Is There a Ferrari That's Affordable?

[Embraer]

Originally Posted by BRPORSCHE

Mike,

I like you. Don't go away. We need more young guys like you around these parts to keep the cranky old bastards in line. I am 26...

Having your annual party tomorrow?

Ha! Funny you mention that. The party will be taking place in April this year. Expecting about 50 guests, or so. I just picked up the first round of champagne a few weeks ago. (wanted to split up the purchases...just so that the sticker shock wouldn't be so strong. HA). This is half of the champagne...i'll buy the other half later on, along with the beer and spirits, food, etc.




All Indy-area pelicans are invited. PM me for an official invite

[GG Allin]

Then there's these, dirt cheap relatively speaking. I've seen them as low as $20K. I always liked the look of them. I wonder if they'll ever have their day.

[Embraer]

i ALMOST bought the 412 that was in Daft Punk's Electroma movie. They auctioned it off for charity. Kicking myself for not picking it up. Think it went for 44K. I do like the 2+2's a lot.

[BRPORSCHE]

Originally Posted by Embraer

Ha!
All Indy-area pelicans are invited. PM me for an official invite

Jeez those are some pretty ladies. Don't recognize the blue lable. Sometime type of Dom...right?

Well looks like i'll just happen to live in Indy around April! Right...I wish.

Now...

back your our regualar scheduled program. My one true love.

[sc_rufctr]

Originally Posted by GG Allin

Then there's these, dirt cheap relatively speaking. I've seen them as low as $20K. I always liked the look of them. I wonder if they'll ever have their day.

Cheap for sure but what are they like to live with day to day?

[GG Allin]

Originally Posted by sc_rufctr

Cheap for sure but what are they like to live with day to day?

Any worse than any other Ferrari?

[javadog]

It depends on your luck. Like any of them, the routine maintenace isn't a deal killer. If all you do is change the oil once in a while, no big deal. If the previous owner kept up on the maintenance, all is well. It's when something goes bad that is either expensive, or impossible to find, that you bleed to death. You might go years without incident. Then, something rare goes boom and you're SOL. Or, lets say you buy a carb'd version and the carbs need a rebuild on your watch. No big deal to rebuild a Weber, except there's a bunch of them, on one of these... It's like my comment earlier on the 355. Replacing the valve guides on a 3.2 Carrera involves replacing 12 of them. On a 355, you're gonna do 40 of them.

Etc.

JR

[GG Allin]

On the bright side the 400's with automatics came with GM THM400's. Those are a dime a dozen.

[Ayles]

Be on the look out for an affordable f360!
High-speed Ferrari chase ends with a bang and an arrest | Local & Regional | Seattle News, Weather, Sports, Breaking News | KOMO News

A bit surprised these can be had for 75k.

[aigel]

Originally Posted by Embraer

fun video. ...but the 456 is still depreciating. that's another car that would be a fun cruiser.

Good lord - that video was fun but sure is not an advertisement for the car. We never found out what the blinking lights were all about! And cruising at 90 mph in a straight line? Any car can do that well ...

G

[Kraftwerk]

My friend Xav. has a 1982 Ferrari 456 and loves it. I think it is also known as a Ferrari 400i GT. He is in France so I haven't gotten over there yet. I know two other guys with the same car, they all adore it. None of these 3 wrench's on their own cars themselves, they are too busy (rich?) to get their hands greasy. One guy ships his to Europe every summer to drive and have maint. done in Italy. Smart dude.
I particularly like the body style, it s a rather " calm " design for Ferrari. Classy.

[javadog]

Originally Posted by Kraftwerk

My friend Xav. has a 1982 Ferrari 456 and loves it. I think it is also known as a Ferrari 400i GT.

It is a 400i, not a 456. Similar role in the Ferrari lineup, just nothing in common between the two cars. I also like the way they look.

JR

[Sarc]

Originally Posted by GG Allin

Then there's these, dirt cheap relatively speaking. I've seen them as low as $20K. I always liked the look of them. I wonder if they'll ever have their day.

Three Pedals: 1983 Ferrari 400i 5-Speed

Good commentary by "Alexander Leventhal" who used one as his winter beater for 3 NY winters.

I put over 30k miles on a 400i (an auto – chassis #049773) over a period of about 3 years between 2005-2008 or so using it as a WINTER BEATER to go from my country house into and out of New York City. I used it as a sort of “sacrificial anode” to keep my other Ferraris from being subjected to salt, snow, NYC, etc. As such, I’m pretty well qualified to speak to what they are like to run and maintain, etc.
I’ll say first that the 5 speed absolutely transforms the car. The auto doesn’t suit the peaky / revy nature of the 4 cam motor at all , and the 2 extra ratios are badly needed (the auto uses a GM TH-400).

MAINTENANCE: Not a big deal. Mechanically, these are very robust cars. I had no major mechanical failures over 30k+ miles and basic maintenance was easy. These cars have timing chains (not belts) and everything relatively accessible as it is front engine. The CIS injection is straightforward, and both available transmissions are robust. Mine smoked and burned oil due to work valve seals, but had good compression and leakdown and ran fine. There are a few quirks, like the near impossibility of changing the short section of hose between the thermostat and radiator with everything in place, but even that can be done. I found the 400i much easier to live with than the XJ6 SIII that replaced it.

PROBLEM AREAS: People complain about the self levelling system, but I found it easy to troubleshoot and repair. I only had one failure (blown hose) and it was easy to replace and bleed / adjust the system. Warning – fill the reservoir only with the suspension settled / down in the back or it will overflow and make a mess when it does. The biggest problem area is the white connectors on fuse box circuit boards that lose spring tension over time and ultimately increase resistance which can burn certain circuits and create intermittent electrical faults, particularly on the fuel pump circuit. The fix is easy: clip of the connectors and crimp on spade terminals and attach those right to the fuse box with a good coating of Stabilant 22. Problem solved permanently. Beyond that, interiors are fragile and the dash leather shrinks if exposed to sun, and exhausts hang low and can be damaged, but not much else goes wrong. I used mine as a car, left it out in the snow, parked it on the street in NYC when I was too lazy to walk back from my garage, and I never had a major problem and was never stranded.

RUNNING & PARTS COSTS: These cars get bad mileage. 11 City / 18 Highway or so. Nothing else is exorbitant. Very few parts need to be bought from Ferrari, as all of the fuel injection is Bosch CIS, and many of the other components cross reference to Fiat (lights, bulbs, etc.), BMW or Porsche (brake pads and calipers, I recall), GM (York AC compressor and auto tranny) or even Dodge Trucks (found a replacement for a frozen heater valve meant for a 80s Dodge PickUp). Yes, you can spend $8k on an OEM exhaust (and the PO of my car spent $6k on a stainless replica from Timevalve) but the OEM exhaust is junk, and something better that looks identical, but for the ANSA stickers, can be made by any decent muffler shop for $1 or $2k.

WHEELS & TIRES: The TRXs are available from Coker but they suck. A much better answer is to fit 16” wheels form a 308 or 328. I was able to buy 4 x 16” NOS 328 wheels from Ferrari UK delivered for less than a set of TRX tires. I ran Bridgestone Blizzaks in the winter and Continentals in the summer. The car was unstoppable in the snow and ice with the Bizzaks – great tires.

In short, I bought #049773 for used Honda money and I treated it like a used Honda. And, you know what? It ran, drove and could be relied on like a used Honda, too. It was fast, comfortable, reliable and highly useful in all weather – it really only suffered from a lack of cruise control. It made every trip and event and I had great fun with it. Unlike my XJ6, which came later, it always started and always ran. I highly recommend this type of adventure…why buy a used Honda when you can buy and RUN a 400i or similar for the same money?

[GG Allin]

I didn't realize until after I posted the 400i above that it was modified with twin turbos. It has since sold for under $35K

Ferrari Other Leather | eBay