Ferrari LHD ....worth the hassle ?

Ferrari LHD ....worth the hassle ?

Author
Discussion

markst

Original Poster:

236 posts

165 months

Monday 2nd December 2019
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I only ask as I’ve never had one , and with spending more time abroad it could be a viable option .
Is it worth the hassle , are they a poor sell afterwards?

Larry5.2

496 posts

108 months

Monday 2nd December 2019
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Unless we get screwed by Brexit, there are 27 additional countries to sell to, so not a problem to sell.

footsoldier

2,258 posts

192 months

Monday 2nd December 2019
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Never found driving one to be a problem, but they are definitely harder to shift in the UK afterwards.

phib

4,464 posts

259 months

Monday 2nd December 2019
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I had a LHD 550, I could never get on with it.

I suspect that a narrower LHD would have probbaly been better, I have a RHD 355 spider thats always been perfect to use on british roads.

I wouldnt have another one

Phib

f1ten

2,161 posts

153 months

Monday 2nd December 2019
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For sure harder to sell here but as above there are a lot of options to sell back into Europe. The pound is cheap and I could sell mine back to Germany for more on the currency alone.

In terms of driving, car parks are a pain and I try to avoid other than my own car park. Overtaking here needs caution on tight roads but euro trips become great fun!

priley

504 posts

188 months

Monday 2nd December 2019
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I also had a LHD 550. Great on the Euro trip we did but a pain on UK roads when in a car like that you're undoubtedly going to be doing some overtaking. It spoilt the experience for me as you lose the sponteneity of quickly checking it's clear and flooring it.

One caveat to this would be a lower powered car. I'm also lucky enough to own a Fiat Dino Spider and with its relatively meagre 160/180bhp (depends who you believe) the fun lies elsewhere and it becomes more about maintaining momentum and sometimes just keeping up with everyday traffic. However as all Dino's were LHD the RHD/LHD resale thing is less of an issue.

Larry5.2

496 posts

108 months

Tuesday 3rd December 2019
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One thing to be said for LHD cars (Ferrari, Porsche, Lambo, etc) is that it's the way they were designed originally. So the pedal positions and footrests work correctly. Also other small things like the handbrake cable run on Murcis for one, and I'm sure there's more - a whole bunch of stuff that are compromised because of the switch to RHD.

WCZ

10,525 posts

194 months

Tuesday 3rd December 2019
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I wouldn't have another one either tbh, even if I was getting an f40/f50 i'd try and get a an sultan rhd car or not bother at all

davek_964

8,816 posts

175 months

Tuesday 3rd December 2019
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Larry5.2 said:
One thing to be said for LHD cars (Ferrari, Porsche, Lambo, etc) is that it's the way they were designed originally. So the pedal positions and footrests work correctly.
At least for Porsche, that's only really relevant for the older cars - up to 993 I think. 996 on were proper RHD versions.
Not sure about other marques.

MDL111

6,940 posts

177 months

Tuesday 3rd December 2019
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I prefer LHD cars, but would buy RHD versions if much cheaper (see M3 CSL as an example) or if originally RHD (see TVR). The seating position in my RHD 355 was definitely compromised vs a LHD car.

Edit to add: I never found LHD an issue in the UK (but as pointed out above, overtaking requires more planning/space

phib

4,464 posts

259 months

Tuesday 3rd December 2019
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WCZ said:
I wouldn't have another one either tbh, even if I was getting an f40/f50 i'd try and get a an sultan rhd car or not bother at all
As an aside, I remember being offered an ex sultan RHD F40 for £170k ....... unfortunately at the time a 2 bed house was £85k !!

Fiammetta

404 posts

88 months

Tuesday 3rd December 2019
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Had a LHD Testarossa imported from Switzerland for 10 years in the U.K. .No problems what’s so ever , In fact the gear gate was better set up .Sold it to guy who took it to Moscow .
Currently I have a Italian LHD 2.0 ....208 GT 4 ....only comes in LHD and I take back to Switzerland for 3/4 months in the summer .It winters in the U.K. and summers in EU land .
The roads + obviously alpines passes are in a different league abroad .
I’ve done a couple of classic rallye s abroad ...
Based on that I wouldn’t hesitate to have a LHD Ferrari because you arguably get a better experience for a lot less bucks and as said a massive buying audience =EU etc .

Fiammetta

404 posts

88 months

Tuesday 3rd December 2019
quotequote all
Fiammetta said:
Had a LHD Testarossa imported from Switzerland for 10 years in the U.K. .No problems what’s so ever , In fact the gear gate was better set up .Sold it to guy who took it to Moscow .
Currently I have a Italian LHD 2.0 ....208 GT 4 ....only comes in LHD and I take back to Switzerland for 3/4 months in the summer .It winters in the U.K. and summers in EU land .
The roads + obviously alpines passes are in a different league abroad .
I’ve done a couple of classic rallye s abroad ...
Based on that I wouldn’t hesitate to have a LHD Ferrari because you arguably get a better experience for a lot less bucks and as said a massive buying audience =EU etc .
What “ hassle “ ? ......on our speed bumps , cameras and coned motorways for 1/2 the year you gonna use it .

cayman-black

12,644 posts

216 months

Tuesday 3rd December 2019
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I had a LHD Modena no problems what so ever even sold it in the uk easily.

markst

Original Poster:

236 posts

165 months

Wednesday 4th December 2019
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thanks for the feedback ….

markst

Original Poster:

236 posts

165 months

Wednesday 4th December 2019
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question...…and I really don't know.....I've seen a car , looks lovely but its a US spec 308....converted to Euro spec. and its a GTSi at that , so its the low powered version.

big issue ?

jtremlett

1,375 posts

222 months

Wednesday 4th December 2019
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markst said:
question...…and I really don't know.....I've seen a car , looks lovely but its a US spec 308....converted to Euro spec. and its a GTSi at that , so its the low powered version.

big issue ?
Yes basically. They're a very hard sell here. The least desirable 308 model and the least desirable market version. But I suppose it is like anything else and depends upon the price you would be buying at and whether it suits what you want.

Chris355

794 posts

196 months

Sunday 8th December 2019
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I have owned a few LHD cars and apart from car park machines I’ve never had any issue with them. If the price difference is significant enough then I’d buy another.