Latest Long-Termer or Ulitmate '80s Icon? Call it Both
Go ahead and get all the Magnum P.I./Christy Brinkley/Vacation jokes out of your system. When you're done, consider the following: Every enthusiast worth his weight in burned rubber has asked the same question while browsing the car ads: "Wow, you can now buy a 1980s era Ferrari for about the cost of the average new car. Obviously it's going to be a different experience, but what do you get when you drop approximately $28,000 for a Ferrari instead of a well-equipped Camry?"
Well, purely in the name of serving you, the loyal reader, we've decided to find out. We just purchased a 1984 Ferrari 308 GTSi Quattrovalvole. It's a one-owner car with 46,000 miles on it, and we paid exactly $28,000. The car is red with a tan interior (just like the Magnum/Vacation models), and it's in surprisingly good shape. There are some scratches on the exterior and the interior shows definite patina, but we've already put on several hundred trouble-free miles. Well, they haven't been totally trouble free. The turn signals stopped working at one point, but yours truly dinked around with the hazard switch (after another editor confirmed the fuse was fine) and got them going again.
How's it drive? Like a 23-year-old exotic. It doesn't want to go into second when cold (but neither does my GT) and the non-power steering can be a bear to manage in parking lot situations. But get it warmed up and rolling above 20 mph and suddenly you're driving a mid-engine, V8 Ferrari with fellow Southern California motorists doing double takes and offering thumbs up (how many other $28,000 cars can muster that reaction in this car-jaded town?).
I just spent yesterday driving my son around with the targa roof removed. Does it get any better than a Father-and-Son Best Buy run in an open-top, red Ferrari? Maybe, but for a cost of less than $30,000 it's tough to imagine how. You can read the official long-term introduction here.
STILL a cool car.
Good for you, Karl!
- Ray
Preferring a 2007 Corvette w/Warrantee, but to each his own....
That is actually a pretty great idea! Many of us have had the same thought. Can't wait to hear about your maintenance experiences, and the initial purchase. Did you consider buying from a Ferrari store instead of a private owner? Going to do any upgrades? I know you probably don't want to mess with a classic, but how about some new Ferrari wheels and performance tires? Was it difficult to find insurance? Can you finance, or do you have to pay cash? Can't wait for the whole story.
Cool! I would have thought a classic Ferrari in very good condition would cost around $50,000.....but I guess $28,000 is great news for enthusiasts. Karl, what are the hp and lb-ft ratings?
I love targas! We used to own a red 1985 Porsche 911 targa. It was a blast to drive.
This is definitely a cool article topic. I look forward to reading it. As for the car, well... my memory of the 308 is tainted by ol' Magnum being reeled in by a 60's Pontiac GTO and him admitting he's got the slower car. For those who say "real Ferraris have 12 cylinders", some 250 GT variants were in the same situation of being near the price of the average new car, but I haven't been keeping track lately.
Blackadder: The Camry outguns the Ferrari in the hp and torque department. It's got 500cc more displacement.
HP is 235, torque is 188, and zero-to-60 is around 6.8 seconds. Yes, the new Camry would dust it...but as the Toyota speeds away all eyes would remain on you.
Wow, Edmunds.com just gets better and better! As a loyal reader from about 1994 (yes, gopher.edmunds.com was launched before the web site in 1995) I can honestly say it is my favorite. Thank you very much!
Woah, someone who knows/remembers the gopher days.
Impressive!
What a great addition to the long term fleet...I love it! it will be fun to hear about the trials and tribulations about a 23 year old car.
There was an episode of Top Gear once where they all bought 1970-1980's exotics to see how they drive......I think all 3 of them died on the road at some point.
Karl, any chance of getting the car dyno'ed? It would be interesting to see how much bhp it's lost over it's lifetime.
A good idea. We'll look into it.
Minus the scratches, how's the paint condition? Oxidation? Swirls, Dryed-outness, fading etc? Would a quality detailing bring 'er back to glory?
Oh man, that is so cool. No ABS, no manumatic, no stability control, no airbags popping out of the ceiling to smack you in the head; the way a car should be. I can't wait to read about this one.
I just read the intro. Sweet long term entry! It'll definitely keep me coming back for updates. And the embedded video helped me find the scene/quote I was thinking about earlier (I didn't think to search youtube)...
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ITEDEMok3mM
I guess I'm the only one who doesn't see the point of all this. I remember when you guys had a POS 456GT that had all sorts of problems a few years back and now this... There are plenty of other popular cars (Aura, Fusion, Mazda3, IS350, etc) that you could add to the fleet but instead we get a 23 year old car???? Wow.....
Kind of fun, actually.
I've always been interested in several kinds of comparison tests involving older cars. It's a little off-topic, but when Karl says the new Camry will leave the Ferraris behind, I get to thinking about these things.
First, how does the more pedestrian model in a lineup compare to its more luxurious counterpart? I.e., a new fully-loaded top-line Camry against an ES350. or a top-line Accord vs an Acura TL. Or Fusion, Milan, MKX for American-car fans.
The second comparison I've been thinking about is how, say, the original Lexus LS400 (many of which are still around) compares to something like the latest Toyota Avalon (or even loaded Camry). 2 cars from the same manufacturer where it is interesting to see how performance, features, and luxury has migrated downward, perhaps.
How does $28000 compare to the list price when the 308 was new?
Great article! I have an '87 328 GTS as my weekend car, and when you set aside the stopwatch (a Porsche Cayman will beat it to 60) it's hard to imagine a better car. I sold a Porsche 993 to get the 328, and have NEVER looked back. Ultimately I think the 308/328 are the raging bargain of the sports car world in 2007.
I know you could get a Lexus such-and-such for the same price, and yeah it won't leak oil, and it has GPS navigation and massaging seat bolsters, but ... whatever.
Apart from the expensive major timing belt service ($4K or so, and Ferrari says every three years), you pretty much put gas and oil in it, turn the key and go. There is no depreciation unless you pile on the miles, so the insane parts costs hurt but are offset. And, in Ferrari terms, the 308/328 parts costs really aren't bad. (Toyota guys shake their heads at us, but after you've priced out a set of Testarossa ignition cables or a 355 F1 clutch the 308/328 look almost reasonable...)
Some of the electricals (power windows are notoriously bad) on the 308 are kind of weak. If any of your readers are interested in the last of the old school Ferraris, I would nudge them up to the 328, which still goes for less than a Cayman S, and gets high marks for reliability -- something a lot of Italian exotics can't claim.
I'll be interested to see how it goes as a daily driver. As you mentioned, the gearbox is balky till it's warm. The seating position is incredibly low (car is all of 44 inches high), but especially in 2007 with all the SUVs running around it can be hard to park and wind around parking lots. The rear boot gets quite warm, so ice cream stays with the passenger. Also, the engine heats the cabin up a bit, and the a/c is typical '70s European -- meaning not up to much. They improved that with the 328 and Testarossa, but my 328 climate control still isn't as good as what you'll get in a Honda Civic. Ferrari didn't have worthy ABS till the '90s, so stopping distances in these cars aren't impressive. Oddly, you need to be careful about lock and fade in your Ferrari.
On the good side, the engines all make that hair-raising Ferrari wail, the view over those fenders is stunning, and the car rolls along in its own cloud of celebrity. The Momo steering wheel is a work of art, unmarred by airbags and perfectly contoured to rest your thumbs at 9 and 3 o'clock. The shift gate makes an elegant, mechanical sound. The targa design preserves a bit of privacy but lets in the air. And -- you really do feel like an F1 driver. When you fuel up, someone comes up to you and wants to talk about your car.
Good luck with yours. I will probably never sell mine. I'll always have a modern car for my daily driver, but after all the paddles and ABS and digital rubbish it's so rewarding to walk across the garage to a real car. And if you're not driving it, you can always take a soft cloth and some Speed Shine out to the garage and just stare at it. By regulation/law, they can't make cars this low anymore. And you'll never see a proper steering wheel hub again on a new car.
But the 308/328 look even better now than they did in the 1980s.
Karl,
You have the coolest job! I just went to eBay and checked out the Ferrari section. There are still deals out there. As for why, I say why not? There are millions of beaten down men in their 40's who are in the minivan/SUV hades and would love to have an exotic. If I could only get my wife to see the need, instead of worrying about college tuition for three kids and all that practical stuff.
Thank you for letting me live vicariously through you guys.