That car was Jim Rearks old car and he competed many times in Targa in it. Our member, Carl Jones rebuilt the engine after a disaster with another mechanic . The argument was long and expensive and Jim's car was off the road a long time.
Jim was the long serving president of the Maserati Club and was the reason the club was so successful and active. I was a member for many years and enjoyed Jim's enthusiasm and leadership. It was a sad day a few years ago when Carl and I and a host of other petrolheads, farewelled Jim after 70+ years on this earth. His Ferrari lead the funeral procession to the cemetery. Fittingly, Jim was buried in his racing suit - which his daughter observed during the eulogy, was flameproof, in case his route directions to the afterlife were less than holy.
I did ask Carl if the car was worth buying and this is about the expected price because it needed a lot of work to get it back to being a road car. Of course, its a perfect track car or Targa car but as John has observed above, it will need a lot of looking after and would never be a cheap car to run.
Having owned a Ferrari and many Porsches, I can say from experience, the Porsche is a far, far easier car to live with, a lot easier to work on and the parts are readily available.
I went for lunch down the Mornington peninsula today to the same place we had taken the Ferrari to almost a year earlier, even the weather was the same (rain, cold). I remarked to Sheryl just how much better the 993 handled the roads and conditions than the F360 did. Mainly talking about useable ground clearance here and ease of driving and visibility in rain. The Ferrari has a better engine and more power and the handling is exceptional - but the 993 is better all round , even as a daily. I could never drive the 360 as a daily driver.
Its up on my hoist at work at present getting a full service done and I can say the Germans know how to build a car a lot better in terms of working on it and getting to critical areas. Like I had to remove the rear bumper to get to the gearbox oil filler. No wonder Ferrari owners complain about high service charges - it just takes hours to get to basic service items.
Jim was the long serving president of the Maserati Club and was the reason the club was so successful and active. I was a member for many years and enjoyed Jim's enthusiasm and leadership. It was a sad day a few years ago when Carl and I and a host of other petrolheads, farewelled Jim after 70+ years on this earth. His Ferrari lead the funeral procession to the cemetery. Fittingly, Jim was buried in his racing suit - which his daughter observed during the eulogy, was flameproof, in case his route directions to the afterlife were less than holy.
I did ask Carl if the car was worth buying and this is about the expected price because it needed a lot of work to get it back to being a road car. Of course, its a perfect track car or Targa car but as John has observed above, it will need a lot of looking after and would never be a cheap car to run.
Having owned a Ferrari and many Porsches, I can say from experience, the Porsche is a far, far easier car to live with, a lot easier to work on and the parts are readily available.
I went for lunch down the Mornington peninsula today to the same place we had taken the Ferrari to almost a year earlier, even the weather was the same (rain, cold). I remarked to Sheryl just how much better the 993 handled the roads and conditions than the F360 did. Mainly talking about useable ground clearance here and ease of driving and visibility in rain. The Ferrari has a better engine and more power and the handling is exceptional - but the 993 is better all round , even as a daily. I could never drive the 360 as a daily driver.
Its up on my hoist at work at present getting a full service done and I can say the Germans know how to build a car a lot better in terms of working on it and getting to critical areas. Like I had to remove the rear bumper to get to the gearbox oil filler. No wonder Ferrari owners complain about high service charges - it just takes hours to get to basic service items.
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