It's time to buy a V12 Ferrari

Surely it is enevitable that all Ferrari's increase in value after some point. You only have to look at what happened to Dino 246 prices a few years ago and more recently the increase in value for the larger, less popular V12 GT cars like the 250, 330 and 365.

I would suggest that the time is right to be looking at the final classic V12 model, the 365 GT4 2+2 and 400/412.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c3/Ferrari_400.jpg

It's a bit ugly - or is it? The more I look at this model the more I like it and even better it's cheap as chips. £5K gets you a project, £10K will get you something which is legal, £20K gets you something perfect. Not bad when you look under the bonnet and there's a Ferrari V12 engine.

All things being equal then these cars must go up in price once they hit the age at which we get all nostalgic about them (like the Dino). Maybe not yet, but the prices are rock bottom so buy one, stick it in your garage and discover it again in a few years.

Better still, buy one and drive it. The neighbours won't know what's going on!

How easy is it to own a 70's Italian car such as a Fiat or Ferrari ?

It is true that to own a 70's Fiat you have to be an enthusiast and prepared to get your hands dirty although one can often benefit from someone else's hard work. For example I rebuilt my '76 from the ground up and fitted many new parts (including the master cylinders!), but it only sold for £1250. I wish I still had it, but I had to make space for my GT4.

Most common classic cars tend to be cheap to buy and parts are very cheap (apart from body panels on the X1/9) relative to a modern car and the associated running costs.
Classic cars are much easier to maintain that modern cars due to their inherent simplicity - even Ferrari's.The main problem is finding a garage or shop who you would trust to do the work and will charge you a reasonable rate. I guess it's down to geography. For example owning, running and maintaining a 70's Triumph in the UK is easy because it's home territory for the marque. Equally air cooled VW's made it to all parts of the world so are well understood everywhere. But take your X1/9 to a garage to have them fix the headlamps because they don't pop up and you'll probably get a hefty bill. But let's face it, if you can fix the headlamps on an X1/9 then you can say that you can fix Ferrari's and Lamborghini's too which sounds kind of exotic.

I grew up on a diet of Fiat's and so moving to a 77 Ferrari 308 GT4 was no effort or shock. I could see how it could be for most people though and I would advise owning a cheap well maintained 70's Italian car before moving to the expensive stuff so you get the thrill and experience the levels of maintenance required.

Fiat 128 3p running and driving and for sale now! £450

Did some work on the 128 3p and managed to get it started. Needed to replace the plugs (they were well past it) and clean and resit the points. Also cleaned the idle jets and fires up and runs nicely now.
Tried to drive it but the clutch was seized so I used all the old tricks summarised here and it eventually it freed off. Took it for a spin round the block and it's great. Nippy and the gears are smooth.

It's for sale now as I've a bit too much on my plate at the moment so if you fancy it then £450 secures it for you just email me.