Is a Zonda really worth it?

[MX5guy]

Lambo FirstBlood said:

I dug out an old copy of EVO where Harry said he was quoted 169,400 Euros to change his S in to and F.

That doesn't sound too ridiculous.

If I could get the S for the right money and then get the upgrades I want, that could be great.

I wonder though, whether it will always be seen by others (thinking resale) that it's not a real F.

That's not too bad in my opinion, although the question is that has it increased a lot since then?!

In some ways that will be the case for resale - however so many cars have been modified then it's actually more of a problem finding an original car compared to an updated one (for the earlier cars).

[Mosi]

I was told by a Zonda owner the other day, that the upgraded exhaust system to 'F' spec alone was recently quoted at Euro 49,000

Big eek!

[_Leg_]

Lol, there's a thread elsewhere on the forum about "How much money would be life changing for you". I havent the heart to tell the guys saying £10,000 they didnt understand the question. ;-)

[andy74b]

Lambo FirstBlood said:

I dug out an old copy of EVO where Harry said he was quoted 169,400 Euros to change his S in to and F.

That doesn't sound too ridiculous.

If I could get the S for the right money and then get the upgrades I want, that could be great.

I wonder though, whether it will always be seen by others (thinking resale) that it's not a real F.

Just decide whether you want a S or F. Will cost alot more to take a S to an exact F. 170k will go nowhere in terms of doing a full conversion. Brakes, wheels, suspension, bodywork, interior, engine, exhaust all differnt. Harry M has later brakes and wheels with some F suspension gearbox bits. I have the F front end, wheels, cinque suspension. Looking to put the CCB brakes on later this year and then maybe think about adding some extra bhp.



I think a S and keep an everyday supercar the best option though as there are so many times you can't use the Zonda. It really does attract too much attention.

Photo of mine when adding the later front:

[Beefmeister]

Carb-porn.

[Justices]

andy74b said:

I think a S and keep an everyday supercar the best option though as there are so many times you can't use the Zonda. It really does attract too much attention.

With an S available this is the way I would go. Perhaps the S has more room for appreciation too? It might also be "easier" to sell if you ever came to that point.

[iandc]

Streetrod said:

You should be able to find a pic of virtually every Zonda ever built in this thread Lambo, enjoy

http://www.teamspeed.com/forums/supercars/16050-ar...

What brilliant pictures. For everyone I kept thinking "this is the best colour" then scroll down to an even better one. Pure car porn!!! Thanks for the link

[Rocksteadyeddie]

It's a struggle to see how an F is worth £350-400k more than an S.

Noted AndyB's comments about usability of performance on the road, so in truth what extra is your money buying you? As you have pointed out you can go down the upgrade route, which, I suspect, will pay you back if you ever came to sell.

Enviable decision in any event.

[TWareham]

Great Thread!!

You should have a go in both the F and S back to back they are quite different, some people prefer the S to the F and others prefer the reverse.

PM me I can help.

Tom

[MX5guy]

Someone who should know a thing or two about Zondas! Nice new pictures of the #97 Tommy,

Justices said:

With an S available this is the way I would go. Perhaps the S has more room for appreciation too? It might also be "easier" to sell if you ever came to that point.

I think F's will be the most popular version in the future - a combination of the better performance etc, but before they became what some people regard as "messy" (Cinque, Tricolore etc). However I think the price of the earlier cars will continue to increase due to the increase in value of Fs. I also suspect there will be a slight variation (with a higher price) in some of the younger cars that are very original, since there are so few examples left that are completely untouched.

I think what I would do is buy #49 (the Blue Bob Forstner S) and then keep the McLaren. This then would offer the everyday performance and "practicality", with the Zonda being a car for an occasion. The downside to this might be the McLaren will have a better performance than the Zonda, so might dull the experience a little (although they should be quite different cars). However it's a very personal choice, and I haven't driven any of the cars to be able to judge them from that perspective.

[munch997]

MX5guy said:

I think what I would do is buy #49 (the Blue Bob Forstner S) and then keep the McLaren. This then would offer the everyday performance and "practicality", with the Zonda being a car for an occasion. The downside to this might be the McLaren will have a better performance than the Zonda, so might dull the experience a little (although they should be quite different cars). However it's a very personal choice, and I haven't driven any of the cars to be able to judge them from that perspective.

If you ever get bored of a Zonda, just find a tunel, drop it a couple of gears, and give it some
I still hope this will happen one day...

[MX5guy]

munch997 said:

MX5guy said:

I think what I would do is buy #49 (the Blue Bob Forstner S) and then keep the McLaren. This then would offer the everyday performance and "practicality", with the Zonda being a car for an occasion. The downside to this might be the McLaren will have a better performance than the Zonda, so might dull the experience a little (although they should be quite different cars). However it's a very personal choice, and I haven't driven any of the cars to be able to judge them from that perspective.

If you ever get bored of a Zonda, just find a tunel, drop it a couple of gears, and give it some
I still hope this will happen one day...

I understand that (I don't think I could be bored of them as you know!), but compared to what the new McLaren should be like from reviews it sounds like then I would expect it to be up a level compared to the Zonda in performance. As I said I can't judge on the way they give the performance (apart from the noise), and I would expect it to be a very different way the performance is delivered, but in regards to the numbers the McLaren should be better.

Personally I thin the Zonda would still be a very special car and my most wanted, due to the sound, looks and the simple matter that I wouldn't be skilled enough to approach the limits of either anyway.

[Justices]

Good point. However a N/A V12 and a V8 turbo in the garage should provide enough of change to keep you interested in both. Add to this that the 12C will slip by virtually unnoticed and the Zonda is an event even when static and the feeling will be very different when you are out and about. I can think of worse 2 car garages

This thread is making me want the Zonda more than I thought possible.. swines!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrCl8RqWUMA

[TWareham]

MX5guy said:

Someone who should know a thing or two about Zondas! Nice new pictures of the #97 Tommy,

Thanks! The pictures were taken for a book which is being made to celebrate the best Supercars of all time, we were very pleased with how the photos came out.

So what was the verdict here then... Is a Zonda really worth it...? ---- Eh, YES!

T

[Matt3568]

http://www.jameslist.com/advert/286865/for-sale-pa...

How about this one? Close to your target price of £850K. Pretty much my dream spec F

[Justices]

No updates eh? Hopefully far too busy driving your lovely new Zonda

[JADF]

Matt3568 said:

http://www.jameslist.com/advert/286865/for-sale-pa...

How about this one? Close to your target price of £850K. Pretty much my dream spec F

But LHD ....

[Beefmeister]

JADF said:

But LHD ....

I've often wondered about this actually. If I were ever in the very fortunate position to buy a Zonda (or similar) would I buy RHD if it was available?

My thinking being - in the UK a Zonda is a big old beastie to drive around anyway, so would LHD really make much difference? Plus if i were to own such a car i'd like to think i'd do a lot of driving it in Europe - to the 'ring, Monaco, Spain etc etc to where there are the best driving roads in the world, so LHD would be a definite plus obviously.

Would you sacrifice not having RHD to make the times when you really use the car as designed in Europe better?

Genuinely interested...

[JCB123]

There are too many silver/grey Zondas now....let's add a splash of colour?!



http://www.jameslist.com/advert/246284/for-sale-pa...

[Matt3568]

Beefmeister said:

I've often wondered about this actually. If I were ever in the very fortunate position to buy a Zonda (or similar) would I buy RHD if it was available?

My thinking being - in the UK a Zonda is a big old beastie to drive around anyway, so would LHD really make much difference? Plus if i were to own such a car i'd like to think i'd do a lot of driving it in Europe - to the 'ring, Monaco, Spain etc etc to where there are the best driving roads in the world, so LHD would be a definite plus obviously.

Would you sacrifice not having RHD to make the times when you really use the car as designed in Europe better?

Genuinely interested...

I'm in no position to pass judgement on driving differences between LHD vs RHD, but there were only 3 RHD F Coupes ever made - the black one at Romans, the white one at Supervettura and a dark blue one (I think) LHD might have to be the compromise with owning (in my opinion) the greatest car ever made.

On the other hand you could say that a RHD car would be a better investment, given the low production numbers, especially with expanding RHD markets such as Hong Kong. But LHD will always appeal more to the larger European market.