite

    bjwhite F1 Rookie

    Mar 17, 2006
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    Brian White
    What an awesome write up Fritz. Lovely observations, some of which I share with you. Thanks for posting this!
     
  3. blkprlz

    blkprlz Formula 3

    Mar 24, 2007
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    Bruce
    Good one Fritz!!! Sure you don't want to reconsider??
     
  4. Fritz Ficke

    Fritz Ficke Formula 3
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    #4 Fritz Ficke, Jul 20, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    Thanks Brian and Bruce, I am back to my German roots with old Porsches and will stay here, but I still fondly remember my old Ferrari.
    I have tracked a friends 89 Testarossa and anothers 77 308 at Thunder hill and street driven a 355 and some other two seat Ferrari's, very special performance cars.
    But there was something very cool about picking up a friend and his luggage from the airport in your Ferrari, Large V-12 idling while we loading the luggage curbside, can not do that in Many other Ferrari's.
    Grocery shopping was another treat, except for that gas smell I could never get rid of!
    Going out to dinner with another couple and taking 'the' Ferrari, very cool
    I really enjoyed the usability of the car and the whole time Having one of the largest v-12 engines Ferrari ever made making that sound! I must admit I ran it in a lower gear than I had to around town just for that sound!
    Here is a picture of a time I drove it to a friends cabin in New Mexico, what a road trip car!
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  5. bundas

    bundas F1 Veteran
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    Dec 31, 2005
    7,090
    lexington ky usa
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    mitchell barnes
    Here. Thanks to you I finally got my 1976 375gt4 running. The reb(no) got rebuilt. The one you told me about.
     
  6. 15765

    15765 Formula Junior

    May 14, 2012
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    Chuck King
    Like you say. There aren't many things more impressive than picking another couple for dinner in your 4 passenger Ferrari. That was one of the things I liked about my first Ferrari in 1970, it was a 1966 330GT 2+2
     
  7. Fritz Ficke

    Fritz Ficke Formula 3
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    Bundas, Glad to hear you got it running.
     
  8. raf456

    raf456 Karting

    Jan 27, 2013
    178
    Chapel Hill, NC
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    Robert Freiburghouse
    I often think about my 412 std and wish that it was still in my garage. It was a classy high performance car that was also practical. Mine was returned to its original European specs and was a blast to drive. Thank you for the post.
    Bob
     

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