Panic buying a pandemic Ferrari

[jackpe]

Hello all, I missed out on panic buying hand sanitizers and instead, three nights ago I ended up buying a Ferrari 308, at an online auction, unseen and with roughly two hours preparation. Thank you, I am indeed a genius. I present to you the InfluEnzo:


I don’t actually have it yet due to the lockdown so this pic was the wizardry of my mates and photoshop, that is me and that is the actual car. But tache and shirt are photoshopped. With fees I paid £34k. That would have been an ok price in a normal environment but really I should have got it £30k all in for it to have by chance of not losing me loads of money when the world ends and I come to sell.
There are videos about this purchase on YouTube but due to PH rules I can’t post the link. You’ll have to search if you want to see them. In the meantime here is more info and pics.
Car is high mileage, 80k miles, left hooker originally from Holland. Was registered in 81 but is probably an earlier production as still has the single exhaust. It is a Weber carb car not the later injection ones.
Was bought at high risk, in the excitement of the moment I forgot to do the most basic checks. Mot history and HPI. but since I’ve found more info and it mostly looks
like it’s not a total stter. Does obviously need some attention though.. will update you when car is delivered this week.

Edited by jackpe on Saturday 4th April 09:39

[jackpe]

Hey all, thanks for the supportive comments! It looks like the car will be delivered Wednesday. The place where it is stored is still working as business and are happy to deliver and frankly I’m a bit nervous having paid for it to leave it somewhere for too long in the current climate. We will make sure social distancing is respected when they drop off. Will update you all and post more pictures when I have it!

[jackpe]

TR4man said:

Allow me https://youtu.be/eHKJszIhgm4

Thanks for posting that. That is actually the second video, the first was of me on the computer on the lead up to and winning the auction! As far as I am aware though PH rules still preclude me from putting up links of my own videos, so I won't risk it.

Still unsure of when I will actually get hold of the InfluEnzo because of current restrictions on movement.

Incidentally I just found out that the new engine I recently installed on my Frogeye is fked, low compression in one cylinder. So it's a good job I've bought something trouble free and reliable to replace it till I can get that sorted out

[jackpe]

5harp3y said:

Why would you buy this when you could have a 1.5 Ford kuga suv

I know, I’m an idiot..

[jackpe]

webstercivet said:

Good spot.

Also the frequent switches between km and miles.

Aware of all that. Mileage will have been a misread from MoT tester.. no point in rolling it back by 200 kms or so. Also the switch between miles and KM will just be individual testers not always realising the odometer is in Km and sometimes recording as miles which is what they are used to. the rest of MOT history is ‘interesting’ but nothing hugely worrying in there. Ultimately when I get of it I’ll be able to tell for sure. As mentioned there are videos on my channel that explain this.. someone out a link in another previous post. I don’t think I’m allowed to.

Edited by jackpe on Monday 6th April 11:04

[jackpe]

webstercivet said:

jackpe said:

Aware of all that. Mileage will have been a misread from MoT tester.. no pint in rolling it back by 200 kms or so. the rest of MOT history is ‘interesting’ but nothing hugely worrying in there. Ultimately when I get of it I’ll be able to tell for sure. As mentioned there are videos on my channel that explain this.. someone out a link in another previous post. I don’t think I’m allowed to.

Have I misunderstood something? The odd bit is not a 200km difference, it's the change from 96,182 miles in 2007 to 3,345 miles in 2008. Sorry if I've missed an explanation already. Good luck with it anyway!

Yes it’s an old Ferrari, clock only goes up to 100k kms...so it’s rolled over and now reads 28k kms.

[jackpe]

Pericoloso said:

blueg33 said:

Xcore said:

Very nice, is it metal or fibreglass?!

I may be wrong but deep chin spoiler = metal, ie a later car

Also - does fibreglass come as a targa?

Edited by blueg33 on Monday 6th April 09:18

Vetroresina cars only made up to 1977 so a W reg should be metal.

Yes it’s metal. The fibreglass cars only ran for two years and did not come in GTS but only GTB. Also they are worth about three times as much as the metal bodied cars so you would never find one for £35-£40k

[jackpe]

Richard-G said:

bookmaked and subscribed to your channel, i love 80's red cars with pop up lights!

Thanks! Much appreciated!

[jackpe]

Ok so.. car arrived. There is lots to say but to give you a flavour of what’s to come. We had to roll
It off the trailer and push it into my garage .. because it would not run!! At first glance it looks good if not immaculate. Has a few small rust bubbles but nothing scary. Now to work out why it’s not running and then go through it for a better assessment. Will do another video for Friday showing all this and will also update the thread..

Edited by jackpe on Wednesday 8th April 22:47

[jackpe]

Hey everyone, thanks all so much for your kind and supportive comments. I would reply to you all individually but multi quote does not seem to work on PH? In any case I have the car and it has already been a bit of a rollercoaster.

It wasn't running when it arrived so I spent the first couple of days getting it to fire up.I was pretty worried but delighted when I finally got it going. I did some work to carbs and distributor cap, which was very corroded and it fired right up! However that elation was replaced almost immediately with worry as the engine seemed to be smoking a bit, even once up to temperature. There is a full update on what has happened so far on the third youtube video just released. You can find the link straight to the video in my profile.

Here is a pic though..doesnt she look amazing? done loads of little bits already..BUT won't really be bale to enjoy till I work out what the situation is with the engine.

[jackpe]

V8fan said:

I'm surprised you already have it. The information on the CCA website is that delivery will be after the end of the movement restrictions! Is it because the storage charges would have mounted up?

From their FAQ:

Where will the car be if I have been successful in purchasing it?

You will be notified when your vehicle is being delivered to our central collection point EM Rogers in Northampton (NN5 7UA). This will only happen after the Covid-19 lockdown has been lifted.

There will be a £25 +VAT handling fee and £10+VAT per day storage fee from this point. You can collect from Northampton or EM Rogers, our transport partners, can offer a longer storage service/delivery service if required and this can be arranged by contacting them

Because the sale was moved to online one the car never went to them on the first place. It was in storage quite close to me. I’d paid the auction people but they would not release the funds to the seller till I received the car. It made me
Nervous to know the money was in limbo with a third company during these tough times. The people storing it were happy enough to deliver As they are still allowed to work. We took precautions like keeping distance .. etch.

[jackpe]

craig_m67 said:

Quick question, is that a Duetto/GT hubcap in the living room?

Great vids, love your approach to it all
I’ve driven nothing but Alfa’s for the last 30odd years, so she’ll be right.
Italian tune up as they all say, see if you can get the rings to bed and or sweep off any glaze

Cheers!

Yes it is!! I used to have a 1750 GTV, also had a 1961 Giulia Spider. Nice story on the GTV on my channel!

[jackpe]

niggtv said:

It looks great in the video! Any sign of previous colour, or does it look like it had a full stripdown respray?

Really hope the smoking resolves itself - does the oil look fresh?

Nope, no sign of the white anywhere!! Which is good news!!

[jackpe]

Paracetamol said:

I’m hoping the drive clears up the smoke. Looks to be white which is oil burning usually right?

Perhaps an oil change and some forte type additives? I don’t know much about valve seals etc. On one of my cars I had a valve guide issue which produced smoke but only after idling for a while.

Good luck. It’s a pretty car and I love the side mirror design.

Thank you buddy.. I’m doing some more fettling today and will take it out soon and see if it clears!!

[jackpe]

JBT said:

Cracking purchase, sir! I don't know why, as I would have imagined they would look out of place on a car like this, but the Cibie spots look fantastic on it.

It looks like it has the larger optional 16" wheels as well?

Does indeed, not sure if they were ordered when new or added later!

[jackpe]

CaptainSlow said:

Subscribed and watched a few of the other videos too. You have a good presentation style, much better than many on YouTube.

One question though, if there's no girlfriend on the scene...why are the R/C cars in the garage?

Ha!!! Well the garage is still my mancave.. even though I have the whole house. Plus when I do get another girlfriend o don’t really want here coming into the house and seeing a load of RC cars in pride of place in the sitting room! Thanks for the kind comments on the videos!!

[jackpe]

Thank you all, especially those that subscribed to the channel and those with helpful suggestions!! So far 99% of your have been too kind and refrained from saying I’m a moron..
Have worked on it a fair bit more and the InfluEnzo has so far managed to maintain its unmatched ability to make me swing between delight and despair. Delight never seems to last all that long though.. af rw days ago I finally took it on that drive .. and ..... the smoke cleared!! I was ecstatic for at least 2 minutes, till I realised the engine felt down on power... and that lead to whole new round of investigations. It’s only running on 7 cylinders. I believe this has been an issue for some time as there is evidence in the paperwork of this having been diagnosed in the past. Another update video out tomorrow. I’ll post here when it’s out. Also next week am goi g to do one on all the stuff I’ve found that is broken..

[jackpe]

For those that fancy watching it, the update video is out! Link in my profile!!

[jackpe]

Chaps, thanks all including those that left comments on YT. Really nice to have the involvement of the Pistonheads community!
Got new bits today and I can say that.... the car is now running on all 8!! And I have ordered a new tester as the old one was buggered!!

[jackpe]

LanceRS said:

Well done on this one Jack. I’ve been a subscriber since the first of the 12 cars, glad to see that you are creating content again. The car is stunning, glad to hear that you have managed to resurrect all 8 cylinders.
Just out of interest (and sorry if I have missed it elsewhere) why did the 964 go after all of the effort and expense?

Great to hear from a longtime watcher of the videos! The 964 became a bit too track focused and I got tired of the constant expense.. so I bought a nice, reliable, cheap to run Ferrari instead!!