Ferrari Mailing List: Re: 612

[Peter Pless (ferrarilist]

Go for it?you?ll love it. I only know one person who owned one, and he loved
it while he had it and described it as a ?very special car?. He finally
traded on a 599, but not because he didn?t like the 612

From: Adam Green [mailto:FlatCrank [at] gmail.com] 
Sent: Saturday, 5 October 2013 11:52 AM
To: Peter Pless
Cc: The FerrariList
Subject: Re: [Ferrari] 612


Well, well, well!  This is a rather more two-sided debate than I expected.
 Impressive.  I thought it would amount to "excellent decision, now how much
to spend, what year and be sure to get the HGTC option and find a manual
gearbox if you're a real man!" : )

As for Porsches and alternatives, I have an assortment of two-seat and
four-seat Porsches.  The current 991S is as boring as it gets.  Perfectly
functional as a family pickup, but just a soulless thing, I'm deeply sorry
to say.  I call it the "YOL" car ... Yawn Out Loud.

In sharp contrast, my other Porsches are decidedly LOL laugh out loud cars.
 But that's all fine and dandy, this is not an F-car vs P-car.  And I have
had a Cayenne Turbo S -- definitely past tense and I don't care to have
another.  M5 performance (and more) and very good in the snow, but just a
beast and rather uncivilized over the longer distances.  I'm currently
replacing a trusty Mercedes GL Bluetec with a 2014 GL550 -- this is a superb
(if rather less than thrilling to the eye) SUV.  360 degree cameras, low
range gearbox, 12 inches of ground clearance for off-road, excellent snow
driving, sturdy and safe.  Not bad to drive, either, but the Bluetec
(turbodiesel) is rather lag-laden and not available with the low-range
off-road transfer case, so I decided to give up the joy of 30 mpg, suffer
with 20mpg (or worse) and have better off-road capabilities ... and I was
really "over" with the lag of the diesel.  Porsche's Cayenne S diesel (V8)
would have been great, but it's not in the USA market.  Idiotic.  I tried
the Cayenne diesel, but it doesn't acquit itself compared to the GL550.  No
contest.

As for 2+2 Ferraris, I don't think a 400i is realistic as a family car for
my purposes.  I want a modern car, secondary safety, etc.  No, I can't even
think about writing a check for an FF.  If I spend those dollars on a
Ferrari, I have to love it with a passion and it has to be rather more
purposeful as a car to be driven in extremis at the track.  F12, not so
much.  599, maybe.  458, not for me.  458 Speciale, yes, but at what price
and the "extreme" appearance isn't for me.  That means a 430 Scuderia hands
down, but down is the operative word as prices continue down.  And then
there's finding one.  Well, every time I see a good example, the prices are
continuing lower, so I'm still a bit hesitant to get into the elevator going
down.

Back to the 612.  Sorry.

Who's owned one?  What's the reality of maintaining what's under that long
bonnet?  Am I setting myself up to buy the deferred maintenance bills of
someone who didn't throw money at the transmission or maybe there are other
"didn't you know" issues that I do want to first know?  

Thanks to all.  I'm look at a Nero Daytona example over the weekend.  Should
be something like this:




To my eye, that's the most understated and "this car is not for you, it's
for me, I'm not here to impress you" of any 530hp V12 Ferrari I can imagine.
 That suits me.

The example I found is at the local dealer, Ferrari Silicon Valley and has a
"beige" interior (not my cup of tea) but still, the proof of the pudding is
in the tasting and I'm keen to drive the 612 and get to know it.

PPG506

http://www.ferrari-collection.net/color/ferrari_colors.htm


Adam