Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Automotif XII...

Redhead. Click to embiggen.
Not many cars will have me pulling over on the streets of SoBro and fishing for the cell cam like a tourist, but a Ferrari Testarossa is one of them. The atomic doorstop with the giant door-mounted cheese slicers was pretty much the ne plus ultra supercar of my teenage years.
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34 comments:

Tango Juliet said...

Quite the piece of machinery.

8:27 AM, July 24, 2013
Tango Juliet said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=q3f3uv6MzRg

8:33 AM, July 24, 2013
Robert said...

And, from what I've heard, a lot of them are available very cheap. It's the maintenance that's the killer.

wv: Nicappr 288 - An Itailian gun of an unusual caliber used only by the Don and his underlings.

8:34 AM, July 24, 2013
Paul said...

Yep, the owners son has one and he doesn't mind driving as he has replaced a lot of the parts on the car. Beautiful machine.

8:45 AM, July 24, 2013
Anonymous said...

"a lot of them are available very cheap."

50G bids but no sale on 23 year old examples on the flea. Cheap for a Ferrari I guess, but you could probably buy some of the houses on that street for that.

And "doorstop" is apt...average mileage on the listed 1990 models is less than 1K per year.

Not for the "practical" girl with her old Subie and a little topless doorstop of her own I guess, but still way cool.

8:48 AM, July 24, 2013
Tam said...

"...but you could probably buy some of the houses on that street for that."

Hahahahahahahahaha!

*wipes tear*

That's pretty funny. :)

9:01 AM, July 24, 2013
Joel said...

Nothing says "what were they thinking" quite like a Testarossa. Like a Chevy Vega or Ford Grenada (But of course not like that at all), every time you see one might be the last.

9:03 AM, July 24, 2013
Tam said...

(50G would have been a 12.5% downpayment on the house just out of frame to the right when it was for sale a few years back at the bottom of the market...)

9:08 AM, July 24, 2013
Anonymous said...

So, a Miami Vice thing, huh?

I'll not shave for a few days and I'll wear a white linen suit, but no way I am carrying a Bren Ten, no way.

Shootin' Buddy

9:12 AM, July 24, 2013
Jay G said...

It's the 308 (Magnum's Ferarri) that's available on the cheap(ish) - late '70s vintage 308s can run a little over $20K.

Again, it's the maintenance that's going to get you. Much better to find a 10 year old Corvette (which will kick the snot out of a 308) for the same money, IMHO.

9:23 AM, July 24, 2013
Ken said...

Saw a Maserati at the local upscale lifestyle mall over the weekend, but didn't pause long enough to figure out which model or get a picture.

9:24 AM, July 24, 2013
Tam said...

...and late-'70s 308s are cool until a V6 Altima kicks sand in your face. ;)

(I remember playing a little yee-haw! with a 308 in my '87 924S through Malfunction Junction in ATL back in the day. The fact that my 4-banger Porsche could keep up with the smog-era Prancing Pony was simultaneously exhilarating and depressing...)

9:28 AM, July 24, 2013
Bubblehead Les. said...

Red Ferraris in your neighborhood? Do you have dogs named Zeus and Apollo living nearby, perhaps?

10:07 AM, July 24, 2013
og said...

Pretty car. Yeah, it was a shame about the 308's, you can kick their ass in a modern honda. Good news is you can buy a $40k car from subaru or mitsubishi that will outrun most of the pre-90's "supercars". Still, they dont look like Ferrari

10:25 AM, July 24, 2013
Paul said...

You mean someone actually paid 400k for a medium sized house on a yard barely bigger than the house?

Wow. That is like California some time back.

50k would be more like 50% down around here.

10:30 AM, July 24, 2013
Scott J said...

I wanted a Testarossa for years. Ideally white like on Miami Vice but any color would do.

Then I read somewhere the maintenance interval on the timing belts is 15k miles and the entire flat 12 must be removed from the car to do it.

Also, Shootin' Buddy, I think Crockett had switched to the S&W 4506 by the time he started driving the Testarossa rather than the faux Daytona because Bren had gone belly up.

10:36 AM, July 24, 2013
og said...

Its the ripple; traditional nesting place of trustafarians. In Muncie, those homes are worth 35k

10:36 AM, July 24, 2013
mustanger said...

Well, when I was a kid watching Magnum, they did put across a cool factor with the 308 Ferrari. I think it was mostly image... as was mentioned, there're faster cars that don't have the look. But truck-driving sensibility always wins.

10:42 AM, July 24, 2013
Tam said...

Paul,

That brick column marks the start of Forest Hills, an area of bigger, older homes on the National Register of You Can't Remodel. To the left of the picture, south in SoBro, houses are smaller and cheaper, if just as old. You're definitely paying for the neighborhood, though.

10:51 AM, July 24, 2013
The Raving Prophet said...

Yeah, you can get a bunch of the 80s Ferraris for very reasonable money. Under $50K in many cases (308, 328, Mondial) and under $80K for particularly desirable ones (Testarossa).

I drooled over the thought of finally having a prancing horse of my very own one day, especially one I drooled over as a kid (even the 348 was a work of art).

Then I saw what maintenance costs on one of those. As Scott J said, on the transverse engines most any repair is murderously expensive and on the rest there still isn't much that isn't the price of a good used car.

No, not going to happen. But a nice condition 90s C4 Vette would be much easier to live with and pretty much every bit as fast.

11:29 AM, July 24, 2013
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11:29 AM, July 24, 2013
Tam said...

Don't push it, Pwny.

11:33 AM, July 24, 2013
Scott J said...

These days the dream car for is a 911 Carrera S4. The sure footedness of all wheel drive without the headaches of a turbo.

Of course I'd be happy if I could just carve out the time and money to repair my 1987 Alfa Spider.

11:54 AM, July 24, 2013
Lergnom said...

Regarding Porsches, many years ago a buddy of mine was taking his wife to dinner in their mint '65 T-bird wnen sumdood in a 911 began taunting them in winding traffic, trading on the superior maneuverability of the 911. It all fell apart for sumdood when they got to where the road was straight.
Cubic inches still count, sometimes.

stay safe

12:00 PM, July 24, 2013
Angus McThag said...

I'd be OK with the black Vettetona.

Pininfarina styling with dirt cheap chevy small block maintenance. Go insane and get an LS engine and it will have more HP to weight than anything from that era.

Coupled with 3rd gen Vette suspension and you WILL have hair whitening capability.

12:47 PM, July 24, 2013
Anonymous said...

$80.000?

For that kind of money, you can get a Pioneer 300.

Max speed of 280 kph on a mere 90 kW engine. Better mileage.

No need for roads either. Just stay under 1000 feet and you can get from point A to point B very quickly indeed..

1:24 PM, July 24, 2013
Woodman said...

I like the response I get from the 3L V6 in my... minivan.

My 2001 T&C can hit 115 before it get's a little floaty and forces me to back it down. Compared to the cars I had when I was younger, except for the actual sports cars, this thing leaps off the line and accelerates right through the gears.

But, you know, minivan. I got to touch the new rear wheel drive subie baby supercar and that thing is pretty awesome.

1:30 PM, July 24, 2013
mongo78 said...

Slightly off topic - I wouldn't trade the San Diego climate for anything, but now and then I do miss the lush Midwestern summers.

1:42 PM, July 24, 2013
Matt G said...

Scott J said:
"I think Crockett had switched to the S&W 4506 by the time he started driving the Testarossa rather than the faux Daytona because Bren had gone belly up."

He was carrying the 645. They only went to the 4506 very late in the series.

$400k for those houses is probably about right. Hell, their property value went up because they've got Testerosas driving in their neighborhood. ;)

Half the teenaged boys that I knew in the '80s had pictures of Testerosas hanging on their walls, along with pictures of SR71s and their favorite fighter planes.

5:34 PM, July 24, 2013
PA State Cop said...

And Farrah Fawcett. ;)

7:01 AM, July 25, 2013
Jay G said...

Holy crap. A little over $10K for a 1980 308...

Yeah, yeah, I know. Reserve not met, yadda yadda yadda. But damn. Damn damn damn...

8:02 AM, July 25, 2013
Anonymous said...

A family friend had a '88 Testarossa for a few years. He bought it new and sold it about 4 years later with less then 5,000 miles on it. He described it as "the world's most expensive cat bed" because it spent more time in the garage with a feline sprawled across the roof snoozing then it spent on the road.

Corey

10:47 AM, July 25, 2013
Will said...

Angus:

Motorcyclist Magazine, April '02.

Kevin Schwantz on a GSX-R1000, and in a 'Vette Z06 at Willow Springs Raceway. Street legal tires on both.

Turn 2, constant radius 1200 ft section: bike was running 97 mph, car was 85 mph.

Bike: 103.8 mph lap, time 1:26.6
Car: 95.5 mph lap, time 1:34.2

In a race, the bike would lap the car every 12 laps.

1:29 PM, July 25, 2013
Angus McThag said...

That's a C5, those are pretty composed cars too.

Hair whitening is from "OH GOD I'M GOING TO DIE!! WHY WON'T THIS DAMN THING GO WHERE I POINT IT!?!?!?!"

The C3 is not known for it's cat-like grace or handling. But they are PRETTY!

1:44 PM, July 25, 2013

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