Ferrari Mailing List: Re: Decisions, decisions

[Charles G Perry IV (charles]

Having ridden (raced/competed/tore/slammed/sprinted/dashed/rocketed) around 
Boston with Dennis in his 740, I can personally testify to just how hard a 
740 can brake, accelerate and turn. I didn't actually SEE much of anything 
on the drive, partly because the scenery was too blurry at that speed but 
mostly because it's instinctual to close your eyes when you are expecting to 
die.

I was probably over-reacting because Dennis told me that he wouldn't kill me 
without giving me some advance notice, and we did indeed reach our 
destination without damaging either ourselves or any other Bostonians. 
However, I am quite sure that we scared the living **** out of a few of them 
which did not expect a sedan that big to behave as Dennis willed it, which 
clearly increased the fun-factor for Dennis. His driving skill and/or luck 
were undeniable forthwith.

-- charles


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Dennis Liu" <BigHeadDennis [at] earthlink.net>
To: "Charles G Perry IV" <charles [at] carolina-sound.com>
Cc: "'The FerrariList'" <ferrari [at] ferrarilist.com>
Sent: Thursday, August 24, 2006 10:12 PM
Subject: Re: [Ferrari] Decisions, decisions


> Rick, clearly, you're not standing on the 740's brake pedal hard enough!
> :-)
>
> Can't disagree with the rest of your analysis!
>
> vty,
>
> --Dennis
>
>  _____
>
> From: Rick Lindsay [mailto:rolindsay [at] yahoo.com]
> Sent: Thursday, August 24, 2006 2:58 PM
> To: BigHeadDennis [at] earthlink.net
> Cc: 'The FerrariList'
> Subject: Re: [Ferrari] Decisions, decisions
>
>
> Hello Dennis, et al.,
>   I'll share some thoughts here too.
>
> + My daily driver is a '98 M-B SL500.  it is an incredible car, if heavy.
> Still, it is a 2-seater.  I am on an SL e-mail list and I can share some
> thoughts from them.  The general opinion is that Mercedes took a big
> reliability hit when they 'merged' with Chrysler.  Some of that may be 
> sour
> grapes because a new SL is noticeably over US$100k and its easy to say my
> US$50k SL is better.  BUT, the data confirms the claims.  The newer cars 
> are
> less reliable.  Would I buy a new(ish) Mercedes?  Probably not.
>
> + I also own a '96 BMW 740iL and I agree with everything Dennis says. 
> That
> is a world-class car.  It handles a lot like a 325iS and that is a double
> edged sword.  I tend to be a later braker and the mass of the 740iL
> sometimes leaves me wondering if I am really going to stop by the line.
> FWIW, the SL500 is heavy too but as I drive it daily, I know the braking
> better.
>
> + We just bought an '03 Land Rover Discovery II.  Make no mistake, it is a
> TRUCK.  Yes, it has nice leather and is fitted-out nicely but it is a 
> TRUCK.
> For Nancy, that is good because she drives any vehicle like a truck.  We 
> are
> pleased with our purchase.  We would suffer a little from the 
> 13mpg-highway
> / 13mpg-city if we drove it further.
>
> + Where we live now, a punk kid without a job drives a tuner Honda, 
> usually
> in >30% primer with three 19" chromed alloy wheels and one 13" steel 
> wheel.
> A punk kid WITH a job drives a newish Dodge or Chrysler.  Around here, 
> those
> cars are the badges of punk-made-good.
>
> + If I were going to buy a new short-haul utility vehicle, I would buy a
> Scion xB.  They're butt-ugly, get pretty good mileage and its hard to 
> spend
> over US$16k for a NEW one.
>
> + For a highway car, I would stick with the 7-Series.  Remember, it is
> almost impossible for a car to nickle and dime you to death.  Put a new 
> car
> payment into maintenance and repairs for a few months and pretty soon, you
> have nothing left to spend money on!  For example, a "B" service on my 
> SL500
> is about US$1200.  My friends tell me that's insane and if I bought a new
> ($35,000) Honda I could avoid all that maintenance expense.  Ridiculous
> argument.
>
> + Now, if you are buying a car NOT for practical reasons but for personal
> and emotional reasons, I agree with an earlier poster: Buy any damn thing
> you please and don't bother justifying it to anybody.  At that stage, you
> are paying into your hobby, not providing utility.  If you get utility in
> the deal, so much the better. :-)  Of course, I don't have to sell
> 'practicality' versus 'desirability' very hard to the Ferrari owner
> community. :-P
>
> Okay, back to work.
>
> rick
> '03 Land Rover - Wife's daily driver
> '98 Mercedes SL500 - my daily driver
> '98 BMW 318ti - daughter's daily driver
> '96 BMW 740iL - son's daily driver
> '79 Ferrari 308GTB - toy
>
>
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