Absolutely! I have wanted a Ferrari all my life (I'm 27), specifically a Testarossa. I'm not really even a car guy, my first passion is, and always will be, motorcycles. In the end though, I've always loved cars, trucks, bikes, especially of the racing set. Even at a young age, I recognized and respected the way in which Ferrari's were designed and built.
It hasn't been until the last year that I could actually even consider owning a Ferrari. I didn't grow up with money or anything like that, and as a professional bike tech, I didn't earn but $35K a year. Last year I licensed a suspension system that I designed to the Yamaha Motor Corp. This has allowed me to purchase 1994 512TR. You're all going to flip when I tell you how much I paid for it.
When I decided to buy a sports car a few months ago, I knew I wanted a Ferrari, but I was only alloting 60-70K for this purchase. The Ferraris in this price range, like 328's, and 80's Testarossas are all wonderful cars, but I already have a gaqrage full of projects and what not. I wasn't really interested in an older sports car, even though I admire them very much. So, I kind of scrapped the notion of owning a Ferrari at this time. I tested some other, newer, cars like the Lotus Exige, a Z06 'Vette, and a couple of Vipers. I knew those were only emotional replacements for my desire to have a Ferrari. So, I decided to not buy a new car and put some money into my Cadillac CTS-V.
Now, I just want to say, I'm not spiritual, and vintage motocross is as close as I get to religion, but what happened to me about 4 months ago was destiny.
I was parking my RV(5th wheel) on the side of the garage when this lady comes over to me and asks if she could pay me to help her move a 5th wheel. Her brother had passed away and she was clearing out his property, a couple houses down from mine. In the garage next to the RV were three cars all under covers. I asked if I could look at them. There was an older Triumph, a genuine Lancia Stratos, and the beautiful 512TR. I was amazed, I'd lived next to this guy for about a year and had never seen him drive the cars.
I asked her what she was doing with them, she said she didn't really know anything about them and that she would probably be keeping the cars. I told her as much as I knew about them. At this point, I didn't know what a 1994 512TR was worth, I didn't even know what year it actually was. All the later Testarossas I had looked into were going for about 80K. So I told her it was worth about 80K. I then explained to her my desires for such a car and I offered here 55K (the most I could possibly afford). I didn't get a true answer to my offer though. The next day she came to my house and offered me the car for $50k
if I would offer the use of my truck and myself to help her clear the property out and clean up the yard and stuff. I couldn't say yes fast enough.
That night I found out more about the car and then researched it on the internet and discovered that a 1994 512TR with only 6230 miles on it goes for about 120K. Overwhelmed with guilt, I had to tell her the true value of the car. In the one of the most surreal moments of my life, she said, "the deals done". I was shocked.
Anyway, I purchased the car. I still feel a little guilty to this day, but....
To wrap this up(sorry for the life story guys) I just want to say, of all the cars and bikes I've owned, including my "works" H-D MX 250, and my pristine 1988 Honda RC30, I've never loved a pile of metal like I love my Ferrari. It is a mechanical inspiration to me every time I drive it or even just stare at it--which I do regularly.
Godspeed Enzo