4th Mar 2006, 19:04
Recently purchased a 1988, paid for the major engine out tune up, and have now driven the car for about 300 miles, putting its total miles at around 18,000. Having owned Porsche, Vettes, and Vipers previously, going "RETRO" struck me as a step backwards in performance. I was buying the car for the "art" I have been very pleasantly surprised at how well this 18 year old car performs. Supercar performance, with luxury, and style. Very pleased to have a 12 cylinder, stick shift, mid engined Ferrari. Each drive feels "special".
12th Jun 2006, 13:42
"Although the 360 is a refined machine I feel it will follow the same path as the other Ferraris in its class, the 308, 328. 348 and the 355"...What??? Are you really familiar with these cars? If you were you would know that the 308/328 uses the traditional Ferrari tube framing while the 348/355 were a complete departure from that. Also, the 308/328s are more reliable even then your Testarossa and are rising in value while your Testarossa plummets. Don't believe me? Look at what they are selling for, not being advertised at. Don't get me wrong, I LIKE the Testarossa; just not your comments about Ferraris.
17th Nov 2010, 20:32
Very well, then --- once more: the 308/328/348/355/360/430/458 ALL, to a one, occupy the same position in the Ferrari range. Every one of them. Each is an "entry-level" (such as they can be) two-seater with a mid-mounted V8 engine. Some are evolutionary developments (e.g. 308 to 328), others revolutionary. But, and here's the crucial bit; they are *all* effectively replacements for the Dino 246GT. And as such, 308s tend to be cross-shopped against 355s, 348s against 328s, and so forth.
Oh, and while the Testarossa has bottomed out now, remember too (though I suspect you might just be decades too young...) that Berlinetta Boxer prices were in the basement for years before beginning to sharply rise within the last five or six years, particularly in Europe. And neither version (365 or 512) of the BB was even a fraction as popular an aspirational bedroom-wall-poster icon as the Testarossa was. The Testarossa looks faintly ridiculous now, but its time will come.
Similarly, the 308 is climbing very, very slowly, and even then only because of the early carb and fiberglass cars. You can still find ass-dragging early injection cars for under $30,000 all damned day long... just as you could in the late 1990s. And 328s haven't even bottomed out yet --- that $50,000 328 GTS from six or seven years ago can be had for comfortably under $40K now (most live in the $30-35K range).
12th Feb 2006, 10:13
I purchased a 1988 testarossa 2 years ago... a black one (the only color for the car in my opinion) with tan interior. I have had minimal problems with it... it has 20,000 miles..its been 5 years since belt changes and the customary major service... runs better now than when I bought it... although the major service costs 7-9000 (replace water pump belts clutch adjust and tune) it's a real gem to drive (especially early Sunday mornings).Truly the last real artful styling from Ferrari (most new ones look like toy race cars that belong on a track)...the elegance of the TR is timeless... oh yeah and it performs too. Feb 10 2006.