Ferrari 412 Convertible

In the FB group this 412 Convertible in the USA was posted. As might be known only a very few 412 convertibles exist. This one was unknown to me, hence this blog for the records.

On a remark regarding the builder the following answer was provided:

" honestly don’t know for sure who did it. Car came to me via a friend whose father passed away suddenly. It had not run (well) in a long time and my friend is not into cars. Took me 3 months to get it running (removing all the 1990’s electrical stuff wired into it - stereo with multiple amps, crossovers, alarm with kill switches everywhere, Miami Vice style cell phone, etc. as well as working through some fuel system issues and replacing badly leaking oil lines). It was owned by Ludwell (Lud)Denny in Dallas prior to my friend’s family acquiring it. (Pro Set sports trading cards, you can google it) The car came with $100k in receipts from when Lud acquired it - installing the gizmos, paint work (it is a Rolls Royce metallic purple/blue), and the conversion - but the conversion didn’t list who the company sourced it to."

Another remark was made regarding the VIN and the constructor:

ZFFYD24B000064247, converted by Straman 1988

Prova Ferrari 365GT4 2+2

Another unique photo I stumbled upon. It was printed in a small Ferrari 456 booklet which contained a small history about the 2+2 line up, including this black and white photo. I have included another photo for reference in color (taken from another book). Needless to point out, but it's taken from the same series at the same location.

Miami Vice - Season 3 - Ferrari 400i

Over the past 2 weeks there has been a huge amount of new members on the 400 Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/8727831092/

We are now having more then 2500 members. Milestone! I guess with the ongoing Corona virus people have to spend more time in house, so consequently they spend more time on the internet or are binge watching. I guess that's exactly what a friend of mine has been doing, watching his Miami Vice DVD collection. He shared with me the following captures. Taken from the last episode (24 -heroes of the revolution) of season 3.

I found the eposide online: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6v0tuh

Evo magazine - Special Ferrari issue - Ferrari 400i buying guide

This magazine does contain a Ferrari 400i buying guide. It was already published on this blog earlier but now it does contain the entire article and scanned in good quality. It's now available in the download folder.

Ouch - Kuwait

This one got shared on Facebook. Apparently it's located in Kuwait.

Update 15-2-2021: On FB the owner posted this photo as well and mentioned it's in Bagdad.

Ferrari 400i owner usage experience

This cool vintage photo got posted on Instagram and so I reached out to the owner. It's always nice to hear from 1st or 2nd hand owners regarding the experience and the reasoning why they particular choose this vehicle. Looks like this owner did not had much joy with it and disregarded the handling as well. So be it, thanks for sharing your story Fernando.


Hello Erwin, yes it's absolutely fine if you want to share the picture. I bought the 1982 400i in 1983 as I wanted a 4 seater sports car and I didn't want to buy a 4th BMW 635! I used the car on a daily basis to commute to my office in Central London. It was an automatic with a GM gearbox which wasn't famous. The car was wonderful to look at, a beautiful piece of machinery, inside and out, but the Italian mechanics left a lot to be desired... I remember taking it into an automatic car wash and when I was inside the car wash and pressed the window button to close the window...nothing happened! It was a wire over wheel system and the wire had become dislodged, so I got soaking wet! Servicing was expensive and they kept the car for 3 days! I also remember my builder telling me that he had just reversed his truck into my car! It cost over 1.500 GBP to fix the aluminium boot lid! The engine noise was orgasmic, but the handling was crap, even on a straight line. I only had it for 6 months and decided to go back to Germany for my cars and bought a brand new 1984 Porsche 911 Carrera 3.2, of which I subsequently had 4, including a 2002 996 Turbo. I decided that I liked my women to be British, my cars German and my motorcycles American! Cheers! Fernando

Confinement day

Autobild Bulgaria - Ferrari 400 Automatic i: the secret love of Enzo Ferrari and Rod Stewart

https://autobild.bg/ferrari-400-%D0%B0utomatic-i-%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%B9%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B0-%D0%BB%D1%8E%D0%B1%D0%BE%D0%B2-%D0%BD%D0%B0-%D0%B5%D0%BD%D1%86%D0%BE-%D1%84%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B8-%D0%B8-%D1%80%D0%BE/

It seems like the blog doesn't like the Cyrillic alphabet but the link is working though.
Hereby the English Google translator link:

https://translate.google.nl/translate?hl=en&tab=wT1&sl=auto&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fautobild.bg%2Fferrari-400-%25D0%25B0utomatic-i-%25D1%2582%25D0%25B0%25D0%25B9%25D0%25BD%25D0%25B0%25D1%2582%25D0%25B0-%25D0%25BB%25D1%258E%25D0%25B1%25D0%25BE%25D0%25B2-%25D0%25BD%25D0%25B0-%25D0%25B5%25D0%25BD%25D1%2586%25D0%25BE-%25D1%2584%25D0%25B5%25D1%2580%25D0%25B0%25D1%2580%25D0%25B8-%25D0%25B8-%25D1%2580%25D0%25BE%2F

And I now just noticed, the article was from april 2018 and I had made a blog about it:

https://erwin400.blogspot.com/2018/04/automagzz-ferrari-400-automatic-i.html

The link provided in that blog however is longer working ... I suspect they copycat the article from the Autobild magazine. Nice story about the first owner in the article

For sale : Ferrari 412 Manual USA

A very nice one for sale in the USA:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/333545395557

Update 17-3-2020: Turns out the seller has also a 400i for sale:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1982-Ferrari-Other/333545544522

Magazine Autochromes No 80 December 1986 - Ferrari 412i Cabriolet

This magazine cover got posted on Facebook. Anyone out there who has got a digital copy of this magazine or the article about the Ferrari 412i cabriolet?

Footwell air vent compatibility - Peugeot 504 Coupe

Another nice contribution by one of the readers. I'm not surprised about this one since the Peugeot 504 Coupe is another cool Pininfarina creation (high on my wish list). Thanks for sharing this discovery Attila! The Ferrari part nr is #20103800 Not sure about the Peugeot part reference nr? Anyone? 

Just some addition to the compatible parts. I have a 400i automatic under restoration, I

also purchased a Peugeot 504 coupe (pininfarina) about half a year ago.

I found that the footwell air vents on both sides of Ferrari is exactly the same with the dash middle vents of the Peugeot 504. (round ones).

Attached some image about the car I saved these (empty holes in the middle of the dash. Also the trim piece with the inlet and the compatible Ferrari part, e-bay listing.

Onschatbare klassieker yearbook - price value indication 2020

Last week I finally received the yearbook of the Dutch magazine the "Onschatbare Klassieker".
I bought it since it's a few years back I did so too. Thought it would be nice to have an updated book with new valuation prices. Turns out there has not been a change in prices for the 400 series since 2015, see blog:

https://erwin400.blogspot.com/2015/12/ferrari-365gt4-22-400-400i-412-price.html

The same photo's has been used as well, so I'm not going to make an effort to work it out in furthter detail. Still a bit strange they (not sure what sources they use) consider no price movement over the past 5 years for the 400 series (in the years in between I had these checked as well and it has been steady since, so no upwards or downward trends).

Ferrari meeting Nürburgring 1st of May 1979 - Auto Becker

And another nice flashback by Andreas Birner. At least 5 400s are participating, even a yellow one ...

Book Ferrari 456 by Automobilia - 2 + 2 overview

I recently bought this book which was part of a package deal. Turns out it had a very good historic overview of the 2 + 2 which obviously included the 400 series. The overview is now available in the download folder at the section magazine articles.

Teaser : Schedoni luggage set Ferrari 400i

The first Schedoni set produced for the 400i around early 1980. More to come ...

Auction : Ferrari 400 Automatic Jody Scheckter

Yes, another upcoming auction. Adding it here for the records and the mention of the first owners. And a low estimate but maybe I'm biassed. Let's wait for the results ...

https://www.aguttes.com/lot/102878/11815692

https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1207955

1978 – Ferrari 400 Automatic

Chassis N° : 24705
Italian title

- Powerful and confortable
- Beautiful colour combination
- Sporty, classy and a great family car

The first owner of this car was Ferrari Esercizio Fabbriche Automobili e Corse SpA (a company created by Enzo Ferrari in 1960) between 1978 and 1980. According to his logbook, it was given to Jody Scheckter, 1979 world champion on Ferrari, as a company car. The car then changed hands in 1981 and again in 1985, still in Italy. Purchased by its current owner in 2003, N°24705 was never restored, but was resprayed in its original metallic brown livery in 1996. Although it was not driven a lot, this Ferrari has nevertheless kept its superb appearance. The different body parts are well aligned as well as the interior in good original condition. During our test drive, the engine, gearbox and brakes showed no signs of weakness. Only the running gears showed signs of ageing due to the weight and immobilisation of the beautiful beast. This is to be expected before we can put this superb car back on the road for long journeys.

ESTIMATE : 35 000 € / 45 000 €

This car will be sold by auction by AGUTTES Auction House, in Paris, at the Espace Champerret, France, on March the 15th, 2020.

Ferrari 365 GT4 2+2: eleganza a tutta velocità

A fresh online Italian article published today. Need I say more:

Enzo Ferrari era innamorato della sua Ferrari 365 GT4 2+2

https://www.clubalfa.it/145776-ferrari-365-gt4-22-eleganza-a-tutta-velocita

UK Modena Engineering 1989

Another photo I found on the website: https://supercarnostalgia.com/blog/modena-engineering-1989

Can you believe it, these cars were up for grabs for less than 10k GBP. And still they didn't sell:

http://www.motorbase.com/auctionlot/profile/2004/06/07/086-ferrari-400i-coupe/


Update 2-3-2020: By surprise I was contacted by the current owner. The car is still around today and has the same license plate. Last year it has been completely restored and stripped back to bare metal and resprayed in chique Prugna. Splendid: