Ferrari Mailing List: Ferraris and Barrett-Jackson

[Azam, Naweed S (Naweed.Azam]

Hi, some thoughts on this.



One of the Speed TV hosts commented that the B-J auction is primarily for the 
muscle car crowd into pure Detroit metal.  Despite that, there were about a 
dozen or so Porsches that went across the block along with some interesting 
Italian cars:



1991 Lamborghini Diablo for $112,500.00 (a bit on the low side IMHO)

1988 Ferrari 328 GTS with 19,529 miles for $70,000 (a bit on the high side IMHO)

2003 Ferrari 456 GTM with 2,400 miles for - I'll get to that in a minute...



The 456 GT is wholesale (or should I say Clyde's value) worth around $70K?  
Incredibly, the opening auction bid was $75K.  It finally sold for an 
astonishing $137,500.00!  I don't believe the buyer was an expert in Ferrari - 
I think he just wanted to outbid everyone else.  I have seen 550 and 575M 
Maranello's going for that kind of money at dealers and private sellers so why 
would you pay 550/575 money for a 456 GT if you know what the hell you are 
doing?



While we are talking about the 456GT, I think there have been some folks on 
this list who have advised to stay away from that car no matter what.  Isn't it 
the same engine and chassis as the 550?  Take a look at this interesting page 
on the long term cost of ownership of a 550:



http://www.sportscarmarket.com/articles/archives/939



What amazes me is the frequency and types of problems the 550 went through.  
The author makes a comment that the cost of ownership was approaching that of 
an M1 tank!  As an F355 owner I have to disagree with some of the comments like 
"the F355 has more service bulletins than the space shuttle" or "the F355 is a 
heap".  My one year cost of ownership having done only about 5,000 miles was a 
bank breaking $97.00 to replace a worn coolant hose clamp in the front of the 
car.  I can't say I consider the F355 or 456 any worse than a 550, and I don't 
know if the 550 is a better car, despite several folks having an opinion that 
is far superior.



If anyone has any comments (or some real data) that support why the 550 is a 
better Ferrari than the F355 or 456, I would like to hear your opinions please. 
 I am considering a 2+2 Ferrari and have narrowed it down to either a 456 or 
365 GT 2+2, with "newness" being the reason for the 456, and styling the reason 
for the 365 GT.



And finally, a 1989 Ferrari 328 GTB (haven't seen a 328 GTB come up for sale in 
a long time) will be auctioned off next month in Hawaii if anyone is 
interested.  Can you think of a better way to have a winter holiday than in 
Hawaii driving a newly purchased 328 GTB?  I bet a GTB in Hawaii will bring in 
far less than a comparable year/mileage GTS in Hawaii at auction even though 
the GTBs are considerably rarer.  Again, I don't think the owner is a Ferrari 
expert - they have the car advertised as a "1989 Ferrari 328 GTB Spyder".  The 
pictures show it is definitely a Berlinetta.  Who knows, maybe it's another one 
off by Pininfarina for the North American market!



Peace to everyone,

Naweed.