You guys are going to roast me on this

[motion]

As many of you know, my beloved 84 Cab was destroyed. I've been searching for the last month for the right 993 Cab, but am not finding what I'm looking for (black on black/black on tan/guards red on tan/6 speed/less than 35k miles). I'm sure I'll find it eventually... but in the meantime...

Images of a Ferrari 348 Targa keep appearing in my pickled mind....

I'm a huge Ferrari fan, and have always wanted one... really I want a Testarossa for the 12 cylinder motor, but I don't think I can live with a coupe... I gotta have the open air above me. So, while 355s are still around $90-$100k, 348s, very nice, with low, low miles can be had for around $55k.

I only drive around 3k miles per year, so putting a lot of miles on really isn't the issue... it all comes down to which one gives the most pleasure driving. Nothing can beat my 998 Ducati, but the Ferrari might come close. The sound of that V8 howling!!!

Am I being an idiot? Irrational? Guided by emotions?

Wait a second.... what about a red Testarossa and a Beck 550 Spyder??? With a 3.0 in it??? Arrrrrghhhhhhh

[k9handler]

man I wish I had to make the choice...must be nice! All the options sound good to me...but I would take the 993 hands down!!!

[TerryBPP]

I'd take a Beck over a 348 any day. A 550 is James Dean, a 348 is Magnum PI.

[pwd72s]

Buy the Ferrari. Then you can fondly remember when you enjoyed the relatively cheap parts and service bills of a Porsche.

[masraum]

hmm, sounds like you could afford a really nice turbo, and then some hp mods... Then those Ferraris wouldn't sound so good because of Hook's law, weirdly high pitched as you passed them like they were in reverse, and then low pitched like a 78 played at 33 as you left them in the distance.

[tobluforu]

My friend who was test driving a 84 512 found out that they just had a major service done on the car for.......... $17,000.

[masraum]

Man, whatever happened to that "Motion" guy with the wacky wig. It's been so quiet around here since he left. What was it again, some sort of automotive accident? He stepped into one of those little red Italian cars and then when the car stopped out stepped some guy named "the motivator" with a bad toupe, gold chains, and a hairy chest. It's kind of like the bermuda triangle.

[Zendalar]

Go and drive the ferrari first. Then decide if that is the car you want to buy.

[sammyg2]

Shop rate at a local Ferrari shop is right around $225 per hour and the earlier cars require maintenance, lots of it. According to the shop owner (a drinking buddy of mine) the 348 isn't as bad as the early 308s, but a clutch for $4k (every few years if your not lucky) a head job for $8k every 40,000 miles, Transmission overhaul at 50,000 miles, etc.

I had a chance to pick up an early 308 for a very, very low price last year and he talked me out of it in less than 10 seconds. IIRC he estimated the maintenance cost of driving a 308 bi-valve at around $1.00 per mile, quatro-valve 308s at 80 cents per mile, 348s at 75 cents per mile assuming the owner drives it for a total of 50,000 miles.
I too want one in a bad way, but I also want to hit the lottery.

[pbs911]

There is a reason Ferrari's are trailered to the track.

[carnut169]

What everyone is saying is spot on. If you have to think about affording the service a Ferrari is not for you.
Wait for the right 993... you will find it.

[Harlan Chinn]

Several of my friends are Ferrrari owners, GTO's, Daytonas, 348's, 455's, 512's and 360 Modenas. Most have several of each and drive them regularly, I cringe when they tell me what they pay for their normal scheduled services. What I wouldn't stand for is the limited numbers of qualified wrenches that can work on these cars. Many are booked and are never in a hurry to get your car done. When was the last time you saw AGIP products at your local parts store? Try going on an overnight tour with a Ferrari with a passenger and see if you can pack more than your toothbrush.
P-cars are far more reliable and you can travel to Italy with the money you saved.

[nostatic]

it's funny becuase day before yesterday I was at the local pep boys getting some tail light bulbs for the 4-runner. Lo and behold there's a Testarossa in the parking lot, and a guy with surgical gloves on his hands, fiddling with the engine. It had a wide, mean stance and all, but it struck me as a glorified vette (and it looked kinda tired). When I walked up to my beautiful swoop, I was struck by the difference between the two cars. ymmv.

[maxnine11]

the maintenance $$ is huge. and one of the main reasons the 348 is worth half of the 355 is dependability. when i saw a 5 digit number for a clutch replacement, a part of me puckered....and it wasn't my lips! max

[jluetjen]

Nostatic;
Your comment about the guy with surgical gloves fiddling with the engine for some reason made me think of the movie Animal House. Maybe it has something to do with getting serviced with rubber gloves.

Oh -- never mind! Neither one has much to do with the real world.

[TRE Cup]

I've owned both brands, we've worked on Ferraris in our Porsche repair shop, I've driven both on street and track. The cars are from different worlds.
The Porsche is a mass produced reliable sports car that can take just about any thing you throw at it and come up looking like a princess at the prom

The Ferrari is a small production manufactured car from a country that values style very high on the priority list. Short comings include brake performance and parts pricing/ availability. But at 3k miles a year, it is not the horror story others make it out to be. To the contrary, a Ferrari SHOULD be driven! When they sit as garage queens they develop leaks, fuel systems varnish up and they run terrible. I made it a habit of hitting 140 mph at least once a week in my Daytona- kept all the juices flowing!

Regarding the 348: My impression is that of an italian 914-6 with cool sounds. (lest that the vultures bang at me about 914-6s, they should know that a 3 liter powered example is one of my favorites in the "stable") The 348 is not particularly fast, but a fun "small bore" sports car that handled decently. This was the feel I got from driving one at Willow Springs back to back with a 993

Brands aside, my competition leanings favored the 993 that day.

Zo.. in the end, you ask a somewhat subjectively answered question. Passion over Performance?
Have fun

[masraum]

Hmm, I love comming up with these analogies.

Ferrari-- she looks like a swimsuit model and screams to wake the neighbors, but just kinda lays there and leaves you feeling like you coulda had more.

Porsche-- looks like the sexy little girl next door, but comes alive once you get here going. Makes you work up a good sweat, she works up a good sweat (so that's what the trapese is for), and leaves you spent, passed out, and with a permanent smile.

[dtw]

Are you still working on your widebody project car?

[JeremyD]

I've had English cars, Japanese cars, American Cars, Italian cars and German Cars. To work on the English cars were very straight forward, questionable electronics (Lucas!). The Japenese cars never broke down, When the did the shop took care of most of it, the American Cars were the easiest, run to you local parts place, and cheap ($100 to replace all the brakes on a Ford Taurus once!).

The German cars always had expensive parts, but very reliable - and damn they thought about everything. Straight forward on maintenance issues, if you break this, then get that...

The Italian cars always made me scratch my head. Why did they do it that way, and why do you have to disassemble this whole unit to get at this one part that you always have to service. I can't tell you how many times while contorted in some obtuse angle I swore the engineers that designed the damn thing.

[Amac]

Wait for the 993!!
I had a 348, every time the service light comes
on it cost a $1,000.00 bucks.
Under powered and short gears, a VW V-6 will
smoke you from a stop light.
The skinny shifter seems it could break off at any
time.
355 or a 512TR the F-cars to get!