Huskerbill

Alright, I am heading down to LA tomorrow to pick up my first 996 to drive home.

I bought a Porsche 911 SC as my first car after college when my college vehicle (POC 1985 Pontiac Grand Am) broke down leaving me stranding and embarrassed on the side of the freeway during rush hour. Went to the dealership that weekend and bought it. Was a great car until I got rear-ended at a stoplight and it was totalled.

Then went to a wide-body 911 with a 3.2 in it. Saw it online, bought it and flew out to Virginia to pick it up. Drove it home from the dealership. 14 hours and without a DOUBT one of the top 3 best times I have every had in my life!! A bit faster than the 3.0 and still no worries about it breaking down. Car was built like a rock and took everything you gave it with a smile!! Sold it to a guy who put some serious cash into it and then tracked it. He recently upgraded to a 996 of which he is tracking and has put a ton more money into....

Then went to Ferrari. Got a 328. Bought it from some pics I saw, had it shipped out and loved the car. But sold it when I moved to California.....miss that car. But, I still worried every time I drove it. Those belts/valves put the fear of God in a guy....

Was in California for 3 weeks and got the itch. Went online and bought a 348. Nice car. Great looks. Yellow and flashy. But damned if I didn't worry about catastrophic failure (belts) every time I drove it. So I had a baby 3 months ago and it was time to get rid of the "2 seater" for a bit....

So here I am again in a familiar spot.....

About to fly out to a dealership where they will pick me up and take me to see my "new" car for the first time. I will drive it home along the Pacific Coast Highway and, no doubt, will have the time of my life!! For sure I won't sleep a wink tonight. I barely could last night just thinking about it!!!

This car will be both my daily driver AND my weekend car. Track car. Everything car!! It is a Seal Grey 6 speed. Exactly what I wanted. As a past Ferrari owner you all aren't missing anything with your Porsche's. Great handling, reliability, performace, classic looks, etc.

I am pumped to be BACK!!

But, what's a thread without pics.....
Here are 4 of the 5 cars mentioned....

Ray S

Welcome back!!

Love that 328!! (348 not so much).

othomasjr

That 328 is beautiful. What is the deal with the "worry"? Don't know much about Ferrari, but heard somewhere that a Ferrari with high miles is a "parts" car. Just curious.

ArneeA

I love the 328! Although yeah, maintenance on those aren't as "friendly" as modern cars.

Fat Sled

What's the maintenance like on the f-cars? Oh and welcome back.

TT150

As I know the maintenance is expensive et difficult unitl the 360Modénà, before each time you've to take out the engine so that's cost.
Lot of people said that the 348 is one of the worsthest Ferrai even if there was an evolution in '92 if my memory is good.
The black 328 is so nice !

DFC

Nice collection, and welcome back!

Riad

Very nice, welcome back!

My buddy had the same Ferraris and now has a 04 C4S Cab... wonder why he chose that car?

Huskerbill

Yeah, I miss the 328 and should have never sold it. The guy who bought it from me sold it and I didn't have any garage space left. But I know the guy who bought it through FCoA and he said he will sell it back to me when he is done with it. Kind of feels wrong...

Anyway, the 328 worried me because it was my first FCar and I had heard horror stories of snapped belts and $15k engine replacements. I never had an issue with it other than the Cat Temp ECU going out. It was a $1400 part.

The 348 could have been more trouble but wasn't. Just O2 sensors needing a changing every 6 months. Other than that, not bad.

But ther major services on them is what gets you. Ferrari of North America is recommending now every 3 years/15000 miles. Of course this is ridiculous, but if you don't have it done, the buyer when you sel;l it will low ball you in their offer. So you will pay either way....

The 308 and 328 aren't bad. Take off the rear right wheels and change the belts pulleys tensioners, waterpump, etc. About $4000 total.

The 348 and 355 will start to hurt. They will get you for about $7-8k for the major since you need to drop the motor out of the car to do it.

With the 360, you can take the wheel off again to get to it all so it is not as bad.

The 430 now runs a chain so even better!!!


Thanks for the compliments on the 328. I loved that car and miss it. It used to get more looks than any other car at the exotic events I used to put on. Funny how that is....

flash80

nice rides! I will echo the previous sentiments--hot 328!

What kind of 996 are you getting? With all the money saved on maintenence, you should be able to mod the hell out of your porsche!

redridge

Welcome back, have a safe drive!

Huskerbill

Just a 2000. Nothing spectacular. But, yeah, I will be putting some mods to it. The plan is to make it a track/street car. I do like those GT3 bodykits, so maybe that first?? Then Big brakes...

Huskerbill

Thanks!!

Heading to the airport right now...

pl

u have some really nice cars.

if you want to track your 996, i would do the suspention mod before anything else. standard 996 rides too high.

triode

Although the 360 and today's 430 are to be admired for sure, I've never been a "Ferrari guy". Many of the '80s & '90s cars seemed to be "look at me" boy racerish, more show than go...back in the day, there were many 308s and 328s in Miami (where I then lived), and they were easy prey for my 4-banger 944 turbo.

The (now) older F-car I've always liked are the 550/575 Maranellos, with V12 power and a more refined look.

One thing that has always struck me is the "lack of depreciation" argument for F-cars...but that appears to be true primarily because so few of them are really driven (and of course limited production numbers)...often one sees things like 6 year old 360s with 5,000 miles. What's the point of having such a purportedly great "driver's car" if one is afraid to actually...drive it?