Personally, I'd rather have a BMW M5. For half the price of the 355, you get a four door sedan that handles just as well, is quieter, has a smoother 6-speed, eats less gas, and is only bested by the Ferrari by 0.2 seconds in the 0-60. Plus, in the BMW you can scare the piss out of *five* unwitting passengers as you show off your (and your car's) driving prowess.
-- Timothy Breihan, April 3, 2000
"Why this you-have-to-got-a-second-or-third-mortgage-in-order-to-buy-it car when you can get a better car with a lot less money?" I think it is not about the performance of the car but instead of emotional value of the car. We are not talking about the technical performance of the car instead of the design and the way the car body curved. If we treat the high price car purchase as buying an artwork, I think we probably can understand why people pay that much money for it. Why would anyone pay the equivalent of a Third World Country GNP for a 19th century painting? Emotion! Can the technology of Toyota Supra Turbo (before it got discontinued) outperformed Ferrari in many ways? Oh, yeah! But which car can make your heart pumping and blood boil when the Supra parked next to the Ferrari? I pick Ferrari any day of the week, plus Saturday and Sunday. We just can't justify the rationale behind the decision when come to picking an artwork, and in this case, an art piece from Italy.Good and interesting choice of the car, by the way, Phil.
-- David Huang, April 15, 2001
"...but car enthusiastics are genuinely appreciative of anyone who is kind enough to buy a Ferrari and drive it around for their visual and auditory pleasure."Oh, oh my, oh yes we do!!
Thank you.
Some say that when you buy a Ferrari, you pay a quarter of a million dollars for the engine. (And what an engine!) And that Ferrari throws in a car for free ;)
Best! Ben.
-- Ben Cannon, November 21, 2001
The Ferrari F355 is a great car, but you guys ought to try the 360. It's no looker compared to the F355 but I'm telling you; in terms of driving experience its amzing. I can now understand why someone would spend over $200k on one.
-- Zaim Razak, January 26, 2003
i purchased my first ferrari at the age of 29. i was making decent money, but was by no means a rich man. i managed to buy this white 308 gts , with red interior , at something close to dealer cost. the dealer in toronto was having a hard time selling the car because it wasn't red. after making a cool $9000. to let a large canadian tobacco company photograph the car for some magazine ads, i continued to drive the car daily, and sold it two years later for a profit of over $10,000. my buddies who had purchased camaros, mustangs and other european sports cars could not even come close.i continued buying ferrari's and they continued being excellent automotive investments. but the best part had nothing to do with the resale value. i still remember to this day 24 years later, the excitement and thrill of the first of many such drives in this italian sportscar legend. i learned more about driving, from this car than any driving school could have ever taught. i met many interesting people, some were genuine car enthusiasts, many were just attracted to the sensuous flowing lines of the p. farina bodywork. whenever i met another ferrari owner , we never had to rationalize what seemed to many, to be an excessive amount of money to spend on one car. some owners were wealthy of course, but many were just middle income guys who had made the stretch to buy the first ferrari, and then realized that it could end up being a low ownership cost vehicle. the most surprising part back then , was the relatively low maintenance cost of the pre-electronic ferraris.
the old 308's and some 328's are still very affordable. i have one friend who put 145,000. miles on a 308, and then sold it for his original purchase price. how many brands can you say this about?
anyway i could go on and on for hours , the bottom line is that every car lover should experience the thrill of ferrari ownership at least once. i thought your recruiting idea was outstanding. i also really enjoyed reading your review, and the readers comments.
-- richard scriver, November 14, 2005
Hi I just picked up a 1988 White Ferrari 328 GTS...Holy Chow! This car has no concept of speed limit. To bad our Montreal Roads suck, but they are working on it. Anyway, after dealing with awsome customs and duties I drove the car home from Cornwall...at 100MPH! I didnt even realize it becuase I forgot the guages are in MPH and up here we use metric. I thought I was going 100KPH..And wondered why everyone was driving so slow. Its loud, its rough, it drives like a truck! But its a Ferrari!!! A pretty exclusive club and one that I am finally glad to be a member of
-- Richard B, October 11, 2006