1972 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 #15229

“Dear Mike: I have decided to offer my Daytona for sale. I will miss the car, surely, but I must reduce my debt in anticipation of building a new home.”

“Last week I had my 50th birthday, and purchased my first Ferrari.

I have lusted for a Daytona since 1978. I didn’t buy one then, and watched with regret as their prices accelerated rapidly and went well beyond my reach. Still I hoped one day a Daytona would grace my garage. Time marched on and I acquired several books and at some point I even had a video (Beta) of someone driving a Spyder through the hills in Southern California.

About the time Daytona values were exceeding the cost of a home here in the SF Bay Area, my wife presented me with a framed dummy purchase agreement for a Daytona, with the sentiment, “This is probably as close as you will ever get”. Tough medicine, but that framed PO hung in my office for the next 20 years and served as inspiration when times got tough.

Fast forward to 2001 and 2 months before my 50th birthday. I was not looking forward to turning 50 and needed to do something to improve my attitude. Then it hit me — buy the darn car and get it out of my system. So that’s exactly what I did. At 9:30 Tuesday night on July 3, 2001, Daytona s/n 15229 was delivered just in time to celebrate the beginning of my second half century.

I couldn’t have done it without SCM. First, after following your market and auction reports for the last three years, I gained a good sense for how much I should spend. Second, after reading Sheehan Speaks for the same three years I learned how important it is to wait for a good car. So I walked away from a cut coupe with too many mysteries and settled on an unmolested, well maintained ’72 Coupe with documented history and no stories. Finally through SCM I contacted experts who were very helpful as I went through the purchase and shipping process, and who even helped me contact and speak with the original owner of the car. Ultimately, I got a very sound car, and the price I paid was right in the middle of the SCM Price Guide range.

Some practical thoughts from this fog of 12–cylinder euphoria., For us newbees, an article or two on how to go about inspecting and/or purchasing an exotic would be helpful. What I’ve learned so far includes:
See the car with your own eyes before you buy it.
DRIVE it before you buy it.

I highly recommend being present to witness the compression and leak down test, something I never would have thought of.

On Daytona’s specifically, watch out for the head light switch. A knee in the wrong place can cause expensive damage. Additionally, I’d like to see something in SCM about auto transporters. I was totally unprepared for the experience of dealing with them.

SCM is a great magazine and for me was a valuable and helpful resource. The knowledge gained helped me operate as an informed buyer, realize an important dream, and avoid what could have easily been a cut car nightmare.

But here’s what really matters. After all these years of staring at the PO on the wall, through good times and bad: In my (my!)Daytona, third gear at 5500 rpm is a rush, fourth gear at 5500 rpm is unbelievable. I made it to fifth, but ran out of nerve when the other cars began to look like fence posts as I went by them.

What a birthday!” — Current owner, San Leando, CA.