OK, some time back I was watching one of these car auction programs on TV and they were saying that 4 door Ferrari's were going for much less than their 2 door counterparts. These are cars 20-30 years old I guess. However, since Ferrari came out with a new 4 door model I have been unable to find any of these by searching. Does anyone have a model or something for these old 4 door cars?
Thanks, Peter.

that's interesting, I had not known that Ferrari themselves ever built and sold a four-door other than the Pininfarina show car about 1990.

there was a ferrari pinin made in 1980 which I think is the only one ever actually made by ferrari.

Also pininfarina made 7 456's for the sultan of brunei, but these were aftermarket conversions.

I stand corrected, 1980 was the year. Interestingly enough, that car is for sale in the May DuPont Registry. No price listed.

That magazine's contents are the stuff dreams are made of...

Rich

Thanks for the tip, however I think it may have been the 308 GT4 and the 208 GT4 both of which were 2+2's. I just found them while following up on your leads!!!
I may have lied about the 4 doors! I may have meant 4 seats. In any case cheap(er) Ferrari's. Thanks again for the tips that resulted in me finding what I think i was looking for!
Peter.

Ferrari was a perfectionist and it took a long time before he made a 4 seater. He wanted the car to perform the same whether there were 2 or 4 people in it !But he's gone as is his friend Scaglietti and now they talk about things like hybrid Ferraris !.The present head of the company ,Montezemolo, may run for public office !

That is not quite factually correct. Enzo Ferrari was a racer and used his customer cars to finance racing. 4 seat Ferraris have been around going back to the beginning of his customer cars (early 50s) all the way back to the 212 Inters. He'd always done a bunch of one-offs using different coach builders for Kings and movie stars eg Grigio Ingrid <- color made for Ingrid Bergman's 375 back in the 50s.

There is another thread about you can't go back. the blurb about the 3 liter V8 Dino is that it went from 0 to 60 in under 7 seconds!!!! In my younger days the Lotus 7 was the cats meow for going 0 to 60 in under 6 seconds! Compare that with modern sport sedans!
Peter.

What I think the question here is, "whats the cheapest way to own a Ferrari?"

Well, there are cheaper Ferraris than others, but none of them are cheap to own, speaking of maintenance. But there are ways around that, too. You want to visit the websites of Ferraris Online and Carobu Engineering. Lots of knowledge there. Be sure to read Mike Sheehan's blogs at FO. He knows everything to know and is happy to share.

Also, remember, the 308 series "Magnum PI" car trades for less than $30k everyday on ebay.

But you asked about 4-seaters. There are three models that are at the bottom of the heap price-wise. And one isn't technically a Ferrari. Here we go, least desirable first.

1980-1993 Ferrari Mondial. The early Mondials were saddled with the injected, 2-valve, 205-hp 3.0-litre V8 from the 308. The 308 wasn't exactly a hot rod in this state of tune and the extra weight of the larger car didn't improve things. You are looking at 9-10 seconds to 60 mph and 16-17 second quarter miles. Top end was in the mid 130s. And they guzzled fuel, too.

The upside. Parent company FIAT swung for the bleachers on the rest of the car. The chassis is smooth as well as a good handler. The interior is well laid out and has all the luxury appointments for the day. The a/c and heater actually move air when working. FIAT wanted this car to compete with the Porsche 928 and Mercedes-Benz SL class of executive sleds. So if you can get by the slowness of the early cars, you have a nice, stylish ride with a genuine prancing horse on the hood.

Beginning in 1983, the fuel injection was improved and the 4-valve heads were born. Along with higher compression pistons, these 225 hp QV cars are much livlier performers. The rest of the car is unchanged save for bigger brakes. These are, naturally, more expensive.

1986 saw a boost in displacement to 3.2 litres and a bump to 260 hp. and a comsmetic and mechanical updating of the car. Also, a convertible appeared. Now we are into a very nice ride. And a more expensive one, too.

The last iteration was the 300-hp 3.4 litre 'T' car. This was the same as the 3.2 car but with the new-for-1989 longitudinal engine and transverse transmission from the new 348. These are the fastest, best handling and most expensive.

A browse through Ebay and Hemmings Motor News will update you on current prices. But early, neglected examples can trade for less than $10K. A nice, late convertible 3.4 might go for $45K.

Next, the Dino 308 GT4. A very pretty car. It was the basis for the Ferrari 308 GTB/GTS. It carried an earlier, carburetted version of the Mondial's injected 3.0 litre V8 and put out 255 hp. These are the fastest of all the 308 Dino/Ferrari series cars. The body was by Bertone and not the usual design house of Pininfarina. It has a much more angular design theme similar to the FIAT X1/9 by Bertone from the same era.

The interior's wrap-around aluminum dash board is a great thing to look at and very 70's sports-racer in execution. Driving this car is a blast. The earlier the better, as smog controls slowed them down. The 1975-6 Series I cars are the ones to have and are reasonably priced for decent examples.

The car was called a "Dino" after Enzo Ferrari's late son who had a hand on developing the V-6 that was in Ferrari's first mid engined racer in the late fifties and early sixties.

The first road going Dino was the beautiful 206GTS of the late 60's this sported a variation of the Ferrari V6 and was mid mounted. Enzo named the mid engined street car in honor of his son. The 308 GT4 was that car's successor. Hence the Dino name. Many of these cars have the Dino badging removed and replaced with Ferrari badges, but they are not Ferraris. They are Dinos. The valve covers, however, do carry the Ferrari script.

Last we come to the big gentlemans' express. A car that was, in it's day, the top of the Ferrari line and sports a front mounted 340-hp V-12 that makes great noises. The carburetted 400 and injected 400i.

These were never officially imported into the US, so all cars were grey-market conversions. Make damned sure you get all the EPA paperwork with the car or you are up the creek without a boat.

These Pininfarina-bodied cars were long and angular. The styling themes were copied by many others of the era. Erich Bitter almost copied the car in tact for his Opel-powered Bitter SC.

These cars are big touring cars. Made to cruise comfortably along the Autostrada at 125 mph and above, smoothly and serenly. They are sublime. They are not little mid-engined corner carvers. Think of a really fast Rolls-Royce Corniche. The 5-speed manuals are the more sought after, the automatic in these is a TurboHydramatic 400 from GM. It may be the better choice.

Good fun cars and the most likely of the three to actually appreciate due to it's V12. But not likely. You won't lose money on these, but you aren't buying them to make any, either.

Now the common downside to all affordable exotics. The parts are insanely expensive. Therefore, keeping them running is expensive. Thats why so many of them are in such terrible mechanical shape. The ownwer bought the car, but couldn't afford to maintain it as well as his wife's Camry. And many of them are genuine car guys who should have bought a nice Sting Ray or Porsche.

Chewed up $250.00 brake rotors, cracked $400.00 distributor caps (two required on some models), leaking Weber carbs that set the thing on fire. The required engine-out belt service that was never done which led to some bent valves. Those sorts of things are what to look out for and what you are instore for if you buy an "affordable" Ferrari.

Now, for the same money, I would look into an early Viper. Faster in every way. A true hand-built exotic, easy to maintain aluminum engine (cast by Lamborghini, remember Chrysler owned Lambo at the time.) and multiple wins in international competition. Several times at Le Mans! Sebring, too. Sounds like a pedigree to me. Get a first year GTS Coupe if you can swing the dough. If not, any early roadster will be a good investment and a ton of fun in the mean time.

God Bless,
Ted

Damn, Ted, I am going to print this out!
Thanks, Peter.

Thanks Ted68.

I had a friend of mine years ago that had just purchased a Ferrari (model not recalled) and he asked me and a couple of buddies at a coin show what would be a good custom license plate for it.

The Winner: RRRRE

www.ferrarilife.com/


Is also a good resource for everything ferrari....

if you are close to the 100k mark on spending, an early 360 modena is the best choice, be through with the service records as some of the schedule and unscheduled maintenance is sky high in price.

I would also say a 355, but these have a lot more problems, and I believe also need an engine out belt service which is 15-20k also these seem to allways be breaking down.

Another great option would be a late model acura NSX , which at the time (1997 -1998) was a true ferrari 355 killer for about half the price, and they used to never breakdown...