Ferrari Mailing List: Re: Holy SH*T I'm a Ferrari owner!!!! (LONG)

[jim (jimshadow]

Thanks Dennis!   
I can tell you exactly where I was when I first read about the GT4.   I was
sitting in a laundry-mat in S.W. Michigan and there was a Car&Driver left
behind. The GT4 was on the cover I believe.  It was late 1979 and I was 10!
I dreamt about that car for a long time. 
I used to watch Magnum P.I. just to drool over the 308.   
I'm excited!

JIM

-----Original Message-----
From: Dennis Liu [mailto:bigheaddennis [at] gmail.com] 
Sent: Monday, April 02, 2007 9:36 PM
To: 'jim'
Cc: 'The FerrariList'
Subject: RE: [Ferrari] Holy SH*T I'm a Ferrari owner!!!! (LONG)

For those of us who may be a little blasé about Ferraris these days... This
is a wonderful story that helps rekindle the magic.  Truly, congratulations
Jim!

Vty,

--Dennis

________________________________

From: jim [mailto:jimshadow [at] verizon.net] 
Sent: Monday, April 02, 2007 9:13 PM
To: Dennis Liu
Cc: The FerrariList
Subject: [Ferrari] Holy SH*T I'm a Ferrari owner!!!! (LONG)



Well, there?s a lot to say.   There are way too many people on this list
that I have to thank starting with Rick Lindsay who absolutely INSISTED that
I join this list back in 1999.  He told me that if I were owning and
maintaining a ?95 M3 (at the time) then there was no reason that I should
not be a Ferrari owner!  ?Life is too short? I recall him saying.   

Anyway, I started looking for a car a few months ago and a couple people on
this List jumped right up and offered their help, you know who you are and I
thank you!

Ok, what did I do? On Thursday I flew from ORD to LAX to see a 1974 Ferrari
Dino 308GT4 that I have been talking to the seller with for about for 2
months now.   I stayed with a friend in Pasadena Thursday night.  Friday
morning I drove to Pomona to pick up the seller and we drove to Redondo
Beach to Tillack & Co. where the car was undergoing a PPI.  I knew things
would be fun when the first thing we saw was the most pristine 250
California Spyder sitting in the parking lot. (Pictures to come) 

Craig at Tillack is one heck of a guy.  Not only did he take a ton of time
to answer my questions on the PPI, but he went over every little detail of
the PPI so there was no question as to what I was getting.  Long story
short, the PPI checked out as well as the compression/leakdown test.  After
the Q&A session, Craig then treated us to a personal tour of most of the
facilities at Tillack.  What a treat!!! (pics to come) 

Unfortunately, I was the passenger on the way home from Redondo. (~70miles
or so) The sellers insurance would not cover me on the highway.  I knew this
car was special by the way it handled up the 110 Fwy to Pasadena.  WOW, what
a ride. If you?ve never been on the 110, it?s a blast!   Basically its one
long s-s-s-s-s-s curve.   The sound of the exhaust was intoxicating and the
car handled great!  (NO cats, no thermal reactor, just headers and out the
exhaust.  WOW~!)   Once in Pasadena we went to a huge parking lot and I
drove for a while to get a feel.  This was the right car for me!  

Why this car?  Well, several reasons, but the main reason is that my 7 and 5
year old Daughters are completely car crazy!!!!   They really want Daddy to
have a car that they can share in as well.   Unfortunately for me, a 456 is
out of reach and I have mixed emotions on the Mondial Coupe.  I?ve driven
GT4?s in the past and they are a ton of fun and the girls can go for rides.
Not only that, I can work on the car myself which is important to me as it
will keep me going over the winter months and satisfy my DIY needs J

For those interested, here is a link to the sellers AD that was placed a
while back with some pics?.

http://adcache.collectorcartraderonline.com/10/8/9/87850089.htm

The car will be loaded on a transporter in approximately 1 hour from the
time of this post and will show up here in a week or so. 

I?m just about coming out of my skin I?m so freakin? excited!!!     Just
thought I?d let you guys know.

 

JIM