Lamborghini Urraco or Ferrari Dino 308 GT4

Launched earlier than the GT4, the Lamborghini Urraco is the next closest car in the class - in fact it's a bit too close.
Designed by Lamborghinis favourite, Bertone, the Urraco had an all new mid-ish transverse mounted V8 and was a 2+2 based around a monocoque - and as any Italian car fan knows rust is an issue, especially with uni-construction cars. I prefer Ferrari's approach of a substantial space frame with body panels attached.

I discovered the Urraco before the GT4 and thought that rear quarter was the best thing I'd ever seen. I also think overall they are a better looking car, so why then do I have a GT4 instead? Well the Urraco is on my 'list' but the Ferrari is an easier hobby car to maintain with parts readily available and relatively cheap (relative to what though you may ask - well I'll talk about that next time).

Perhaps they will never be quite as desirable as a Ferrari for this reason, but if you see a cheap one that doesn't have rust and engine issues and you have the skills to run old Italian cars then buy and store it - it's a pretty Lamborghini.

Lamborghini Urraco or Ferrari Dino 308 GT4 - I'll have one of each please!

Summer fun

ahh for the long summer evenings in a Dino...

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.

Fiat 128 3p

Bought myself a Fiat 128 3p, something I always fancied and in particularly in this colour scheme and trim level. It's pretty rusty and quite sorry for itseft and doesn't yet run although did last year.
I'm going to assess it over the next few weeks and use it to generally learn about this model although I have twenty years of experience with Fiats of this era.

Carburettor setup on Ferrari 308 GT4

Used Birdman’s excellent carburettor sync tutorials to set the four Webers up. A little scary as you have to reset all the control screws and adjustments before you start. However, it all worked out and ran very well afterwards. Used an STE flow meter from CB Performance

Have been assessing the spark plug colours since and adjusting the mixture control screws where necessary to bring the plug colour up to a nice biscuit.

Also found a great article and discussion of Weber carburettors here