Club Scuderia
Club Administrator
November 2005
Mileage: 500 (& 25,000 from new)
Issues: The best car I’ve ever driven and a rude awakening
Money spent: £1,300 (as well as the purchase price)!
At the start of the year (2005) I got my first F-car, a ’85 Mondial QV in great condition and low miles. The car was purchased from Forza288 in Bournemouth and is, in my opinion, very much underrated (predominantly due to it’s looks which I actually like)! At the end of the day I’d wanted a F-car for as long as I can remember and for c.£15k I’d achieved it and could now pose and do 150mph+ (the M42’s a lovely stretch of road)!
After 10 months and 5k miles I had learnt that a 20year old car struggles to cope with today’s driving, even with just ad-hoc use. Running two cars was also starting to pi$$ me off. Not just the expense but also the need to remember to do things twice and the need to solve two different sets of problems.
What I needed was a F-car (by this time I was hooked and couldn’t live with out one), that had suffered most of its depreciation, could fit my golf clubs in, that my Mrs can drive to pick me up from the pub when I’m drunk and has the mod cons needed for daily use (power steering, air-con and ideally an auto ‘box).
I’d always liked the 456 but only ever admired it from afar due to the £150k+ list price. So I was pretty shocked to see the way the value had fallen over the 10years since it was launched.
After a lot of phone calls to dealers and a couple of near misses I found myself back at Forza288 talking to Dave Miller who was happy to take back the Mondial he had previously sold me and let me drive away in a 456GTA in Grigio/Bordeaux that he was selling for a client. Dave is a top bloke and I would recomend talking to him for advice if nothing else!
Both myself and the Mrs drove the car on the day I collected it and it even got the seal of approval from her. The 200mile drive back from Bournemouth was a breeze. No backache, no surprises just great driving and plenty of fun!
However…
The first week of driving it to work everyday highlighted a few glitches. The most serious of which was the coolant pipe leaking, making the temperature rise. Luckily this happened just across the road from Graypaul where it was duly limped to for further investigation and repair.
Ouch! Loads of man hours needed and Graypaul’s turnover increased by £.1,300!
End the month wondering if I’ve bitten off more than I can chew!
Mileage: 500 (& 25,000 from new)
Issues: The best car I’ve ever driven and a rude awakening
Money spent: £1,300 (as well as the purchase price)!
At the start of the year (2005) I got my first F-car, a ’85 Mondial QV in great condition and low miles. The car was purchased from Forza288 in Bournemouth and is, in my opinion, very much underrated (predominantly due to it’s looks which I actually like)! At the end of the day I’d wanted a F-car for as long as I can remember and for c.£15k I’d achieved it and could now pose and do 150mph+ (the M42’s a lovely stretch of road)!
After 10 months and 5k miles I had learnt that a 20year old car struggles to cope with today’s driving, even with just ad-hoc use. Running two cars was also starting to pi$$ me off. Not just the expense but also the need to remember to do things twice and the need to solve two different sets of problems.
What I needed was a F-car (by this time I was hooked and couldn’t live with out one), that had suffered most of its depreciation, could fit my golf clubs in, that my Mrs can drive to pick me up from the pub when I’m drunk and has the mod cons needed for daily use (power steering, air-con and ideally an auto ‘box).
I’d always liked the 456 but only ever admired it from afar due to the £150k+ list price. So I was pretty shocked to see the way the value had fallen over the 10years since it was launched.
After a lot of phone calls to dealers and a couple of near misses I found myself back at Forza288 talking to Dave Miller who was happy to take back the Mondial he had previously sold me and let me drive away in a 456GTA in Grigio/Bordeaux that he was selling for a client. Dave is a top bloke and I would recomend talking to him for advice if nothing else!
Both myself and the Mrs drove the car on the day I collected it and it even got the seal of approval from her. The 200mile drive back from Bournemouth was a breeze. No backache, no surprises just great driving and plenty of fun!
However…
The first week of driving it to work everyday highlighted a few glitches. The most serious of which was the coolant pipe leaking, making the temperature rise. Luckily this happened just across the road from Graypaul where it was duly limped to for further investigation and repair.
Ouch! Loads of man hours needed and Graypaul’s turnover increased by £.1,300!
End the month wondering if I’ve bitten off more than I can chew!
