On the continuing theme....

A Ferrari owning friend has just emailed me. After a succession of modern Maranello products in bright red with cream coloured interiors he’s just picked up a black 348 for a decent sum and has been enjoying the analogue experience:

"Really pleased with it. What a lot of car. On the road it looks great. Black is a good colour for it. However one thing is really bothering me. All the time I am thinking you would really like this car. Its got that pre electronic feel. The steering wheel is pure Momo, no bag, no paddles, no packets of sweets plastered on. Its a good old fashioned three spoke Momo just as God intended. Three pedals is very retro but they work, its pure driving.

Visibility is also pure Ferrari, later cars actually allow you to see where you are going, this is guesswork. but that's some of its charm. It relies on some driving skill and judgement.

However much I hate to admit it and it really is hard to admit, the black interior is just how it should be. No gimmicks, just old fashioned Fiat. :-)

Your recent rantings just keep playing on my mind with this car. Its a good old fashioned
sports car. Yes things have moved on a long way but this brings back the days of simple driving. You could argue it is not 328 pure but for me this is a happy middle ground. I want A/C that works and it does, in fact its excellent. You cannot find a 328 that has strong A/C.

The car has done 48K miles and it has worn it well. I was concerned that 10 owners is high but as Terry Hoyle said last night, it means 10 people thought it was the best that they could find. It really does look nice and correct for the mileage.

So its not perfect, its not concours, but it was priced as such. I won’t worry about the amount of money tied up and hopefully I wont try to make it perfect as that would be wasted.

There is the chance of a big bill and that is always a risk. That's the price to play. If I only had £20K for a toy then this would be a top contender for keepsies."

Have we latched onto a trend?

SS7