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Today I have been in 2 Ferraris

A 1750 - 2000 Alfa GTV can be a real pleasure to drive. For that matter I'd have a Lancia Fanalone before most '50s-'70s Ferraris.
 
If it feels agricultural that is a shame. A 205 gti or Mx5 from the same era feel nimble and taught to me. Maybe only cars under 1000kg can stand the test of time.

To be fair the MX5 was launched only just in the 80's (1989) as a brand new floor up design and the pug was a 1984 design, the 80's 911 (930) was still a 1975 designed chassis. Still, it was a bit clunky but a hell of a thrill to drive, do not discount it if you get a change to have a drive of one.
 
This is the real Testarossa 1957
tom_hartley_testa_rossa_01.jpg
 
IIRC the Herald / Vitesse steering had brass trunnions so you'd end up replacing them every 20k miles or so.
Only if you failed to oil them. You needed a second grease gun filled with EP90 gear oil. This leaked out. The fix was to top them up every few weeks. Grease was frowned upon, it dried up. My fix was to pump in oil at a service, then grease after a few weeks, then oil, etc. It stayed liquid, but didn't leak out. This way it lasted years. Most people couldn't be bothered, so after 2 years without lubrication the MoT tester was shaking his head. Not a big deal, half an hour and £10 bits. We forget how much oiling and greasing needed to be done on old cars. When did you last use a grease gun?
 
To be fair the MX5 was launched only just in the 80's (1989) as a brand new floor up design and the pug was a 1984 design, the 80's 911 (930) was still a 1975 designed chassis. Still, it was a bit clunky but a hell of a thrill to drive, do not discount it if you get a change to have a drive of one.

Yes, I'd do it sooner rather than later. Some people just don't correlate the air cooled 911 driving experience with the sexy/retro modern looking externals. Personally, I only feel comfortable in LHD air cooled 911's but good luck trying to overtake on a B road in one!
 
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Yes, I'd do it sooner rather than later. Some people just don't correlate the air cooled 911 driving experience with the sexy/retro modern looking externals. Personally, I only feel comfortable in LHD air cooled 911's but good luck trying to overtake on a B road on one!
Why lhd?
 

It's the pedal offset in the RHD cars.
The wheel well means they cannot put the accelerator pedal far enough over to the right and results in everything being skewed left. It's really worth sitting in a few to see if you could work with that. Lots seem to just get used to it but I can't - it's the reason I'd never pay current values for one. If they went back to the values 15 years ago, I'd put up with it...They were originally designed & developed to be LHD cars.
 
It's the pedal offset in the RHD cars.
The wheel well means they cannot put the accelerator pedal far enough over to the right and results in everything being skewed left. It's really worth sitting in a few to see if you could work with that.

Like old SAAB's then. I guess they saved some money by putting the pedals in the middle and making that the same for LHD and RHD cars ;)
 
Like old SAAB's then. I guess they saved some money by putting the pedals in the middle and making that the same for LHD and RHD cars ;)

Yeah, Porsche sure weren't that well funded back then. Hell, they bet all their eggs on the fronted engined 944/928 platforms and barely developed the 911 for a decade or thereabouts. The fooker just kept selling though so that says alot :) :)
 
This is the real Testarossa 1957
tom_hartley_testa_rossa_01.jpg
There were a number of Testarossas (named for the colour of the camshaft covers). The most famous (and expensive) is the early "pontoon" wings/fenders model:

Copertina-Ferrari-250-TR-768x480.jpg

The last model had the "shark" nose of the 1961 F1 cars. The model lived on in the 250 GTO, which was essentially a Testa Rossa with a roof.
 
Yeah, Porsche sure weren't that well funded back then. Hell, they bet all their eggs on the fronted engined 944/928 platforms and barely developed the 911 for a decade or thereabouts. The fooker just kept selling though so that says alot :) :)

If I remember it correctly, didn’t they design the 924 for Audi who then rejected it for some reason I can’t remember. Porsche then went onto make themselves and it saved their bacon because it was profitable.
 
There were a number of Testarossas (named for the colour of the camshaft covers). The most famous (and expensive) is the early "pontoon" wings/fenders model:

Copertina-Ferrari-250-TR-768x480.jpg

The last model had the "shark" nose of the 1961 F1 cars. The model lived on in the 250 GTO, which was essentially a Testa Rossa with a roof.

That is one seriously ugly car.
 
If I remember it correctly, didn’t they design the 924 for Audi who then rejected it for some reason I can’t remember. Porsche then went onto make themselves and it saved their bacon because it was profitable.

It was a design for VW, to be their top of the range coupe. It ended up being made in an Audi factory for Porsche.
 
That is one seriously ugly car.
But a very effective one. Between the beginning of the World Sportscar Championship in the early 1950s and its rule change in the early 1960s, Ferrari won all but two - Mercedes in 1955 and Aston Martin in 1959. Interestingly, Stirling Moss had a hand in both of those non-Ferrari wins (the famous Mille Miglia win with Denis Jenkinson and the amazing double comeback at the Nurburgring 1000 KM for Aston Martin).
 
I just had a look at Testarossa asking prices...6 figure sum...surely you can get something alot more exciting to actually drive for that dosh. I mean that Ferrari weighs 1700kg...

Is it to properly drive for a weekend thrill?
 
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Talking about eye of the beholder stuff, I thought the ‘80s ‘Miami Vice’ Testarossa was just about the ugliest car Ferrari has produced. Even at the time I thought it was crass and ungainly, totally unlike the dainty and subtle lines we expect.
 


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