New 360 spider

[Pentoman]

So, what happened is this:

As a teenager I worked in and around the motor trade. Delivering cars, working on cars, cleaning cars, and so on. I now work elsewhere but still stay in touch with those friends I made in the past. These are the kind you can trust, the kind who like to make people happy and appreciate a good condition car. Not the notoriously bad type of 'motor trader'.

One of them sends me an email with a single photo. "Do you want this?" He says. It was a tongue-in-cheek thing. It wasn't meant to be serious.

No, but I asked if I could come and see it - I had nothing else to do that weekend, it was sunny, and who would give up the opportunity to poke around a 360 with another enthusiast? I had no intention to buy it... I didn't even conceive of such a possibility.

But then I saw the cover come off and the condition of the car underneath. Then I saw the stacks of history and the low mileage. And I heard its history. Instantly I realised this was the "right sort of car". I know that people search for months to find them in this spec and condition. And here was one, presented to me by a trustworthy friend from whom I've bought a lot of cars. It had come from a meticulous private owner, with a collection of cars, who had simply stopped using this one after 5 years. I was the first person to have a chance to buy it.

I am not an impulsive person. I am known for that. But I know when you need to move quickly and I knew this was too good an opportunity to miss and to get Ferrari ownership out of my system. Only one problem, I had a gruelling week at work ahead and needed to sell my 2006 Vantage - a car that seemed exotic and expensive just a few hours earlier. So I spent the week finding someone to take my Vantage off me (I never really got to say goodbye to it). Got the 360s body and mechanics inspected and everything is perfect. Ball joints, cam tensioners, usual stuff.

And then it was mine. My friend did me a great favour and I can only be grateful.

That is how I came to own a 360 unexpectedly one week. Sometimes it's just nice to shake things up a bit. It still hasn't sunk in.

Edited by Pentoman on Sunday 24th May 12:52

[Pentoman]

There are I'm afraid duplicate threads (one in Readers cars) but if any of the Ferrari afficionados here in the Ferrari section want to enlighten as to ownership tips and tricks, specs, then please feel free.

I have been in touch with voicey who is a good man but sadly has no history of this. Is it common for them to be imported in from Belfast?

Obviously the alarm battery is dead - is it worth changing?

[Pentoman]

Thanks Cerberaherts.

Getting used to this car. Everyone has something to say. The doors have a tendency to swing on their own. The stereo sounds surprisingly good but hates recordable CDs. Everything looks brilliant and it's fairly comfy. Opening the boot is irritating. Just discovered the "hidden" lumbar adjustment on the seat. Useful.

Did anyone else find they had to learn how to drive it smoothly? I'm finding the razor-sharp throttle response quite a shock coming from a car that was notorious for its lazy response. Perhaps if I allow myself to slip the clutch just a little more (I tend to avoid any slip...). I'm still getting used to the pedal offset.

The whole car is frenetic, I need to accustomise to that. Reports of a tendency to oversteer make me somewhat cautious. The steering is fantastic.

[Pentoman]

Zuff said:

Pentoman, your early driving thoughts are much the same as mine. I have had my Spider a month and 'frenetic' is right. The control inputs and performance outputs are much sharper than pretty much anything I have driven before. I feel like I need to spin up my brain to keep up with it. I feel energised and tingling after driving it. I think thats how its supposed to be!

That is exactly my experience. It's exciting, but I don't half worry about making the slightest wrong input.

Can anyone tell me what these are like as you approach a limit? Are they sophisticated and communicative, or will they snap away? I believe there is no ESP, just traction control. I'm generally used to front-engine rear-drive and I find that easy to control - weight at the front, traction at the rear. Whereas the 360 has everything at the rear; a little alarming when you're not used to it.

El Guapo said:

Congratulations OP, that looks like it just left the factory. The low mileage is good news for you but this car has done less than 1,500 miles per year for 12 years - you have to wonder why the previous owner(s) bothered buying it in the first place.

Thanks. I'm not usually into low-mileage cars as I hear that they can go wrong if unused. My recent cars include a 160,000 mile Mercedes 190E and a 153,000 mile Citroen C5. However, everything else checked out on this car, and since I plan to use it I thought that starting with a low mileage wasn't a bad idea for resale. It's a late-model car so all the glitches such as bad tensioners aren't present and it should be sturdy. And it means everything feels original and unworn - even that weird rubbery coating on the switches is still there. I'll take some detail photos of the usual wear points if anyone's interested.

The latest surprising good feature: The headlights.

Mileage has accrued thusly:

Year 1 - 4,900 miles
Year 2 - 7,800
Year 3 - 9,500
Year 4 - 12,000
Year 5 - 12,600
Year 6 - 15,000
Year 7 - 16,000
Year 8 - 16,500
Year 9 - 17,000
Year 10 - 17,200
Year 11 - 17,400
Year 12 - 17,600 (me)

So it's more recently that it was rarely used. Same owner for the past 6 years so I guess he just wasn't that into it (possibly for the above reasons i.e. the frenetic nature!). Still, it was kept stored properly indoors under a cover, always MOTd, had pretty much whatever work needed doing (the usual ball joints etc), and he even had it detailed. I don't believe much money was lost on it; probably a sensible purchase. I have the cambelts that came off it last week after only 600 miles. Naturally they were like new and "probably didn't need replacing". I, of course, am going to ruin all this mollycoddling by driving it way too much - because that steering is just too addictive. Well, that and because my only other car is a 1.4 automatic hatchback.

Thanks for reading this. I'm surprised anyone wants to hear me guffing on about the headlights a common old 360.

Edited by Pentoman on Wednesday 27th May 19:31