[Maranellohouse]

I'm very tempted to sell the 308 and buy this but was wondering if anyone knows the actual car.

 

[Boxer]

Can't see the picture.

 

[stile - alpine]

400i Spider?

it's not original, is it?

if I were you, I'd keep the 308

 

[archiegibbs]

Enz, make sure you do your homework thoroughly, you'll be going from one of the most reliable and cheapest ferrari's to run to one that could be very expensive to run. I don't have any experience of the 400/412's but have heard plenty of horror stories about maintenance and parts costs over the years. I don't suppose depreciation is an issue now, as the prices must have bottomed out some years ago.
It's still a nice looking car though and a 12 cylinder
If you get it for the right price and don't have to spend too much keeping it on the road, it might be a bargain - personally, I'm too cautious, I'd keep the 308.
Will this make it No53 Italian car?

 

[Maranellohouse]

It's actually on UK Ebay at the moment. There were never any official drop tops made by Ferrari but around 10/15 have been converted. This one appears to have been done proffesionally.

The 2 main issues with the old 400i is the exhaust and the metric wheels.
According to Eurospares you can no longer get the tyres to fit and a lot of people have to upgrade to the later 400/412 wheels but this costs around £3k to do and the hubs have to be changed as well. This car has 16" wheels so ok there.

The exhaust on this car in a stainless one so there shouldn't be any problems there.

I do restoration and my mates an mechanic on exotics so there shouldn't be any real issues there either. Just cost of parts.

I love my 308 but with having 2 kids now I would like to be able to take the family out. If I'm honest I've always fancied the 400 it have certain charm. Realistically I should be looking for a Mondial 3.2 Convertable.

All I need now is for someone to swap me the 308 for one and that would make my mind up for me

 

[archiegibbs]

Enz, try the following link

http://www.racecarnewmedia.co.uk/nickcartwright/details.asp?VehicleID=325

It's not a drop top, but is a 4 seater. Nick's a good man, I bought may car from him and have met many of his happy customers at Ferrari gatherings

 

[Boxer]

A friend who also owns a restoration shop is a fan of the 400/412. Always claimed that they are cheap to buy, can be driven every day, and have a great engine. He has owned a few over the years but always eventually sold them as he ran out of patience trying to keep up with the rust and a rash of minor electrical issues. Net net, what made it attractive to buy (very low price for a 12 cylinder Ferrari) made it very difficult maintain as all the ongoing work to keep it on the road quickly added up to a large percentage of the cars value.

 

[Maranellohouse]

Ta Archie for the pointer, that's a clean looking one, if I was to change though I would go for a drop top.

Boxer, I see your point. It would only be used for days out and for shows.

I don't know, I love the 308 but takes these urges every now and then to move on to something else. Ideally I'd love a 355 GTS but just couldn't afford one. It's not that I'm indisicive, I just can't make my mind up, and of course there's the little problem of cash flow, "or the lack of it"

 

[alsaautomotive]

Hi mate, I know the dealer - if you are still interested in the car PLEASE pm me!
On another note I think Boxer is spot on, it's like any other high spec Italian sportscar that has little residual value today - same with some Masers & Lambos - once they reach a certain low value they get bought by people who really can't afford to maintain them - they then seem to go into a further downward spiral until they become complete projects or broken for spares.
They will undoubtedly go up in value - see the 365 GT2+2, but the attrition rate will be high!
BTW I have had clients that have bought stuff from Nick Cartwright and have nothing but praise for him.
Best wishes, Al.

 

[Boxer]

Boxer, I see your point. It would only be used for days out and for shows.

I am not positve but I beleive this cut 400 has been on the market several times in the last several years.

 

[archiegibbs]

BTW I have had clients that have bought stuff from Nick Cartwright and have nothing but praise for him.
Best wishes, Al.

Enz, I don't want to sound like the Nick cartwright fan club, but I honestly can't recommend him highly enough. I was looking at cars for a couple of years before I bought mine, and met lots of dealers who to be fair were reasonable people for car dealers. I had the habit of dropping in names of other dealers who had cars I might be tempted by, and when I mentioned Nick's name everyone said something positive about him, so I decided to go up to his workshop and showroom in Derbyshire to look at a couple of 348's they had, and was quickly persuaded to go for a 328. Ben Cartwright spent the best part of 4 hours showing me around, giving me a bit of history on each of the classics they had in storage, took me for a spin in a couple of cars, and generally made me feel very comfortable.
As it happened, the money I had saved for my F-car was spent on the deposit for a holiday home, so I had to leave it for 18 months until I was in a position to buy a car, but I had no hesitation, I wasn't even going to look at another dealer. I got on the phone to Ben told him what I was after, and fortunately he was able to find what I wanted fairly quickly within the budget I had.

If you have an idea what you are looking for, give Nick or Ben a call and they'll look after you

 

[Maranellohouse]

Thanks Archie for the info. Always good to be reccomended by someone. I'll have to sell my own car before doing anything and if I'm honest I'm not trying very hard to do that.
It's my Missus who likes the Mondial as we had one before and it has seats for the kids, so if I go for one it will be a convertable. This 400 just appealed to me.

 

[Boxer]

I think this one went through Bonhams recently.