Chasing the Market
Ferrari 250 S/N 0627 GT began life as a Boano, leaving the factory in February of 1957. The car was supplied to Luigi Chinetti Motors, the Ferrari importer for the U.S., and was sold new to movie star James Cagney for what was then the substantial sum of $10,750. It was heavily damaged in an […]
A Rising Tide
In 1996 Jean Sage and Jacques Swaters started the Shell Historic Ferrari Challenge in Europe, creating an event where one could see and be seen with an eligible historic Ferrari. Add in a worldwide economic boom and stock markets rising almost everywhere. The prices of the best of the best immediately started climbing upwards, with […]
Save on Restored Cars
I am considering purchase of a 365 GTC/4. I am looking at a local car in strong #2 shape cosmetically but with no substantial service records. It has had very little use for several years at least and shows 44,000 miles. I have not begun serious negotiation but it has been offered to me for […]
A 288 with a Salvage Title
In my many years in the Ferrari business, I have often been called by wannabe Ferrari owners eager to buy crashed, late-model Ferraris to restore. In almost every case, the car has been “totaled” and is available for sale by an insurance company. The most recent call was regarding a 288 GTO which had spun […]
Rebuild or Just Buy More Oil?
Keith Martin, our esteemed editor, recently called regarding his newly acquired 1964 Ferrari 330 America. When he purchased the car, it wasn’t smoking. Some 300 miles later, it was killing mosquitoes and polluting the skies with reckless abandon. His obvious questions were, “What do I do? What will it cost?” And then came the expected […]
Ferrari Bargains
In today’s market there are good buys on Ferraris that are undervalued for the performance they provide. They may not be the most successful of Ferrari’s styling exercises or the model currently “en vogue,” but for Ford Taurus money you can own a real car with heritage that will get you onto the lawn at […]
2 Cams or 4?
The 275 GTB/2 two–cam and 275 GTB/4 four–cam cars are among the most popular and user–friendly front–engined street Berlinettas built by Ferrari. They were also an enormous commercial success for the company, with 785 examples built between 1964 and 1968. All the 275 GTB variations are beautiful, with a curvaceous form that has remained timeless. […]
Racing Vintage Ferraris
Last month we reviewed racing in the Ferrari Historic Challenge, sponsored, in part, by Ferrari North America, and a takeoff on the very successful European Ferrari Historic Challenge. The most recent races, held August 1 and 2, at Road Atlanta, drew a good field of historic cars. In addition, there was a companion feature event, […]
U-Race Ferraris
In 1947, Ferrari built only two cars, both of them race cars. Over 50 years and 70,000 Ferraris later, that racing tradition continues, with this season’s World Sports Car victories at Daytona and Sebring and Michael Schumacher’s recent wins in F–1. Many enthusiasts dream of buying a Ferrari because of this long racing tradition, yet […]
No Speculators
When I began trading Ferraris in the early 1970s, there were two types of buyers: flashy young men who made lots of money and thought the cars were “cool,” and engineers in their 30s who bought the cars for their mechanical intricacies. Today those engineers are in their 60s and while some of them still […]