Ferrari Mailing List: Re: Ferrari Digest, Vol 29, Issue 14

[LtWacko (ltwacko]

I have been saving my pennies.  I wasn't kidding about the diamond necklace.  
If I buy ANYTHING over a thousand dollars or something that makes noise and 
can't hide, it usually means a piece of jewelry for the misses.  Damn air 
compressor cost me a watch and the bodykit on my car cost me some serious ear 
rocks dug up in Canada ( I tell her that she spent WAY more than me but she 
said my car didn't need the kit and I was being punished for being so impulsive 
and "wasting" money).  Buying an F-car IS going to cost me some new neckwear.  
Thanks for all the info.  It looks like if I can survive this Christmas holiday 
shopping, I might be getting an F-car sooner than later.

Rodney
Recycling aluminum cans by following Bubba around



In a message dated 12/04/08 05:16:33 Central Standard Time, ferrari-request 
[at] ferrarilist.com writes:
Date: Thu, 4 Dec 2008 00:27:13 EST 
From: JAshburne [at] aol.com 
Subject: Re: [Ferrari] 400i manual 
To: LtWacko [at] aol.com 
Cc: ferrari [at] ferrarilist.com 
Message-ID: <c43.3ee45bf7.3668c431 [at] aol.com> 
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" 


Hi Rodney: 

I've owned a 1983 400i 5 speed for the last 10 years and it is a hugely   
underappreciated Ferrari mainly because of its 2+2 seating.  Compared to  the 2 
seaters, they are considered big and heavy but that has to be put into   
perspective.  They are about the same size as a Camaro and they are  positively 
dwarfed in size when parked next to a modern Toyota Camry. 

None of the series was ever officially imported into the U.S., so every one   
that is here legally had to be brought in as a gray market car and federalized 
for EPA and DOT exemptions. 

Out of 1,308 total 400i production from 1979-Feb 1985, 884 were automatics   
and 424 were 5 speeds.  The earlier 400 carbed series had 355 autos and 145  5 
speeds for a total of 501 cars.  The 412 series had 306 autos and 270 5   
speeds for a total run of 576.   

So total 5 speed production for all three models spanning nearly 15 years   
was 839 cars.  Dave Stacey on FChat tracks these even more than I do and he   
says that he thinks there are fewer than 40 400i 5 speeds currently in the  
U.S. 

The automatic is a GM TH-400 3 speed box which is considered to be a strong   
box and reasonably well suited to the wide torque range of the V-12 engine in   
the 400/400i/412.  I drove one when I was looking at cars and decided that  I 
liked the 5 speed better. 

I also drove Ben Kao's 1983 400i 5 speed since he was selling it in  1998 
when I was looking.  It was a very nice car painted a nice dark  Rosso Nearco 
(s/n 48741) with a black interior and a brand new Tubi exhaust  but I passed on 
it because his asking price was pretty high ($46K) at the  time.  Ben ended up 
selling the car a couple of years later for less than  half of his original 
asking price to Monty Meersma, who used to be on the  FList.  Monty replaced 
the 
self-leveling rear suspension with a coil over  shock system and then sold it 
to Tom Gehring in Minnesota, another old  FLister.  I believe Brian Buxton 
assisted Monty in the sale to Tom.  I  saw Tom and his 400i when he drove it 
down for the U.S. Grand Prix at Indy in  2002.  I don't know if he still has 
it. 

They are great cars and if you have the means, I highly recommend picking   
one up. 

John