Monday 7th March
Ferrari 360 Modena: PH Carpool
This PHer took a chance on a favourable exchange rate and hasn't looked back since
Name : Matt Kirkman
Car : Ferrari 360 Modena F1
Owned since : May 2015
Previously owned : E92 BMW M3, Porsche 911 (997.II) Turbo PDK, Porsche 911 (997.1) C2 3.6, Porsche 911 (996) C2S, Porsche Boxster S, BMW Z3 2.8, Audi A3 1.8 Quattro, Alfa 166, Alfa 155, Alfa 145 Cloverleaf, vast collection of early sh*tboxes.
Some of the cars Matt looked at weren't great...
Why I bought it :"I considered buying an F430 or 360 when I bought my 997 Turbo, but a local specialist put me off because I needed a daily driver, so the 997 fitted the bill."
"In 2015 I'd been to Italy quite a bit, and with the favourable GBP/EUR exchange rate, I found myself looking at used Ferraris for no particular reason. But then the bug bit and, with nobody to nag me otherwise, I thought "why the hell not?" So I looked at a couple of cars in Europe, including a manual car allegedly once owned by a certain Valentino Rossi, but they weren't great examples - a visual inspection revealed that the Rossi car was in a right state, with a serious lack of service history and ten year-old tyres. Eventually I found this car not far from its birthplace at a Ferrari specialist in Modena. A Ryanair flight to Bologna followed, with a tour of the Ferrari factory and museum, then the purchase of the car and a tour of the Enzo Ferrari museum in Modena itself. Two weeks later, a friend of mine and I made the return trip and picked up the 360 to drive home."
Putting the time and research in paid off
What I wish I'd known :"Nothing really. I researched very heavily before the purchase and made sure I was buying the right car. If you buy the wrong Ferrari, it can of course be very wrong indeed. My local specialist has since said it's a good one, so I'm happy with my decision."
Things I love :
"Looking at the engine through the glass engine cover. The exhaust note (it's a non-factory sports exhaust). Walking away from it and turning my head to look back at it."
Things I hate :
"It's not the most subtle car I've ever owned. In my experience, people never really look twice at Porsches, but when a noisy red Ferrari drives down the high street, every man and his dog with a jot of petrol in their veins turns to look. The car for a quiet night out, it isn't. You honestly can't go out without being noticed."
Costs :
"£600-odd for the minor service, which was done in September 2015. £1,800 for the cam cover seals to be replaced two months later, along with the belt service which was going to be due next year anyway (they have to take the belts off to replace the seals) and a set of cam chain tensioners.
"Surprisingly, it's been pretty good on fuel, averaging around 24mpg since I got it."
The less enjoyable part of the journey home
Where I've been :"After collecting the car we had a fabulous but brief 1,200-mile road trip - up past Milan on the first day to stop near Lake Como, a journey speckled with waves, revs and toots from other Ferrari owners out enjoying the sun. That part of the journey was fantastic as it was a beautiful day, the windows were down and the exhaust was rasping and crackling away as we made our way up through the hills around Como. The next day was not so much fun - it poured with rain the whole way through Switzerland. We went into the Gotthard tunnel (no jokes please) in a drizzle of rain and come out 15km later into a torrent of snow - on summer tyres.
"Then we were stopped by Customs at the French/German border and turned around because there was no front number plate (the Italians had assured us it would be "nessuno problema"), so up the western side of Germany we went and got stopped by the German police, who directed us back into France near Strasbourg. Eventually we made it to Luxembourg without getting caught by the gendarmes and by pure chance, ended up at the hotel owned by the president of the local Ferrari owners' club.
"Since then I've done about 2,000 miles in the car and been to a couple of local car shows, but just enjoyed the ownership thoroughly. I try to use it whenever I can, it isn't SORN'd and during the winter months, it will get used as long as I think the salt has been washed off the roads. It even gets driven in the rain sometimes."
What next :
"Another Ferrari, already acquired in fact - an F430 F1. Not sure if I'll sell the 360 but having two Ferraris seems a bit extravagant, so I probably will."
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