Talk Morgan said " With a practical hat on, a Ferrari will generally cost more to run, maintain and insure than a comparable contemporary; however, the argument is that it will also more than likely hold a much higher residual value.". As I have said before it doesnt seem to cost any more for the V8s than a similar Audi or Merc. My insurance is £250, tyres are cheaper than many modern cars. The residual comment is dodgy - Ferrari values go up and down like other collectables. Two pals with 328 models have seen their cars go from the £20k purchase price ( second hand - new in the 80s they were about £80k) up again to £80k and currently dropping like a stone. Yes you can defy depreciation with the "special " models as you can with a GT3 Porker but not the ordinary cars.
Talk Morgan also said " The other element, which I do not believe has been mentioned, which is interesting given the community, is the perception and reaction of other road users. I have never owned a Ferrari but the experiences I have had as a passenger in them made me wonder if the world had gone mad; never have I been in a car that caused such a diverse reaction. ". I would put it differently. I have never experienced the negatives and thank god I have never had the boy racer challenging to a drag race as I often got in the Lotus. I do find that people let me out of junctions, do ask me to rev the car in tunnels and little boys give thumbs up. Most surprising is the number of middl;e aged women who ask for a drive in it! Never had a negative reaction but a lot more people just ignore the 360 than ever did the 430 I had before it. The 430 was almost identical body shape but it was red not TDF Blu.
But in the end owning a performance car of any sort is for me, all about performance. As a young man I could thrash the nuts of my Triumph Spitfire easily able to make similar if not better journey times in it that I can now do in a Ferrari which has a top speed 3 times as great. Where's the point . I am the motoring equivalent of the eunuch in the harem. All that fun on offer but not able to take advantage.
