RE: Ferrari 612 Scaglietti: PH Carpool

[Ocho]

thecook101 said:

For what it's worth here is another perspective. I bought my 612 a couple years ago. It's a relatively special car being a one-to-one ordered by Eric Clapton and finished by the factory to the Sessanta spec - although not a Sessanta. He said in an interview that it was one of his favourites and being a big Clapton fan I seized the opportunity when seeing it for sale. I'm very fortunate to be able to have the 612 as well as a 430 and a 911, so the 612 was never going to to have the miles piled on. I put about 8000 miles a year on the 911, 4000 on the 430 (a significant amount on track) and about 1500 on the 612. Yes, bugger-all, but it wasn't helped by having to put in in storage for the first 6 months of ownership. I really do plan on doing a big European trip - in between work, family and track days... My 430 is a different story and I use it as intended, although currently fitting bigger brakes - see pic, that's the 612 below it.

Purchasing the 612 also involved some man maths. Do I invest 100k in the stock market or do I put it in a car that I figured was at the bottom of the depreciation curve? Both could go t*ts-up but at least if I have the car then, well I have the car! I totally get Charly's situation. Buying the car was partly because I wanted and could afford it, but also because I figured that should the gods smile on me I might just get depreciation free motoring and an asset that I can enjoy. It is an asset though, money is tied up in it and it has (like so many cars) managed to appreciate over the last few years.

There is no avoiding that reality and to those bemoaning the low mileage, while you have a point, what would you do? To me the fact that Charly has taken 100k of his money and spent it on a chuffing Fezza rather than putting it in his pension should be noted. Of course he is a petrolhead, he took a massive gamble to get the opportunity to drive a big noisy magnificent Ferrai V12 around for a couple years - so far. Unless of course you're saying he should have said no, ignored the man-maths and drip-fed it into an ISA..?

Nice one Charly

Nicely put. We're all petrol heads, just to different degrees and have different ways of going about it to suit our own desires/needs. Too many people thinking that their way is the only way. That applies to the big wide world too, sadly.

[MDL111]

TaylotS2K said:

I don't care if it is a Ferrari. The looks alone would put me off buying one.

I hated it when it was first launched but now think the 612 looks really good - very understated classical GT shape - if one compares it to the other proper 4-seaters I think they did a pretty good job

[Kevin Cooke]

Hi,

My first post here, I too have recently acquired a 2008 On to One, my first Ferrari after years of Porsche ownership and I really like it.

I've never been a fan of mid engined Ferraris other than the 246 but have always loved 4 seaters since my boss had a 412 in the 80's and before that all the versions of the 250. .

Luckily I'm in the fortunate position that I also race a 2 litre Group 6 car in the HSCC pre 80's endurance series (picture below) so I've no need for the buzz of a road rocket, a sensible GT car is what I required and the 612 fits the bill perfectly, especially in a discrete grey.

As I live in central London the car only gets used for potentially nice drives such a the trip to Goodwood for the members display last weekend, and the odd pose through Kensington and Chelsea (it's the only car I've ever owned that gets photographed by tourists!!)

I was planning to drive it to Spa next month but issues with my race car mean I've pulled my entry for the 6 hour support race but I'm definitely racing at Dijon at the beginning of October, I can't think a better car for the 1,000m plus return jaunt rather than the 612, I'm looking forward to the drive almost as much as the actual aces.

So yes like anyone else with only a few years before retirement I am hoping to have relatively financially pain free ownership experience given lack of return on capital available elsewhere, but this will not stop me using the car as the maker intended when I can.

Best regards

Kevin

[K50 DEL]

HardtopManual said:

"Protecting future value is a key element of supercar ownership"

If it really is, you're missing the point.

Couldn't agree more - I bought my 11 year old F360 with less than 4k miles on the clock, it had been in 2 collections for almost its whole life so by any standards it was low mileage.

Have I given a thought to "protecting the future valiue" have I hell.... it immediately became my daily driver for the next 2 years, only ceasing when I moved back to the UK and the price of fuel!
Now I use the car as much as I can at weekends and am currently planning a 4k mile, 3 week Euro road trip next year.