Monday, 4 November 2013
Sunday, 3 November 2013
Car owner history
Yesterday I did send another reminder to the family of the previous owner. I did include a picture of the car, hoping they would recognize it. Today I received a response from them. Unfortunately they could not provide or confirm any additional information about the car. As such I think this is were the story ends ... bummer!
412 spot on Gummen
I was just checking some fora I visit regularly. On the Dutch gummen.org website I saw todays posting regarding a 412 which is put up for sale for a sharp price:
http://www.gummen.org/forum/showthread.php?416-Mooi-Italiaans-spul-te-koop!!&p=523738&viewfull=1#post523738
Update: I now remember this one, mostly because of the location Uitgeest. I knew there was a black one for sale for quite a while. Previously it was listed for € 39.500,- and dropped to € 37.500,- And now it's listed for € 23.500,-
The 412 is my least favorite, especially due to the plastic midconsole and the plastic touch buttons. Furthermore I don't fancy the rear bumper skirts which are covering the exhausts. And some other details like the steering wheel, one dial less in the midconsole, having the backside all painted in the same color. Of course this is purely personal. As for the color, I think black does look cool but the shape and lines of the car does not come out well. Therefore I'm very happy with the color settings I have. In fact it was my preferred color combination for both exterior and interior.
http://www.gummen.org/forum/showthread.php?416-Mooi-Italiaans-spul-te-koop!!&p=523738&viewfull=1#post523738
Update: I now remember this one, mostly because of the location Uitgeest. I knew there was a black one for sale for quite a while. Previously it was listed for € 39.500,- and dropped to € 37.500,- And now it's listed for € 23.500,-
The 412 is my least favorite, especially due to the plastic midconsole and the plastic touch buttons. Furthermore I don't fancy the rear bumper skirts which are covering the exhausts. And some other details like the steering wheel, one dial less in the midconsole, having the backside all painted in the same color. Of course this is purely personal. As for the color, I think black does look cool but the shape and lines of the car does not come out well. Therefore I'm very happy with the color settings I have. In fact it was my preferred color combination for both exterior and interior.
The Fastest Brown in Town
I just added a new online article to the section.
http://jalopnik.com/5504934/ferrari-365-gt4-gives-you-the-fastest-brown-in-town-for-39500
http://jalopnik.com/5504934/ferrari-365-gt4-gives-you-the-fastest-brown-in-town-for-39500
Ferrari 400 international club meeting in Brussel
On the 14th and 15th September the European 400 club organized a meeting in
Brussel. I signed up to join my first international meeting. Just in time my car
maintenance was finished the week before. So this also would be my first long
trip with the 400 and at the same time a good testdrive to find out if all was fine. Since my purchase I
hardly had driven it. This was due to the fact the brakes required
overhauling since 2 out of 4 were stuck since it has been standing still for
quite a while. The last thing I wanted is to damage the brakes-calipers or
it’s disc-brakes.
I decided to only join the Saturday and stay overnight at a friend in
Brussel who I had not been seeing for a long while. I went together with the
missus and dropped the kids at my parents in law. With a huge boot for lugage
and enough space in the back I can testify this is a ideal family car.
Despite the poor weather it was a very enjoyable trip. Nearby Brussel I was
overtaken by a French car. Nothing special you would say. But the guy in the
back had his window fully opened and with his head and both hands out of the
window he gave me two thumbs-up. How cool is that.
The meeting was very well organized – the actual report can be read here.
English translation is included (below the French part):
As per tradition I made a small slideshow:
The 400 had behaved very well and proven to be a true gran turismo. I loved
every mile of it.
Saturday, 2 November 2013
365 GT4 2+2 scale model
Today I received the following pictures of a 365 GT4 2+2 scale model which is going to be a present for someone else. Nice gift! One minor detail, the front blinking lights needs to be white instead of orange.
Friday, 1 November 2013
Enzo Ferrari 365 400 412
In yesterdays article I noticed the following remark:
"Open question: anecdotally, we’ve heard these transmissions (the manual) are terrible— possibly the reason why old man Enzo himself used an automatic 412i as his daily."
For sure Enzo did had a 365 which he drove himself. This is more or less supported by this known picture. All the 365's were delivered with manual gears. Rumor has it that some of these has been altered in the USA with automatic gearboxes and consequently that lead to the introduction of the 400 Automatic. As known, these were never exported to the USA due to regulation restrictions. During my search I had the privilige to test drive various 365/400/412 both automatic and manual versions. My experience is that the manual versions did not shift smoothly in combination with a heavy clutch, especially to 2nd gear. Surely this can be contributed due to the fact I was only test driving them for only a short distance with insufficient warming up. I do happen to have been driving a few times in a Fiat Dino 2400 Coupe with a ZF gearbox which is a huge difference. It has that nice accurate click-clack shifting. Furthermore the automatic gearbox suites the 400 so well. I can understand why some many buyers choose the automatic version. As such it would not surprise me if Enzo would have been using a 400 or 412 automatic. Although I have never seen any supporting evidence about that.
The following unique picture I came across in a Dutch newspaper. The article was a small tribute about him due to his death 25 years ago:
http://www.telegraaf.nl/autovisie/autovisie_nieuws/21812992/__Enzo_Ferrari_leeft_altijd_voort__.html
On the picture you can see both Enzo Ferrari and Prince Bernhard having a good time next to a Ferrari 365 GT4 2+2. I'm unsure if it's one theirs as both had one.
The 365 of Prince Bernhard is no more since he crashed it. Enzo's 365 is still around and stored in the Collezione Maranello Rosso in San Marino: http://www.maranellorosso.com/
"Open question: anecdotally, we’ve heard these transmissions (the manual) are terrible— possibly the reason why old man Enzo himself used an automatic 412i as his daily."
For sure Enzo did had a 365 which he drove himself. This is more or less supported by this known picture. All the 365's were delivered with manual gears. Rumor has it that some of these has been altered in the USA with automatic gearboxes and consequently that lead to the introduction of the 400 Automatic. As known, these were never exported to the USA due to regulation restrictions. During my search I had the privilige to test drive various 365/400/412 both automatic and manual versions. My experience is that the manual versions did not shift smoothly in combination with a heavy clutch, especially to 2nd gear. Surely this can be contributed due to the fact I was only test driving them for only a short distance with insufficient warming up. I do happen to have been driving a few times in a Fiat Dino 2400 Coupe with a ZF gearbox which is a huge difference. It has that nice accurate click-clack shifting. Furthermore the automatic gearbox suites the 400 so well. I can understand why some many buyers choose the automatic version. As such it would not surprise me if Enzo would have been using a 400 or 412 automatic. Although I have never seen any supporting evidence about that.
http://www.telegraaf.nl/autovisie/autovisie_nieuws/21812992/__Enzo_Ferrari_leeft_altijd_voort__.html
On the picture you can see both Enzo Ferrari and Prince Bernhard having a good time next to a Ferrari 365 GT4 2+2. I'm unsure if it's one theirs as both had one.
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