Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Plus Four, Supersport & Plus Six (CX & CXV Generation Vehicles) So what do I really think some 7 months on...

We were at Broadway the other weekend and upon arrival the streets were lined with hundreds of people and after parking up our two Mogs and several photos were told that a convoy of around 20 ferrari's were on their way and parking up in the village. When they arrived i must say it was quite a spectacle with many new convertibles the california looked ever so slightly dated in comparison lots of kevlar and fancy bits on the other cars .Although older it looked very classy.

It's a design released in 2009, updated and some think much prettier with the Turbo engine in 2014. By comparison with the latest models it without question is a more dated design. So this one is right at the end of the naturally aspired V8 production in the Caliornia, and its not red.......

Hope your Ferrari planning works out as you might hope, and if so I look forward to you sharing the ownership experience.

The idea of maintenance costs ever caused me to ignore Ferrari as a marque, ever thinking that Porsche was the more practical top end sports car. I kinda bought into the idea that in the eyes of Porsche form followed function whereas it seemed Ferrari priorities were more about the form... Though all that was back in the day when Porsche were air cooled, from the 996 on, I suspect Porsche have had their share of issues and over the same period of time I also suspect Ferrari may have become better engineered...

JayEmm has gained quite a bit of Ferrari experience in recent years thus his vid on a 2008 California might be worth watching if you have not already watched it John..

Wishing you all the best in your decision making process...

Quite fancied a 355 a few years ago - should have done it, they have rocketed up in price over last few years.

Overview Ferrari F355 prices have risen dramatically over the last ten years, with top indices like Hagerty showing overall values for prime examples increasing over threefold (up to 338%) as average UK market values shifted from roughly £55,000 in 2016 up towards nearly £100,000 or more today.

I am guessing that all car brands make a lot of money on their spares, a bit like printers where the initial machine is reasonably price but the ink costs a fortune. There are ways around this, but it must put up insurance premiums hugely, as if you are making a claim you will want OE parts, with no compromise, whereas if paying yourself you will make saving where possible.

An interesting discussion on values, reasons for Morgan ownership and owner demographics. There is obviously not just one easy to define reason, but a whole host, what the media likes to call, 'the perfect storm'.

Undoubtedly the current poor financial situation, helped by successive governments, has meant there are fewer people with money to spend on their toy cars, added to the fact that the market is shrinking because the customer base is getting older with fewer 'youngsters' coming in at the bottom end of the market and finally, Morgan have made such a huge leap forward with their newer cars, there is very little reason to buy a 'Trad' unless the price is right. This doesn't however, explain the poor residuals of CX cars.

It is interesting that the factory are taking the view they need to maximise profits, by to selling as many cars as possible, reducing the waiting time to practically nothing, especially if a customer is happy with the spec. chosen by a stocking dealer, but of course at the expense of the residual values of second hand cars. This is a very short term policy and will come back to bite them hard in years to come, as one of the main validation points to buying a Morgan was that they 'never lost money', so people, men mostly, could buy one and know they had a rock solid investment, aka 'Man Maths'.

I note there are some owners on here who have stated they would just buy the car they wanted and not worry about how much money they would lose - nice if you can do it, especially for a hobby, but I would suggest that many, many owners will look at low or zero residuals as being one of the main reasons for having a car they do not need.

BTW John, I would be interested to know which are the 'notable exceptions' that hold their value as well as Morgans used to, I may think about "investing" in one of them.

PaulJ typed :-

"BTW John, I would be interested to know which are the 'notable exceptions' that hold their value as well as Morgans used to, I may think about "investing" in one of them."


I suspect air cooled Porsches seem likely to fall into that category Paul..

If really interested, consider the probable market value of a mid 80`s +8 with 39k miles on the clock.

Then compare that with a same era Porsche 911 3.2 coupe, with perhaps 100k miles or more on the clock...

Were it possible to find a 3.2 Carrera with 49k recorded miles, I think you might be surprised as to the way the market might value that Porsche...?

I have little knowledge of Ferrari values as I never ever set my sights on owning one, though I suspect the name Ferrari attached to anything will hold a degree of value more than any other similarly capable sports car in the market at any time ... ?

911 (964 and 993) Carrera 2 coupe, manual, prices have had a similar spike to the Ferrari 355.

A 993 C2S manual, with less than 10,000 miles, recently failed to sell at auction for £240,000+ fees because it didn't hit reserve! Cars with normal mileage (60-90k) regularly for over £130,000+ and this seems to be going up each time I look.

There are still pockets of good news within the useable classic market.

I was thinking of fast Fords, some of the modern classic Porsche and of course aome of the new Ferrari's and Porsche with restrictions on supply, When I think of the price I paid for my Pursche 930 cabriolet and what I then sold it for and what they are now going for. .

And how I passed about 10 years or so ago on a 993 Targa with manual gearbox with only 20k miles for £24k offered by a friend......

All of this must be compared against spending 60-100k on a new car and losing half in depreciation in three years. SiL with his W12 A8 gets 23mpg, tax is ,£790, but depreciation is negligible, because it's so old that it has bottomed out, at least for now, and it's a fantastic car. Same really on my Golf GTD. No depreciation. And low road tax plus 58/60mpg. Why would I change that for anything new?

Keep a car long enough and depreciation melts away. Sometimes reverses!

I think you did well to pass on the 993 Targa, they are notorious for squeaks and rattles from the roof. The revised 996 and 997 were slightly better but still not fully resolved. When Porsche reintroduced the ‘Targa’ in the 991, the move back to the proper targa panel was a wise one; not only a better looking vehicle but also lacking the issues of the three previous versions.

I remember chatting with a manager at a Porsche AD, prior to the launch of the 991, about halo models and ones to avoid and his sage advice was: ‘I love all the 911s bar the Targa. Never buy one of those, the noises the roof will make will drive you mad. We can cure them for a bit but they always come back.’