Manual 360 with sports seats

[MalcH]

Hi, i replied but lost it!

I saw this car, but in my view, it’s quite far over the right money for a car that’s sat for 5 years and has 44k miles, somewhere between £10-20k if the asking for the car i missed out on at Rardley is anything to go by. I paid £10k less for a 17k miler in similar spec from a Ferrari specialist for the car I returned. You might accuse me of wanting my cake and to east it, but i reckon that’s a bit too far outside the circle on the spec / condition / price Venn diagram.

Saying that, I’m relaxed about mileage (44k in 20 years! Porsches dont really have this mileage issue, it’s so weird!).

I chatted to Aldous about STG’s car pre-Christmas and coincidentally followed up with him over the weekend and had a go at emailing STG via his website too. Fingers crossed!

I know he suggested it as such on a video late last year. Is he selling it?

BTW that £84k 44k miles 360 :tongue3::tongue3::laugh::laugh: Seriously?

 

[Red Head]

Who knows - could easily have been comic bait for the video but unless you ask….

That 44k miler steamy on price so make a bid. Don’t see it rushing out the door…

 

[cgt]

Who knows - could easily have been comic bait for the video but unless you ask….

That 44k miler steamy on price so make a bid. Don’t see it rushing out the door…

He seems a likeable bloke but I really don't understand the excruciatingly OTT campness like Kenneth Williams on cocaine.

His subject matter is great but his videos would be so much more watchable if he just spoke normally!

 

[Nosevi]

Saying that, I’m relaxed about mileage (44k in 20 years! Porsches dont really have this mileage issue, it’s so weird!).

The Ferrari mileage issue only really matters because it matters to the market when you come to sell. If you're looking to keep long term and put significant miles on, the mileage when you bought obviously has less of an impact - buying a 20k miles vs a 30k miles car may make a difference but selling a 50k vs 60k miles car really won't much.

Just out of curiosity, how important is originality to you? Sorry if this has been asked before but your spec being manual and sports seats very much limits your market, would you be willing to consider a manual with normal seats then fit aftermarket sports seats? You could keep the original seats to stay with the car at resale. It would widen your search significantly and potentially put some very nice manuals with normal seats in the frame. As with most things you may find a modern aftermarket seat is in many ways better than the original.

I've not really done a proper look but there do seem to be some options out there:

https://www.sportseats4u.co.uk/product/ferrari-360-cobra-misano-seat/

Edit: I see this was discussed earlier in the thread and Tim suggested the same seat.

 

[Beda]

The Ferrari mileage issue only really matters because it matters to the market when you come to sell. If you're looking to keep long term and put significant miles on, the mileage when you bought obviously has less of an impact - buying a 20k miles vs a 30k miles car may make a difference but selling a 50k vs 60k miles car really won't much.

Just out of curiosity, how important is originality to you? Sorry if this has been asked before but your spec being manual and sports seats very much limits your market, would you be willing to consider a manual with normal seats then fit aftermarket sports seats? You could keep the original seats to stay with the car at resale. It would widen your search significantly and potentially put some very nice manuals with normal seats in the frame. As with most things you may find a modern aftermarket seat is in many ways better than the original.

I've not really done a proper look but there do seem to be some options out there:

https://www.sportseats4u.co.uk/product/ferrari-360-cobra-misano-seat/

Edit: I see this was discussed earlier in the thread and Tim suggested the same seat.

You're kind to suggest it but I haven't yet found a seat that anyone can promise gets you as low in the car as the factory sports seats. Cobra and a few others have options but say they don't lower the seat height from standard. I would happily install aftermarket if I could find ones that worked (and as you say, could return to stock if needed).

I did find someone (now selling their car) in Oxfordshire who installed Recaro sportsters from a Clio 197 (I think) and said they were lower, but he wasn't that motivated to let me come up and sit in the them (not unreasonably so, life is busy and we couldn't really make it work in a way convenient for him). He pointed me to a guy in the states who is about my height who uses them in a 430, so that could be an option but it's a very expensive punt - £60-70k for a car, £4-5k for seats and plates etc to install, only to find I've got a car I can't use and seats that are now second hand.

The guy in Oxfordshire's car looks alright but we couldn't get close on price as a package (including seats), and has now taken the seats out and wants to sell them separately, so not much use to me unless I'm willing to roll the dice on the seats.

I want to be wrong but in the absence of someone else having done a swap that definitely lowers the seats to factory sports height, I think I'm left waiting for a car with sports seats.

I am not bothered about mileage - I'd happily buy a cheaper car with 40K miles (again, 2k a year!) and sell it for less if/when that day comes, but I don't see many sellers of higher mileage cars pricing them accordingly. Mind you, if I think most of the pricing I see is inconsistent and a bit nutty, maybe I'm the problem!

 

[Nosevi]

I am not bothered about mileage - I'd happily buy a cheaper car with 40K miles (again, 2k a year!) and sell it for less if/when that day comes, but I don't see many sellers of higher mileage cars pricing them accordingly. Mind you, if I think most of the pricing I see is inconsistent and a bit nutty, maybe I'm the problem!

Nope, it's not you, prices for the older tipos are frankly all over the place and there are some wildly optimistic asking prices out there. In 348s (have had my eye on the market as might sell soon having owned her for about 12 years now) mileage seems to be the overriding factor effecting asking price, followed by condition with service history a distant 3rd. I guess that makes sense - I'm far more interested in the condition of the car now (mechanical and cosmetic) than I am whether she was serviced by the book 10 or 20 years ago and would personally always buy primarily on current condition.

Whether to go for a higher or lower mileage car (assuming you get the choice) all depends on how you will use it and in my book there's no right or wrong way. If you intend to put significant miles on it then you clearly don't want to pay a premium for a low mileage car as that premium will disappear, but if she'll be a car for the more occasional special drive that's not such a big deal as you'll pay more now but get more back at sale time. However silly it is I'm not convinced the Ferrari market's obsession with mileage will ever change.

 

[Modificato]

You're kind to suggest it but I haven't yet found a seat that anyone can promise gets you as low in the car as the factory sports seats. Cobra and a few others have options but say they don't lower the seat height from standard. I would happily install aftermarket if I could find ones that worked (and as you say, could return to stock if needed).

Just a word of warning.

I am 6' 3" and my F430 was bought from virtually new with the carbon race sets.

Even though I could get in and test drive the car well and was happy...

On the 200+ mile journey home it became clear that I would have to further modify things to be comfortable for touring trips.

On inspection I saw there was a way to move the seat rails a further 20mm rearward as there was another mounting hole at the front. A lack of corresponding adjustment at the rear however would need two new holes drilling for the mounts at the rear. Being a time served aircraft builder that was no problem to do and that last 20mm made a big difference - however on long trips the back of my thighs would get cramps as the seat as standard is just too low. My wife had the same complaint and it was stopping us enjoying the car for anything other than short trips.

This is a common issue Superformance sell a Hill Engineering Seat Spacer kit to raise the seats in series of increments.

It took us doing that to get to a 'goldilocks - just right' fit for both of us so don't always assume that low as possible will solve the issue as ergonomically our legs do not like being used for pedal work if resting too flat in between.

 

[RichardCH]

Just a word of warning.

I am 6' 3" and my F430 was bought from virtually new with the carbon race sets.

Even though I could get in and test drive the car well and was happy...

On the 200+ mile journey home it became clear that I would have to further modify things to be comfortable for touring trips.

On inspection I saw there was a way to move the seat rails a further 20mm rearward as there was another mounting hole at the front. A lack of corresponding adjustment at the rear however would need two new holes drilling for the mounts at the rear. Being a time served aircraft builder that was no problem to do and that last 20mm made a big difference - however on long trips the back of my thighs would get cramps as the seat as standard is just too low. My wife had the same complaint and it was stopping us enjoying the car for anything other than short trips.

This is a common issue Superformance sell a Hill Engineering Seat Spacer kit to raise the seats in series of increments.

It took us doing that to get to a 'goldilocks - just right' fit for both of us so don't always assume that low as possible will solve the issue as ergonomically our legs do not like being used for pedal work if resting too flat in between.

Yes I did exactly the same in my F430 with Carbon Buckets as am 6`6, my record is 5 hours in the seat very comfortable

 

[Gibbo205]

Am also on the hunt for a 360 manual in the UK, spec/miles anything considered and after a car with 20-60,000 miles ideally as am buying to drive and enjoy, not something to sit and stare at. Would prefer a manual coupe and am based in Cheshire/Staffordshire area.