Mike the Rookie

I wonder if the car was owned by Sadam Hussein or his sick bastard son Uday. Uday was know to have a fleet of expensive cars. After he went into hiding and got his brains blown apart by our military there was probly no one around to gaurd his toys. You will recall there was a lot of looting going on after the war started. And the background looks like it could pass for Iraq. I can't think of any other reason someone would to that to a Ferrari. Certainly the driver is not the owner.

FSAEracer03

Jason, that may be true... however I know for a fact Ferrari's do need rebuilds on that schedule (not sure about the most recent models, however)... their high compressions and oddball head designs kinda force them to be rebuilt frequently, or they celebrate the Iraqi holiday kabuum They aren't the most reliable of motors, but their sound can't duplicated or replaced. I remember a mechanic friend of my boss was asked by two of his customers whose car would win a road race. One owning a 911 and the other a 355. The man looked at both of them and said, "Well the Ferrari would easily turn faster lap times (the Ferrari owner began to grin)... but the 911 would last the whole race."

That being said, I still love 'em. And Red... I love the sound of a Ferrari horn!! It's cute, lol.

Boricua944

lol looks fun though

MPD47

I believe that is the black 355 Challange grill that was repainted red to match the car. Why repainted i dont know, i think the black challange grill looks incredible.

FSAEracer03

wow, good point.. they're def VA stickers!! ...also, about the rear "grille" the stock 355 was vented and usually black as well. Ferrari has been using the mesh rears and slat-vent rears to aid in colling for a long time now.

just my $0.02

Red 944

I thought it was on all 355's and the challenge 360's ..
I need to find some of that stuff because when I was pulling the Lancia motor I was just ****ing with the arm, lifted up a bit too high, and the piston came right down through the tail light panel. And, of course, I will love the way it looks.

Red 944

maybe I'll just buy one for an f50 from the dealership and hack it up. That should be cheap enough.

FSAEracer03

Oh yeah... chump change, really!! ...I'm not really sure where the hell you would find that stuff really, but I'll keep an eye out for ya!

UDPride

Big waste of a nice set of tires if you ask me. If their Johnson grew a couple inches in their mind from it, then god bless em.

MachSchnell

Challenge grills were options on 355 and 360 cars. On the 355 they were begun because the location of the cats (which tend to clog and overheat) was so close to the rear that the taillight panels would melt after time. The grills were specifically to vent heat from the exhaust (not the motor). Additionally, Ferrari motors built after 1970 do NOT need rebuilds every 30k miles. Trust me on this, I sell them for a living. Particularly when you get 1995 and newer (355 and up) these become VERY driveable cars. I have seen 355's with 60k miles pull less than 5% change over 8 cyl on a leakdown, unrebuilt 308 GTSi's with 108k that run great and have never been rebuilt. A customer of mine put 44k miles on a 550 Maranello in 1.5 years. The only time they'll need that kind of recon is if they ARE NOT driven. These are horses, they need to be ridden, not babied. Some of the ancillary electrical equip and whatnot may go crap, but the drivetrains are phenomenal on Ferraris if properly maintained and driven.

FSAEracer03

Good info Jason, thanks... my info was mostly from shop customers. One owned a race-winning Daytona that was always in need of help, lol... but true, it was racebred! ...I figured the most recent cars would have been different. We did do work on a few 512 TRs that Ferrari of Washington said were meant to be rebuilt frequently... those cars were orgasms on wheels, I swear. About the venting... I was also told by one of the 512 owners that theirs was an effort to "cool the engine bay" so i'm assuming both motor and ehaust cooling there? correct me if i'm wrong though, please. The more I learn about them, the more I'm fascinated, fall in love and keep determined to never buy one

When I first looked over a 512's drivetrain at the shop, first with the rear popped, then on a lift... I can see why they demand such high prices (though you can get a nice one for 100k these days... what a deal). It's like two siamese-engines connected at the crank! Individual ignition, fuel system, exhaust, intake, ecu! It's wild... and starting up was an absolute pleasure... I don't think the grin stopped unitl my face got sore the next day.

I took a photo of the engine within 5 minutes of the car's arrival. I don't think I'll ever forget sweeping up after a job and hearing it pull up behind me and the driver (F.of Wash. employee) blipped the throttle up to about 5 or 6k a few times before shutting it off... the hair stood up on my arms, i stopped and grinned as I turned around. I knew that sound from anywhere

FSAEracer03

Along with test driving the Formula car here at my school and getting a few video clips of it... those days at the shop were the most fun of my life. Working on racecars and the occassional exotic... getting to test drive a FFR Spec Racer (and driving one other, though not as "thoroughly," lol), getting a full throttle ride in a Ferrari 512 Testarossa until second (I only got to steer it up onto the F. of Wash. truck... never did get to drive it, unfortunately)... driving multiple racecars there. I'm not sure if I'll ever have a job as gratifying as that... in fact, I'm pretty damn sure I wont. I woke up actually wanting to go to work; tell me that isn't a rarity!

FSAEracer03

oops, forgot the pics...

CT944

If someone has a car like an F355 in that country, they can do WHATEVER they want. Looks like nobody would even dare to try to stop him!!

MachSchnell

Yeah, a Daytona would definitely need regular rebuilds (as do most of the older, carbuerated cars) but the 512 shouldn't...perhaps it was just a mediocre car. If you think the sound of the 512 is sick, try a 360 Modena screaming at 8k rpms behind your head! Maybe the best sound in the world =) Thankfully I have a job that lets me drive virtually every car I could ever have hoped to sit in growing up in NH! (though the F40, F50, and GT2 are still on my list to drive) I consider myself VERY lucky - I remember when I first moved to FL drooling over the ferraris in the window of the Toy Store here...and now I get to play with them.