Gentlemen, can I pick your brains?

[Mattserati]

I am toying with the idea of jumping out of my 3200GT, and at this stage the replacement list consists of a 360. Nothing i can think of pushes my buttons as much, although I know next to nothing about them. I would appreciate some feedback from anyone more knowledgable than me in regards to any other cars I might be overlooking, what I should look out for, and whether it is a better bet to go for manual or F1. My 3200 is a manual, and I do find it a bit of an effort to drive spiritedly, but I also don't want to spend half my life waiting for clutches to be replaced, which i gather can be an issue on a few automatic clutch gearboxes. I know I can search the forums, and I have, but that doesn't give me one solid, cohesive ownership experience, more a list of individual issues, gripes and opinions.
As a side note, I will be spending Xmas/New Year in the UK, and would be quite interested in meeting anyone who owns one to buy them a drink and have a chat. Unfortunately, I live in Perth, Australia, and there are very few owners kicking about to speak to. I will be spending most of my time in London and Bournemouth areas. Thanks in advance to anyone who spends the time to help me out here,

Matthew

[alc]

Owned a 54 360 spider, nothing but trouble, bought a lamborghini murceilago roadster love it, no problems, sounds great, goes like a rocket.

[Mattserati]

Advice duly noted, but unfortunately a Murci just aint on my list due to outright cost. The prices in Australia are a little more than double those of the UK, so I am looking to spend around AUD $200,000, which will buy me what I could get in the UK for around GBP 50k.

[3200gt]

Can't help on the original question, but a question of my own, would it not be bettter to buy in the UK and ship to Aus, it can't cost that much surely, or are there some taxes to be considered as well?

[F355GTS]

Matthew

I'd pop over to Club Scuderia and ask the question, I've not owned a 360 so can't really comment but there's loads of current and past 360 owners over there

http://www.clubscuderia.co.uk/forum/

you'll need to register if not already

[Mattserati]

Thanks, I will try CS. On the subject of importing, no it really doesn't work. Firstly the import duty is prohibitive, and then you have a car which was not originally imported into Australia, and the industry is set up to punish such cars. I would basically end up with a car which owed me similar money to one bought here, but was worth about the same amount as one in the UK.
Looking at it logically, the ingoing cost is not that relevant anyway, as the total cost of ownership is sale minus purchase, and at the end of my time with it, I will still get huge money by comparison to UK pricing. All it means is that the cars are a little more rare here, as fewer people have the financial ability to get in in the first place.

[Henry 145]

Matthew,

Having a 360 in Perth would be torture - some of my family live out there and everytime I go over to see them I am shocked at one how low the speed limits are, but also the amount of Police that seem to be hiding behind trees with speed cameras...!

[ditomaso]

Mattserati said:

Thanks, I will try CS. On the subject of importing, no it really doesn't work. Firstly the import duty is prohibitive, and then you have a car which was not originally imported into Australia, and the industry is set up to punish such cars. I would basically end up with a car which owed me similar money to one bought here, but was worth about the same amount as one in the UK.
Looking at it logically, the ingoing cost is not that relevant anyway, as the total cost of ownership is sale minus purchase, and at the end of my time with it, I will still get huge money by comparison to UK pricing. All it means is that the cars are a little more rare here, as fewer people have the financial ability to get in in the first place.

I've had both a manual 360 and an F1 spider, now I have a stradale. They are amazing cars. F1 all the way. Having both, with hands on the steering wheel, and foot placed firmly to the floor whilst you change gear is an unforgettable experience, especially in Sport mode. Even downshifts are amazing as the car gives you a double de-clutch blip for extra noise & experience.

I've travelled 14K miles in the 2 360's, including a trip to Montecarlo and back - no problems whatsoever - right now 360's are amazing value