Please Stand Back While We Smash Your Hood
If you’re thinking of bringing a Ferrari into the US, I have some simple advice that might save you months of aggravation and thousands of dollars. Simply put, under no circumstances should you bring your car in through Los Angeles or Miami. Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle and even, strangely enough, New York have proven to […]
Thumbs Up for the Lusso
The Ferrari market is a fluid animal, with both classic and modern cars moving in and out of favor. Here’s my current read on where the action is. The flavor of the month is definitely the 250 Lusso. Three years ago, you couldn’t give a Lusso away. Now great Lussos are bringing two and three […]
The 512 BB LM
Ferrari’s philosophy has always been to incorporate, when possible, their racing technology into their road cars. In the early 1970s, the flat 12 “Boxer” technology used in the early 1970s Ferrari Formula One and Ferrari 312 PB Sports racers found its way into Ferrari’s flagship 12-cylinder sports cars, the 365 GT4 BB (“Berlinetta Boxer”) and […]
Four Cams and Four Seats
SCM readers are aware that our esteemed editor, Keith Martin, is once again on the hunt for a V12 Ferrari. Reading that he was looking for a 365 GTC/4, subscriber John Weinberger of Continental Motors, an authorized Ferrari dealer in the Chicago area, called him immediately. “Do yourself a favor,” he said. “Get a manual […]
A $2,000 Hose Job
Just as we get used to the toll taken by the passage of years, from carrying reading glasses to keeping a bottle of Advil by the bedside, owners of older Ferraris have grown accustomed to the idiosyncrasies and weaknesses of their cars. To these long-term owners, the Ferrari they have owned for many years is […]
Russian Roulette, Ferrari Style
I have a client who has purchased many modern Ferraris over the phone with no inspection, including an F50, a pair of F40s, a 550 Maranello and numerous 360 coupes and Spyders. All of the cars arrived exactly as described, that is, “essentially a new car with no stories.” Lulled into a sense of complacency […]
456S and 550S: Just Used Cars
The 550 Maranello and 456 GT and GTA are today’s state-of-the-art grand touring Ferraris, offering supercar performance in a luxurious and very stylish package. Yet in the past year these cars have dropped drastically in value. Today, real money for a 1995 456 GT with low miles, good colors and full service is about $95,000 […]
Clone Wars
Of the 33 250 TRs originally built by Ferrari, there are at least 46 in existence today. As with Alfa Monzas, Bugatti Grand Prix cars and Jaguar D-types, this TR population explosion is often the creative (and sometimes lucrative) end result of a single crashed or otherwise destroyed car becoming two or more re-created cars, […]
F40 & F50: Bucking the Trend
While 360 Berlinettas and Spyders, 456 GTs and 550 Maranellos and Barchettas are dropping in price, F40s and F50s are increasing in value. Why? 360s, 456s and 550s are all mass-production Ferraris, with more coming off the production line every day. As supply meets demand, their prices come down. Further, many of these cars are […]
The Modenas are Falling
Paraphrasing Oscar Hammerstein II from “Showboat,” “Fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly, and I’m gonna watch new Ferraris depreciate till I die.” One of the extraordinary things about the “instant collectible” market is its predictability. Over the past few decades, we have watched Plymouth Prowlers, Ferrari Testarossas, Dodge Vipers and 328s run up the slope […]