Where do I put all this stuff?

Since we are planning on staying in this house for a few more years I need to devise a solution for parking our cars. The easiest would be to do nothing. Our weather is going to get better and it will not be too much of an inconvenience for Barb and I to load the kids up outside. I don’t like our driveway to be packed with cars so I could park my truck on the street in front of the house. We live off a short shared driveway which is off a quiet street. I don’t really like this solution because if it is raining I will be soaked by the time I get to the truck and I have an aversion to having more cars than I can fit in my garage.

I did a bit of research on lifts this morning. Bargain lifts can be purchased for about $1600 with nicer models going for just under $3000. I am not lifting much weigh but I would be disappointed if I came home and the lift had failed. Disappointed is a euphemism for how I would really feel so if I go the lift route I will probably opt for a better quality model. With the Porsche and Ferrari housed in one garage space Barb would be able to park the minivan in the garage. If I want to park the truck in the driveway I would have to move it to drive either sports car.

Mentally, I like rolling around the idea of selling the truck and the Porsche and buying a Carerra 4 or a Ferrari 465 for my daily driver. The Porsche would be more practical but is less emotionally appealing. Neither would allow me to haul all three kids, the wheel chair, our bikes , and assorted stuff but it is a nice day dream.

I could sell the Porsche or the Ferrari in the middle of the summer and avoid this problem but I doubt that solution would last. I briefly looked at commercial properties I could buy and store the cars there. Much cheaper to buy a lift plus, I can reuse the lift in any house we build and having the lift will enable me to do more work or cause more problems with the cars on my own.
Right about now you are saying, hey you are only going to keep the car for another eight or so months, tough it out. I am hedging against keeping the Ferrari a bit longer or replacing it with a track car or another sports car. In either case I will need more room.

Let’s go off on a track car or other sports car tangent. I think our current economic cycle will have a negative effect on the more pedestrian track cars and less/non-collectable exotics. I think 355 values will be negatively affected but since the cars are reasonably inexpensive to begin with I don’t think I am at risk of too much of a downside. I do think the next few years will present some opportunities to get a hold of a nice 355 Challenge at a reasonable price. I think 360s and Gallardos will continue their pretty steep price decline and there will also be good opportunities to pick of a nice 360 or 360 Challenge.

So, should I keep the 355 through this economic cycle and get a 355 Challenge, 360, or Porsche based track car? To make this happen all I have to do is figure out how to pay off the 355, get more storage space, and pay for the new car. Only three things, not too much to take on. Really, only two things because we need to get a new house anyway.

Maybe I should reset my sights. One year ago I had no plan of buying a Ferrari, sure I wanted one but I did not envision one in my future. Now I have one. It has become part of the family. Like a pet. If I decide to keep it will have to change the way I am currently accounting for it and will need to divert more money in its direction. Plus I will have to put away more for the potential maintenance. It may turn out that the best financial decision is to keep the car I have until the market recovers and sell it then. During the downturn I could keep my eyes open and pick up either a track car a road car which I plan on keeping. One year with a Ferrari could turn into two years with two Ferraris. Not a bad outcome.

Snow in March

More working than writing recently and no drives in the Ferrari since last weekend. I almost went out for a spin one evening during the week but it was cold and smelled like rain. If I had a bad knee I expect it would have ached.

I am just over 20 days away from my driving school track day. When I signed up I made the decision to go rain or shine. I am hoping for good weather but would probably learn more if it rains. We will see. I signed up for the driving school for several reasons. In no particular order they are:

To not look like a total dork on my first track day
Learn to be a better sports car driver
Gain a better understanding of the cars limits
Get to use the car for what it was designed
Have fun
Have something else to write about

I think that’s about it. As I sit today writing I am not worried about damaging the car. I know I will significantly wear the brakes and possibly the clutch but OK. After having owned the car for a few months I have a new appreciation for Ferrari’s build quality and the durability of the car. When I brought it home I thought I had to treat it like it was made of papier-mâché but it is a solidly built wonderfully engineered car. Sure, maintenance is expensive but you are maintaining a highly tuned exotic engine which is just a nod away from being a race motor. Further, the maintenance proscribed by Ferrari is preemptive not reactive – aimed at keeping the car running in top form.

Yesterday I was working in Wilsonville and had a chance to stop in at Gran Prix. As they grow into their role as Lamborghini of Portland they are getting more and more Lambos in their show room. Not a bad thing. There was a dull grey LP 640 on the floor. What a fantastic thing. Not enough room for someone my size the cockpit made the Ferrari seem spacious.

The picture is from my Tundra just after a fill up. Hey only $73 to drive 10 miles not bad.

This is all NonVegans Fault

I am trying to figure out how I can keep this car for more than a year and not invalidate my original thesis. I think it is acceptable for me to keep the car for a few extra months if by keeping it I can increase the selling price by more than the cumulative extra monthly payments. My guess is the car will sell for more at the beginning of summer than the middle of winter. Now, I won’t get to drive it much during that time but it does delay the moment I have to sell the car and allow me extra time to think of another compelling reason to keep it longer.
That is not entirely honest. I am trying to figure out how I can just keep the car.

I had thought I would be around my parking space problem this summer as we had planned to remodel our house and were going to add enough space to the garage to hold the Porsche, Ferrari, and minivan comfortably. With the parking taken care of I would be one step closer to keeping the car indefinitely. Unfortunately the bid for remodeling the house was too high and we would have out built the neighborhood so no extra garage space. We will have to move soon to accommodate some family needs and plan on building. I want to incorporate a large garage/shop into the new house but it is at least two years away.

I am also trying to balance my desire to have other exotic cars, probably Ferraris, with my current financial reality. I can’t have two and keep the kids in school and the wife at home. If I want a 360, 575, or Gallardo the 355 has to go or I have to radically change my income. The problem is I really like this 355. I think it is a great example of a great car. If I sell it and get another I am worried I will be disappointed and want this car back. I bet I could sell it to my dad or a friend for a year with the hope of getting it back but then they would be disappointed. No good.

When I started this project I was interested in understanding my reaction to a self imposed loss of something I like. Knowing the car would go after one year has made my ownership experience pressure cooker like where introspection is concerned. If I subvert this process and keep the car how much damage do I do to this process and the interest of the book I plan on writing? My guess is a bunch.

Further, I am still infatuated with the idea of a track car. Either Ferrari or Porsche. I contacted the guys who modified my 911 and asked them to keep their eyes open for a 911 track car but I not so secretly want a 355 Challenge.

Here is the wonderful part of all of this. All are great choices. I might end up with a 355 Challenge. I will get to go test drive cars on tracks and have to trailer it home from where ever I buy it. Or, I might end up with a 360, Gallardo, or other exotic. Probably ok. I might just keep the 355. I might end up with only my 911. I might end up with a 911 track car. Based on past experience I tend to change my mind every few seconds I might end up with something completely different. While, they are all great outcomes I will be sorry if the 355 leaves my garage.

Problem Solved

It took a few minutes but I found the fuse box and happily discovered that my dash light problem was due to the blown fuse. Ferrari had been kind enough to supply spare fuses so problem solved.

In looking for the fuse box I also discovered the CD player. I thought the car had one but as I don’t listen to music in the car I had never looked. For future reference, the fuse box on a Ferrari 355 is in the luggage compartment on the driver’s side right behind the headlight assembly. It is not under that odd little bump in front of the windshield. To get to the fuse box you have to remove a carpeted cover. It is held in place with bolts that don’t look like bolts. They look more like something you would pull on to release not turn. You have to turn them. Once you remove this cover you see a bunch of wires, connectors a weird machined aluminum block with metal tubes coming out of it and a plastic cover. The fuse is under the plastic cover. There are two nuts that hold it in place.

Why am I telling you this? Because the owner’s manual does not. It simply says fuse box in luggage compartment with a diagram of the fuse box. The diagram has to be held upside down to line up with the fuses. I really love the idiosyncrasies of this car.

Back to the honeymoon

Yesterday was a beautiful spring day in Oregon. Cool, clear, and thankfully dry. I drove the Ferrari, three times. I must be back in honeymoon mode because I had an absolutely great time driving it. I even enjoyed the comments from other drives from “that’s sick” to thumbs up. Maybe it should be 1 ½ or two years with a Ferrari.

I did encounter what I hope is a small problem. The light(s) that illuminate the speedometer, tach, and other gauges are out. I hope it is just a fuse because I cannot image how you could get up into that space to change a bulb. I would be willing to guess that the entire dash must be removed. I guess I will find out.

I took the picture in the parking lot of the grocery store, yes, back to driving the car to the grocery store. The BMW looked huge. It is a three series. I am continuing to research the 355’s engine. I have not found any additional good sources. I have stumbled across some folks doing some really crazy things with turbos on Ferrari motors but this is another story.

Ferrari F355 Engine Discussion Part 1

I began my search for information regarding the engineering underlying the F355s engine by typing “Ferrari F355 Engine” into Google. What I found was a short description and an even shorter description of the engine. Different web sites had taken the originals and changed words here and there but essentially there were two totally inadequate descriptions of the cars motor available on line. Even Wikipedia produced nothing interesting. Once I have completed my version I will post it on Wikipedia just for grins.

With more than just a few words changed here is what I learned.

Ferrari developed an aluminum block, with Nikasil-coated wet steel liners, for a short stroke engine with a bore and stroke of 85 x 77mm. Total engine displacement is 3496cc or about 3 ½ of those big soda bottles. Ferrari used five valves per cylinder, two for exhaust and three for intake or according to the owner’s manual “itake”. To keep weight down the engineers made use of titanium connecting rods and light aluminum alloy forged alloy pistons. I am not sure but I think this was the first use of titanium rods in a road car. These advanced when coupled with the engine management systems and four overhead cams allow the motor to rev freely to 8500. Compression is 11.1:1 which is almost exactly the same as our 3.6 litre 911’s 11.3:1.

Ferrari utilized variable rigidity dual valve springs and the valves are actuated by hydraulic tappets, this was a first for engines revving over 8000rpm. I am not sure how you make a variable rigidity valve spring. The engine is controlled by a Bosch Motronic system, M2.7 in earlier cars or M5.2 in my car, with twin hot wire electronic injection-static ignition system. Lubrication is provided by a dry sump engine oil circuit.

When they were done Ferrari had a motor capable of producing 375bhp at 8,250 rpm. The new engine’s maximum torque capability was 268 lb/ft at 6,000rpm, with a specific output of 109bhp per litre. Imagine stuffing 109 horses in one of those soda bottles.

So that's nice but not super illuminating, I will work on learning more. The owner’s manual has some information about checking oil levels and belt tension and some pictures but not as much detail about engineering as included above. Check back later.

Skipped the F1 party

I did not attend the F1 group viewing at Ron Tonkin GT. I have several reasons for not going; first and foremost I would rather spend time with my wife and kids. I also don’t like being involved in group activities, especially group activities where there is little dissent. I doubted there would be a rabid Renault or McLaren contingent present. So, I stayed home.

I think 2008 will be a fantastic F1 season. The removal of traction control will make driving skill even more important and the races more exciting from a spectator’s perspective, probably from the driver’s perspective as well. The movement of Alanso from McLaren to Renault will let McLaren put their full force behind Hamilton and will give Ferrari drivers, Raikkonen and Massa two teams to worry about not just two drivers. Further, BMW was looking good towards the end of last season and it would be nice to see a manufacturer of pedestrian cars succeed in F1, even if they had to buy Sauber to get there.

Consistent with my new phase of ownership I have begun an investigation into the engineering of the 355. I am going to start with the engine. That will be the next post.

Now I Understand

The Ferrari needed exercise. It had sat in the garage, facing out, for seven days. It is (was) immaculately clean, and had about ½ tank of gas. It looked lonely, and pouty if a car can look that way. Our Porsche is stoic. Maybe that is because it is German, maybe cabriolets are ok sitting when the weather is not perfect.

I was planning on spending the day skiing with the girls but we only lasted about 1 ½ hours at the mountain so I was home early with nothing planned. I started the car and pulled it into the driveway to warm up. With it facing out it would have filled the garage with fume. Better to let it sit outside and annoy the neighbors. I have no experience with other Ferraris but the 355 needs to warm up. Seven to 10 minutes seem about right. I can hear the motor change pitch when the car is ready to go. Rush it and you are in for a bit of a rough ride. The motor is fine. It runs like a top but the transmission balks in both first and second. It is hilly around my house so better to let it take its time.

I had nowhere to go. No errands, no schedule, no goal other than take the car out for a drive and enjoy myself. The day was not particularly good, overcast and cool but at least it was not raining. I headed out of Portland into the country west of the city. You can find nice roads outside of town, curvy, good pavement, and not much traffic. The speed limit varies between 30 and 40MPH so it is mostly 2nd and 3rd gear stuff but fun. I often take the 911 on these roads when taking the long way home from work.
While I have been complaining about my experience with the 355 this car is the most fantastic, wonderful, vehicle I have ever driven. It is truly marvelous. I have not had the opportunity to drive many exotic cars but I believe the 355 embodies a nearly perfect balance of looks, handling, exhaust note, comfort, drivability, lack of driver’s aids, and Ferrari whimsy to make it one of the best Ferraris and one of the best exotics ever. For those reasons I think it will hold its value better than most modern Ferraris. This car is absolutely, totally, insanely fantastic.
Anyway I spend 45 minutes driving on nearly empty country roads. I tried to keep the RPMs between 3500 and 6000. I concentrated on driving smoothly and listening to the car. The Ferrari engages the driver in a different way that the 911. The dance you do with the Ferrari is graceful, the Ferrari being a gifted and willing partner. With the 911 you dance more carefully knowing your partner’s rear end has a tendency to get out of hand.

While driving I experimented with the suspension settings. The 355 gives you the choice of comfort and sport. After our wine country trip I had been driving the car in comfort. There is a noticeable difference in the balance and damping between the two settings. Unless the road is really bumpy I prefer the sport setting. The greater damping improves the steering feel and the balance of the car. After experimenting I left it in sport for the reminder of the drive.

I took a brief jaunt on the freeway heading home. At a steady 3500RPM you can hear the air rushing into the intakes located just behind your head. You can hear all 40 valves jumping around. What a wonderful car.

More thoughts about what Ferraris are for

One of the greatest and unanticipated benefits of this project has been the act of writing. I like to think I am a competent business writer. I can usually clearly and concisely explain my company’s services and value proposition. Writing about my experience with the car is more challenging. This writing is personally more risky while I write the majority of my company’s collateral I seldom sign it. By and large it is anonymous, further I hold business writing to a lower standard than writing for purely literary purposes.

Writing has provided me with an excellent tool for self examination and quite reflection. The superficiality of my subject encourages me to explore my feelings, attachments, beliefs, and expectations and to pursue tangents as they appear.

On the topic of reflection, I still cannot satisfactorily explain why I like sports cars. I don’t like all objects in the category of cars. I don’t like most of them. But I do like sports cars. I like them enough to inconvenience myself and my family so I can have one, well two. And even as I have decided that high performance cars serve little purpose for me in the fulfillment of my daily activities I still like them and spend not a small amount of my time devising plans to allow me to acquire several, increasingly less useful examples –ie a track car. I think I will devote some effort to understand why I like sports cars and categorize the things about them underpin my attraction to them.

When I think generally about what sports cars are good for four things come to mind:

Providing an exciting and entertaining driving experience

Attracting attention

Publically demonstrating economic status or a tendency to expend resources on entertainment, attracting attention or demonstrating economic status

To fulfill a personal goal

I believe most sports cars are purchased to fulfill in varying degrees the tenants of my list. Read any sports car forum or even car review an inevitably you will find examples of all three. Is this news worthy, no, any purchase or activity which is not purely practical will have these elements. In many ways buying a Ferrari is no different from buying a designer hand bag.

Ferrari's as a hedge against the weak dollar

I am reaping a benefit of the weak dollar by exporting unneeded parts of the Ferrari. The ashtray bin sold for $41 to Adam in the UK. I have sold pieces of an ashtray for a car for over $100. Sure I paid $270 for the module but have recouped about 37% of that outlay. I think I could make a compelling case that the Ferrari is a not very liquid hedge against the falling dollar. Why? Well, Ferraris are imported into the US so as the dollar gets weaker the price of a new Ferrari will go up. The price of a used Ferrari like the 355 is influenced by the value of the new car and by foreign buyers who are interested in acquiring one so its price should rise. Further, the weaker dollar should push marginal buyers of new Ferraris into the used market making that market more competitive.

Who knows? I am glad I bought the car when I did. Buy one quick before everyone else figures this out.

I was in Wilsonville today and stopped by Gran Prix. I had not been in since they completed their new Lamborghini show room. The look is simultaneously consistent with Lamborghini, angular and bold, while being inconsistent in its sparseness. While there I sat in a great 360 Spider with a 6 speed. I really like the more leg and head room in the 360. The blue Gallardo that I drove is still there. I am surprised. It is a really nice car in great shape. I don’t think that the Gallardo will hold its value as well as a Ferrari and it may be that few people are willing to take the plunge into a 140K dollar car that may rapidly deprecate below six figures. This red Lamborghini Diablo is over the top. The car was so wide. I looked it up the car is 6.7 feet wide but only 14.5 feet long. My Toyota Tundra is 6.6 feet wide but 19 feet long.

I signed up for the first of Gran Prix’s two track days on June 24th. They are limited attendance to 40 or 50 cars so it should make for a good time on the track.

In which I admit to being an old geezer

With more than a dollop of pomp I now declare myself in the critical enthusiast phase of ownership. As a newly minted critical enthusiast I often revert back to the honeymooner, especially if giving a ride to someone who has never ridden in a Ferrari or if driving it on a particularly nice day. So far this phase has seen me seeking to fully exploit the cars capability, learn more about its engineering, renew my interest in F1, and critically examining my use of the car. I think I will bounce between the honeymoon and critical enthusiast phase until I mature to whatever comes next. If I were left to my own devices I would pretty rapidly land in the collector phase where I would happily obsess over acquiring new Ferraris while shining those in my stable with a clean, cotton diaper.

Here is a question I posed the other day. In 100 years will Ferrari exist? If it does exist will it be making luxury performance vehicles or will it be an entirely different company? I think Ferrari has a better chance at existing in 2108 than Chrysler or even GM but I have my doubts about its existence in any recognizable from. Why? Because I think transportation is going to undergo the same revolutionary changes seen in computing and medicine. Think about it. Fundamentally, cars have not changed in almost 100 years. Sure they have seen great improvements in safety, speed, and reliability but fundamentally the design and even usage model remain the same. I think that rising oil prices, migration from the country to the city, and improvements in mass transit will change the way we move about and will make it increasingly difficult for companies like Ferrari to exist. Further, I think the faddish approach to environmentalism of my generation will be replaced by a more sincere approach from our children and resource intensive luxury items will lose much of their appeal.

I may be completely wrong. Advances in new power sources may allow happy and guilt free sub four second 0 to 60 times for another generation but I doubt it.

The Honeymoon is now over

Riding my bike on a trainer in the garage I realized I am over ¼ of my way through my year with the car. I drove both cars yesterday and went to the trouble of backing them into the garage. Not so bad with the Porsche but a bit of a pain with the Ferrari as visibility out the back is not great. Sitting on my bike I have a nice view of both cars. I have developed a routine. I usually read the Economist while I ride between intervals. After the interval I look at the cars for a minute or two while I catch my breath then back to the Economist. This routine gives me a chance to think about my experiences with the car while the Economist acts as background music.

I admit to being sad when I realized that I have about 9 more months with the car. I am committed to selling it but it is going to be hard to say good bye to. Right now I feel as I have failed in some way. That if I had done something different I would get to keep the car. If I had studied harder, applied myself, and did not take the time to get a coffee each morning, I could be a long term Ferrari owner not a tourist. I suppose I could blame my having to give the car up on Barb wanting to stay home with our kids or our decision to send the girls to private school. I drive two 430s to school each day and drop them off. I could blame our lack of garage space. But, really, those things have nothing to do with me not keeping the car. I am giving up the car because it core to my thesis for this book in a couple of ways. First, I am testing the idea that you can buy and drive a Ferrari for a year without spending too much money. If I keep the car I just spent a heap of money. Second, I want to experience Ferrari ownership pressure cooker style. Knowing the car will be gone soon keeps me analyzing my relationship with it and, I think, forces my evolution as a Ferrari owner to stay on the fast track.

As a note, I do not believe there is any one track Ferrari owners follow but I bet there are some similarities. I have been through the honeymoon phase, the phase where you want to drive the car everywhere and have a big grin on your face. Honestly, I miss that phase. When I buy an exotic car to keep I will stay in the honeymoon phase as long as possible. I am not sure what to call the phase I am in now. I will think about it and come up with something.

Mabye a track car

I think I should share this with you. I am thinking about buying a track car.
I like to test ideas for a while. I do this at work and at home. I have an idea, I roll it around in my mind. I try parts of it out on different people, refine it, then either forget it, store it, or act upon it.

I am rolling the idea of getting a track car around. I don’t know if I will like driving on the track but I am preparing for liking it. I think there is a good chance I will like it and having driving on the track driving the Ferrari on the street will become even less fulfilling. Be forewarned, I am going to make up a story about trading the 355 on a track car.

I have done a bit of research on Ferrari track car. Starting in 1993 with the 348 Ferrari created a race series called the Ferrari Challenge. Ferrari build just over 109 355 Challenges and I would like to get one. Here’s the neat thing. They cost less than a regular 355. The same is true of the 360 Challenge. Who knows what will happen with the 430 Challenge but I expect it will follow its predecessors. Interestingly enough 348 Challenges are priced about the same as a 348 road car.

I wish my April 23 track day was sooner.

So they have another use.

Today at lunch John, my business partner, and I were discussing my disappointment with the “driving around town” Ferrari experience. We talked about my frustration at having this marvelous tool but not being able to use it and that in many ways just looking at the car in my garage was more fulfilling than driving it to the grocery store.

John, who ended up being on a roll with insightful comments, said, “That explains why people collect these cars and seldom drive them.” Sorry if I did not get that quite right John but I think the intent is there.

Driving the car in every day circumstances highlights the cars flaws and detracts from the pleasure of owning it. In short it is better to leave the car in the garage, take a look at it now and then than it is to drive it to work or the grocery store.

So Ferraris have another use. Paint and a masterpiece both cover your walls, a Prius and a Ferrari both get you to New Seasons. Ferraris are works of art with a motor, seats, and wheels. BUT, you do not need to drive them to enjoy them. I think this is explains the unusually low mileage of most exotic cars. I am sure there are some folk who are comfortable driving the cars every day and in all situations, folks who appreciate driving the car and do not become frustrated by being unable to deploy its potential. I am not slighting these folks. They are better balanced than I and probably better balanced than most Ferrari owners.

I am not disappointed with the car

Don’t get the idea I am unhappy or disappointed with the car. I love the car. It is fantastic. I think, and you know I have a limited perspective, the 355 is one of the best Ferraris and therefore one of the best sports cars every produced. I admit when I bought it I felt I was compromising, buying the 355 rather than the 360. While I would really appreciate the larger cabin of the 360, I have come to like the overall packaging of the 355 better. The 355 is smaller, simpler, more angular, and more Ferrari in an old school Magnum PI way. I grew up watching Magnum. The 355 is barely longer than my 911 but is significantly wider and lower. The 360 is bigger in all dimensions than the 355. I love the shape of the 360. Pininfarina did an excellent job conjuring cars from Ferraris past while integrating F1 clues and setting a new design direction. 360s are simultaneously beautiful and menacing – like the ice queen from Narnia. In a strange way they ooze down the road and have a very organic quality. But, the car is not immediately recognizable as a Ferrari. The 355 looks like a Ferrari, sounds like a Ferrari, goes like a Ferrari, is a Ferrari. This is possibly the best single Ferrari to own if you can only get one. Sure 355s have some maintenance issues but I have yet to hear of a Ferrari that does not.

I am disappointed with most aspects of the Ferrari ownership experience I have blundered through. Why am I not happy driving the car to the grocery store, to the bakery or to work? I have given it some thought. When engaged in these activities I am in the car, I can hear it, see it, touch it, and interpret the feedback through the wheel. Driving it is exciting but simultaneously disappointing because I am driving it to 3/10s of its capacity. Shifting a car with an 8500 red line at 4000 is not so great but bring it over 4000 on the street and you are moving along pretty well. Shouldn’t I be content with driving the car around, enjoying the sights, sound, and attention which results when using a Ferrari in exactly the same way you would use a Prius?
Perhaps I am not a “good” Ferrari owner. I thought I would appreciate the car for its intrinsic qualities and abilities without having to exploit them to 8/10s or 9/10s. Knowing the potential exists and being unable and unwilling to exploit it is frustrating. Here is a hunch. Many Ferrari owners are totally content driving their cars to the grocery store, enjoying the sound, the experience, and the attention. Every once in a while they will punch it in second or third. Maybe go over 100 a few times. They might even get a wild hair and bring the car to the track – but only a few of them. Mostly, they drive around slowly, safely and enjoy the spectacle. I thought I would do exactly this. I thought it would be enough. Nope.

Let’s investigate my statement that most Ferraris are seldom driven on the track. When you look at advertisements for sale a large percentage say “never tracked or abused.” I appreciate the never abused but why lump it in with never taken to the track? Most, if not all, Ferraris were built to be driven fast. It is what they are made for. Why would a seller think a buyer would be put off by the car being used on the track? They were not built to be driven to the grocery store or battle traffic commuting to work. I believe driving the cars on the track, smoothly, gracefully is not bad for them, it is what they are for.

I wrote most of this post this morning then had a chance to reflect on it during the day. I decided it was up to me to make my Ferrari experience what I wanted it to be. Sure this is analogous to life in general. Originally I set some goals for my Ferrari ownership experience, things I wanted to do with the car. I am going to revisit the activities on the list, refine them a bit and then go do them.

$67 for a used ashtray lid

I did not expect to lose interest with driving the Ferrari on the road this quickly. Lose interest is probably the wrong phrase. I sound like a petulant brat but it is largely truthful. Driving the car to the grocery store or to work does not deliver the Ferrari experience I want. I did not expect to want to do more with the car this quickly. In past posts I have written about the engaging nature of both the Ferrari and the Porsche. I think that as I became more accustom to driving the Ferrari I needed more and more speed and g forces to be engaged. The car is so competent; roads which were a challenge in the 911 at reasonable speeds are a yawn in the Ferrari. In many ways this backs up one of my assertion that the 911 is a perfect sports car. Unfortunately, the performance of the Ferrari has pointed out the flaws in the 911s handling and demeanor and made me unsatisfied with the everyday act of driving the car on the road. I hope a few track days will be the cure. I don’t want to be unsatisfied with the everyday act of driving the car.

The ashtray lid sold. $67 and change to a Jean Michel in France. $67 for a used ashtray lid! I boxed it up. I had a nice box that said “Ferrari Original Parts” so I put the lid in it. I took the box to the Post Office, filled out the customs, sheet and went to pay.

“An ashtray?” asked the postman.

“Yes.”

“A $60 ashtray?”

“Yes, and what’s worse it is from a car and just the lid.”

“No kidding. And a guy in France wants it?”

“Yep.”

“What kind of car?”

“A Ferrari.”

“Don’t they have other Ferraris in France; did you sell it on line?”

“Yes.”

Then the postman gave me a high five.

“Way to go. $60 for an ashtray. Go figure.”

The decal for the AC control unit and the trim piece for the mirror will cost about $108. I would like to offset this cost. I noticed that the ashtray bins were being offered on ebay for $175. That is totally insane. It is about seven cents worth of plastic. I have an extra that is new. No one has ever even said the word smoke around it. I am going to see what I can get for it.

What is a sports car really for?

I drove our Ferrari to the grocery store yesterday. I was making curry for dinner and needed some ingredients. I had to go to a store where I usually just by wine not food because, on Sunday afternoon, it is impossible to park at my usually grocery store. When I am driving the truck this is an inconvenience but I park it there anyway. With the Ferrari I wussed out and drove to a different store. I don’t like to shop for groceries in unfamiliar stores.

I thought about this on the way home. The utility of driving the car did not exceed the self imposed effort of driving it, effort arising from shopping in an unfamiliar store. There is more. When driving the car I cannot extract what I want from it, an entertaining driving experience that results from using the car in a way it was meant to be used, driving back and forth to the grocery store. I have to fight the urge to wind the car up through each gear, focus on carrying as much speed through turns and hitting a perfect apex. I want to increase the lateral g forces until I can feel rubber shearing off the tires. I want to push the car to my limits in it. I want to drive it fast. It is very frustrating to drive slowly. The rock star everyone looks and takes pictures part is no longer entertaining. The reality is I have a wonderfully designed tool. A tool whose place in society and whose brand is built upon, in no small part, its history of winning races – in short a tool made to go fast. What do I do with it? Drive to the grocery store to pick up ingredients for chicken curry.

I did not have a chance to drive on the track this weekend. I had promised to take my daughters skiing if the weather was good. Saturday was rotten. Sunday was fantastic and we had a great time skiing. I tried to find a helmet and nomex gloves on Saturday and could not find any so I would have had to find, beg, borrow some at the track had I been able to go.
So, I still don’t know what it is like to drive the car fast. This has not stopped me from thinking about what I really want the car for. To drive fast in a safe, controlled environment. I have absolutely no experience driving on the track or driving a race car but what I think I want is a race car. Probably calling it a track car would be more accurate. I want a car which makes no compromises, no radio, no leather seat, no AC. I want a car and a place where I can push myself and the car without fear of running over bikers, dogs, or grandmas.

I hate to say it but I am not interested in driving the Ferrari to the grocery store again. I will probably do it but more often than not I am just going to drive my truck.

I mentioned earlier that I had been scheming on ways to keep the car past my one year. I won’t keep it. Keeping the car would be copping out. And they lived happily ever after would make a pretty weak ending to my book. Also, I would have to make some sacrifices that I am unwilling to make. Hun, we have to take the kids out of private school and you have to go back to work so I can keep a car I seldom drive. No I have to sell it.

By the way. The used ashtray lid from the car is selling on ebay right now. Last bid $61.

Out Ferraried Ferrari

I admit that I have not appreciated Corvettes since I was 13. My mental image of what a Corvette is and who buys them is not flattering. But… I think Chevy has out Ferraried Ferrari. Consider the 08 Vette. 0 to 60 in just over 4 seconds, 430 horsepower, .95G on a skid pad, what I think are great looks (I mistook a yellow one for a Ferrari yesterday and Barb thought the Vette was the Ferrari in the picture above) and a starting price of about $46,000. That’s a couple of services on a Ferrari. That’s about half of the premium being charged over MSRP on a new Ferrari.

Consider the F430. 0 to 60 in 4 seconds, 490 horsepower, .92 on the skidpad, fantastic looks, and a MSRP of about $180,000.

I have not driven a Corvette in many years so I cannot comment on its handling, feedback, chassis, etc. To that end I have not driven a 430 so I would have to guess there as well. I know that when you are buying a Ferrari you are buying much more than 0 to 60 times and horsepower numbers. But I admit that the new Vette viewed entirely from still pedestrian status is changing my opinion of Corvettes.