Old_Fart

Carl..Nicki and I both fancied the Tuscan (another glorious looking/sounding car), but the engines seem extremely suspect, and build quality is non-existant(of course that is also what earns the Noble a cough ).
Thanks for your thoughts David Knew you'd been there, done that. Saw and heard your car at Dono a couple (few?) years back....but as we hadn't spoken for some time I figured I'd lay low...gone are the old daytime scoobychat days LOL
Chuck

DavidBrown

I disagree. The Spider is a lovely car, and most people will prefer it over the Modena. Given there's only £5-9K difference from new, Modenas will always take a bigger hit. There are SO MANY modenas out there, I can't see it being a rarity, or hard to find a "good one".. new prices for Modenas have tumbled in the past few years, compared to Spiders which have held their value well.

Old_Fart

For 360's the RHD 'premium' for a 2000 car is close to £15k
Afraid I'd only consider RHD though. Yes part of it is the snob factor...I can't look at a LHD car without thinkning 'cheapskate' (lightweight porkers excepted - thats just a rarity issue). Further I'm concerned that with a car as wide as a modern Ferrari judging kerb distance etc is critical..LHD makes that more awkward.
Nicki has just pointed out that I'd never be able to take a Ferrari to visit her parents..I can't even get the 22 up their steep drive without bottoming out....however I consider that a Ferrari pro, though she says it's a con
Cman

Old_Fart

David...so back to the purpose of the thread(ie my being too lazy to waste a trip to the ferrari garage if it's pointless), if you don't mind answering...will my wife be comfortable with the clutch/gears of a manual 355? Or is the clutch a 'reet heavy buggah'?
Oh, and do the later ones have passenger airbags? If she can't pop a kid in the passenger seat that futher kills the idea
Rgds
Cman
(Blimey that post was poorly constructed!)

DavidBrown

The clutch isn't heavy at all (or at least it shouldn't be)

2nd gear can be a bit stiff from cold, but not in an unliveable way.

My car (98-R) had a passenger airbag, not sure when they were introduced though.

carl

The post-2001 engines are supposed to be fine. Build quality is OK -- my Cerbera shakes, rattles and rolls less than my Impreza did. Things will go wrong with it, but then again things will go wrong with a Ferrari. You'll get a factory warranty with it. I wouldn't dismiss it so easily.

TVRs don't seem to have the image problems associated with Porsches and Ferraris either (i.e. the thug on the street is less likely to damage it, coz it's British innit?)

[Edited by carl - 1/15/2004 3:30:55 PM]

NigelO

Old Fart - as another old fart - just do it.

I got my GTS nearly two years ago. Paid £1700 for a 2 year warranty (which turned out to be exceptional value for money). I love it to bits. Every time I open the garage door, my heart jumps when I realise I actually have one.

Sure, a Porsche's infinitely more reliable, and there are DEFINITELY times when you feel way too conspicuous, but WTF, I didn't buy it to blend in

The noise is just staggering, the speed is utterly addictive. The handling is completely sublime (whether you're trying to go fast or slow).

The whole of this thread is quite remarkable, as there are clearly a lot of posts from people that have never driven one and this is usually accompanied by inaccurate hearsay and half-truths. However, I've seen very little that I feel the need to put right.

The GTB is the better car, but the GTS is the better compromise between chassis rigidity and roof-off posing

Pre 97 uses a different engine management and is allegedly a bit more powerful (my 95 puts out 11bhp more than my co-director's 98). The pre-97 is also non-airbagged.

I could write an enormous post on what's gone wrong on it, and the dealer I used were complete ***** (despite the fact that we [my co-director and I] bought one each!!). Generally speaking, when the car went in for work, it came out needing more work. This is the fault of the dozy mechanics, not the car (for example, mine went in for manifolds, and they "forgot" to reconnect the oil return pipe to the oil tank - result - 6 litres of Shell Helix on the floor - the really stupid thing is that two months later, the other car went in and they did exactly the same )

However, sunny Sunday, roof off, windows down and hit the loud pedal and everything pales into insignificance and the rest of the world goes into reverse.

Buy wisely and you'll never regret it - buy cheaply and you'll hate every minute.

Just do it

RichB

Nigel,
You are a few weeks too late, our resident old fart has gone down the German route, poor him...
Where in the UK are you?
Rich

NigelO

I'm in Lichfield, Staffs