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Old 08-05-2003, 11:31 AM
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snakeeyes snakeeyes is offline
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Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: San Antonio, TX
Cobra Make, Engine: Former owner: JCF 289 slabside, ERA #329 and 424, GTD "Essex Wire" GT40; currently enjoying Hi-Tech 427 #147
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To each his own, for sure. Thank God we don't all like the same cars--it would make things too dull around here.

The Cobra is a completely different experience from any Ferrari I've driven; it's more intense, it pounds on the senses, and yes, it's faster. I have never driven any of the newer stuff from Maranello, but the Ferraris I've driven couldn't hang with a decent-running Cobra (at least not at any speed a sane person would drive on the street).

On the other hand, the steering and handling in Ferraris is generally phenomenal, and they are very comfortable to drive considerable distances (again, speaking from my own ownership experiences). Oh, and they sound so nice...my 308 QV has a Tubi exhaust, and the music of it going through a tunnel is not to be missed...

They are more expensive to operate, but that's true for most stuff that doesn't have an American V8 under the hood. I have a friend who runs a foreign car repair shop who will do the 30K mile service on a V8 Ferrari for about $2400. That is the most "major" service one of those cars will ever need, and a Ferrari dealership will dock you more than twice that for it. Given the mileage I've put on mine, neither will need it for five years or more so it's not a big deal to me personally, but I can see how that would deter people.

Different strokes, I guess. It all depends on what you want to accomplish. I love the cars because of their history. When I sit in mine and look at the prancing horse on the steering wheel I think of Gilles Villeneuve, a boyhood hero. I don't belong to any Ferrari clubs because the ones I've been around were mostly comprised of the "gold chain" set. I'd rather drive mine than be seen in them; when I get in them I head out of town, to the sparsely populated roads, as opposed to into town, towards the crowds.
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