Ferrari 400 Question

[piscator]

Has anyone owned, driven, or gotten a ride in a Ferrari 400? I've admired the exterior design of this car my entire life and have never even seen one. I have no idea what a Ferrari 'passenger car' might be like to drive. Is there anything (BMW, Mercedes, Jaguar, etc.) I might have driven to compare to?

Certainly a handsome car to go and get the groceries! And lots to play with in the engine compartment!

https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/cars-for-sale/ferrari/400i/2186076.html#&gid=1&pid=29

[ficke]

I had a 5-speed 400I.
The best road car I every owned, I put about 25,000 miles on it, it cost me about $25,000 to do that and I did all the work.
I used it as a daily driver grocery getter besides road trips.
Ferrari was bought by Fiat and the Fiat brass wanted a car to compete with the big Mercedes, performance and price point.
So they did a lot of cost cutting in the design, wet sumped the engine, which raised it and made the bad air flow on the heads, did away with a lot of the cam drive gears and went to one really long chain to drive all four cams. Is is a Colombo V12 but a much cheaper one than in the Daytona. This translates into much higher maintence cost and performance lost. The engine has to come out and the heads have to come off every 40,000 miles.
Here is a picture of my engine out for the 40,000 mile service.
I could not afford the miantence and went bought a much cheaper to maintain car in comparison, a Ruf modified 930, and that is not a joke.

[piscator]

Ficke, thank-you! That is really interesting. In terms of ride and handling, is there a BMW, Mercedes, Jag, or other car that remotely compares? Of those brands, I've driven a version of just about every model and I'd just like to get a sense of what the 400 rides like.

Robert

[ficke]

All the high end big GT cars feel good and are very competent and they all have some special features that make them a little different. In the 90's BMW 850 had a V12 that was comparable and so did Mercedes. Jaguar had the GT car in the XJS during the 80's and 90's with a v12. They all had that turbine like smoothness that only a V12 can have. But the Ferrari's sound and ergonomics is so Italian. I loved it, When you were in high gears you could rest your hand on the shifter and change the radio perfectly, the doors had a slight incline in the hinges and when I got out I would walk away from the car with out looking back like a explosion in a action movie and the door would shut and latch on its own.
It had two heaters and ventilation where not one bit of glass was fogged, the wipers would keep every inch of where you looked clear and were strong could probably nock cats and dogs off the glass.


I took it on a epic road trip to Colorado one January for a wedding from Tucson, The limited slip diff and the suspicion worked so well on that ice /asphalt combination in the passing lane I had so much confidence driving at speed in the snow like no other car I felt before.

[ficke]

It had 6 mufflers I took 4 of them off and ran two, The sound!!

[Noah930]

ficke, you're not doing a very good job of talking any of us out of buying one of these gorgeous money pits.

[tabs]

The buck a mile cost of diy maintenance was nuff for me. Cost overcame luv.

Perhaps a mid to late 80s mb 560sec? Pros cons? Never owned one but liked them. Bullet proof motor good to 250k miles? Solid car well put together. How sluggish are they?

[jyl]

A 400 is one of my childhood and adulthood dream cars. I don't care that it is an unloved model and all that. The styling is just stunning. But I should never be allowed to have one because I'd probably do an engine swap and put the original engine in storage.

[ficke]

[ficke]

[ficke]

Another thing I liked, when you drove it in the rain steam would come out through that big vent in the hood at stop lights.
Thing I did not like, that vent was done trying to get rid of the under hood heat which was immense here in AZ/CA. I tried every thing to control temps, got the engine coolant and oil under control but the fuel boiled in the injector lines on hard push up a hill like that hill to San Diego and I had to pull over and let SUV's and mini vans pass me. It was a better winter car.

[GG Allin]

One for the purists.

[Captain Ahab Jr]

Originally Posted by ficke

what a sweet combination

[piscator]

Ficke, Thank-you very much! It's something I've wondered about my entire life and you describe the experience beautifully! Both pro and con. And the pictures are wonderful!

I've had some experience the 12 cylinder Jaguar XJS and that I can relate to. There are other motors I love, but the experience of that 12 cylinder is unique!

Robert

[trader220]

The car from the OP just ran on BAT and was a RNM. Looks pretty rough if you asked me.

[sammyg2]

Originally Posted by Noah930

ficke, you're not doing a very good job of talking any of us out of buying one of these gorgeous money pits.

Serial?

I put about 25,000 miles on it, it cost me about $25,000 to do that and I did all the work.

Ownership cost of one dollar per mile driven pretty much talked me out of ever owning one of these magnificent machines.

[jyl]

So, at the risk of being excommunicated, what about getting a rough 400 and swapping the engine? That seems to be where all the complaints and expense come from.

[Tervuren]

Originally Posted by jyl

So, at the risk of being excommunicated, what about getting a rough 400 and swapping the engine? That seems to be where all the complaints and expense come from.

If you're going to do that, get a car called made by a company called Bitter.

[ficke]

Originally Posted by jyl

So, at the risk of being excommunicated, what about getting a rough 400 and swapping the engine? That seems to be where all the complaints and expense come from.

My windshield had a small crack in it and was pretty 'dusted' from desert driving, I looked into another one, I finial found one in England, with out shipping it was $1800.

I talked to some people who changed one before and they said you really have to buy new window trim and rubber seal at another $1,000.
I glued the crack and drove it with the old windshield.
The tires were that XSX metric size, so no choices and were about $550 each.
I never looked into what a fender or bumper would cost.
I would buy a 68 Chevelle or something if I want a SBC powered car, way cheaper and the sound would match the Marque.

[Tervuren]

I should go grab a photo.

Bitter SC