A Ferrari is a highly coveted and sought after car, right? They have waiting lists and premiums over MSRP, unlike any other brand. People go nuts to get a Ferrari. Even pre-owned Ferraris hold their value far better than any other automaker. Why is it, then, that four seat Ferraris don't evoke the same passion and illustrious glow that the two seat Ferrari does?

One can't even say two door versus four door, because they all have two doors. So, it is truly the addition of the back seat that hurts the luster. The four seat Ferrari, when new, generally sells for more than the two seat car, so it is not as though Ferrari has placed a lower intrinsic value in our heart and mind. The four seater also comes with ceramic brakes, high-end audio and a big voracious V12 power plant, so it is not as though it is missing the goods. Is there really an answer to this conundrum?

If the answer is as simple as people prefer the two seat Ferrari more than four seat cars, why does Ferrari even bother making the bigger car and how does it get away with charging extra when new? If the answer is that the four seat car doesn't look as sexy, then get Pininfarina to dig deep in their bag of design tricks and make a sexy looking four seater, like the Maserati GranTurismo.

One thing is for sure, Ferrari builds fewer four place cars than two place cars. I think there is a need in the marketplace for Ferrari to build a few four place cars for when the successful person says, "I wish my two seat Ferrari had a back seat." If the back seat were tiny, the dimensions would look better but it would realistically be an unusable back seat, like a Porsche 911, Aston Martin DB9, or Jaguar XK where legroom varies between three and zero inches. So Ferrari has wisely opted for a real back seat, which then creates potentially challenging design dimensions. Nothing gets the heart racing like a two seat Ferrari and ultimately, that adrenaline directly impacts the hearts (and wallets) of buyers who will do anything to drive a svelte sports car, which the four place Ferrari just doesn't encapsulate.

Looking at some four place Ferraris over the past few decades for a reference point are the 612 Scaglietti, 456, Mondial, 400/412 and 308 GT4. Currently, there is the king-of-the-hill 612 Scaglietti, which is arguably the best looking four place Ferrari built, even if it is oddly proportioned with an insanely long hood and near-Maybach-long wheel base. This layout places the driver far back in the car with the rear seat back almost in the trunk. Before the 612 Scaglietti was the 456 of the 1990s. This car was built for a long production run and while it has seen a lot of depreciation, it has aged well. Though subtle and understated in design, is still a lovely car that shares more than a little resemblance to the rear end of the 612 Scaglietti. Before the 456 was the angular 400/412 of the 1980s. This series car has a dated look, though upon closer inspection, it is still a good looking car, however stuck in the doldrums from a price and maintenance standpoint. There was also the Mondial and the 308 GT4 before it, both are likely the least loved Ferraris of all time and they both fit into the hardly usable backseat category.

Maybe the four place Ferrari's unloved place in the market isn't fixated only on the back seat or the diluted styling but instead on the lack of a hair raising visceral driving experience provided so uniquely by the two seat car. The longer wheelbase and heavier chassis associated with the four seater requires a big V12 and thus, the nimble, rip-roarious charm of driving the two seat V8 is markedly different. So, not only is the four seater less breath taking in appearance or bloated in weight and dimensions, but it drives like a heavy machine. Sure, it's got power to hustle, even to dance through the curvy roads, but it simply isn't as lithe as the mid-engine V8 strapped for just two. Ferrari clearly does two seaters better than anyone in the business.

I think Ferrari has the approach correct. Since history says a four seat Ferrari won't hold a strong cache once it sells beyond the original owner, their charging a premium on the few they do build and then letting the market be the judge in years to come. Build them as powerful and beautiful as possible, with the help of Pininfarina. And then, take solace in knowing that when you get to the stage in life when you need a Ferrari with a back seat, you have two choices: buy the chart-topping latest Ferrari that represents Maranello's best, or get a great deal on yesterday's glorious family-sized Ferrari. It is perplexing that the four seat Ferrari doesn't fare better than they do, but history seems to show that there is a limited interest in the market place.

Labels: Club Sportiva, exotic car share club, Ferrari 456, Ferrari 612 Scaglietti, four seat Ferrari, Pininfarina, V12

Certain cars sound incredible with stock exhaust and others, well, let's just say they are too subdued. Tubi is an Italian exhaust maker who I always consider installing on many of Club Sportiva's cars. Because it is very expensive, it doesn't make sense to install it on just any car. They specialize in Italian cars like Ferrari, Maserati and Lamborghini and have begun to broaden their product line into Porsche and Aston Martin, with others surely on the way.

What makes Tubi exhaust the best is how it is tuned to sound ideal across all driving ranges. Some after market exhausts sound great at idle but will drive you nuts when cruising on the interstate, for instance. The exhaust should complement and enhance the driving experience, not dominate or over shadow the car. As such, selecting a quality exhaust company that suits your needs and preferences is critical or you will later regret your decision.

The first car the Club had with Tubi was a Ferrari 360 Spider and it sounded absolutely divine. Trouser tenting divine, actually. It really opened our minds and ears. The system was already installed on the car when it arrived, so it was a very pleasant surprise for the Club and left a lasting impression. The Tubi exhaust accentuates and amplifies the famously high strung Ferrari tenor in a mesmerizing way.

Shortly thereafter, we replaced our 2002 Maserati Spyder with a red 2003 Maserati Spyder and took the opportunity to have the dealer upgrade to Tubi. That car, which remains very popular in the Club today, sounds like a muscular Italian torque monster, which is to say it sounds awesome. The stock exhaust is quiet, unassuming and lack luster. With Tubi, it has a meaty growl and announces itself as an extroverted touring car.

Then, we bought a Lotus Elise, which also suffers the fate of a docile, limp stock exhaust. The Lotus dealer in Torrance did the upgrade for us when we bought it. While it is not Tubi, it is a Lotus Stage 2 exhaust kit that truly redefines the nature of the car. Every time the car comes to a stop, you are coerced into blipping the throttle to hear the raspy note that turns an otherwise small four-cylinder into a monster. However, it is not one of those annoying boy-racer tuner exhausts or Lotus wouldn't install it. One bummer about the Lotus Stage 2 exhaust tips is that you can't see them because they point straight down at the concrete to increase reverberation (which is why I couldn't take a useful photo of the exhaust tips for the blog...). I'll trade aesthetics any day for better sound.

I highly recommend inquiring with me if you have questions about deciding whether or not to spend the effort and money to upgrade your exhaust. Not all cars gain the sound benefits and a few of the newer exotics are designed such that you can't use Tubi and in other cases the manufacturers have realized that they can tune the exhaust note to perfection themselves without their clients having to spend an additional $4,000 - $8,000. Happy revving.

Labels: aftermarket exhaust, Club Sportiva, exotic car share club, sport exhaust upgrade, Tubi exhaust, tuned exhaust

In late January 2008, I stopped by the Ferrari Maserati dealer in Redwood City, California, a few miles from Club Sportiva's Clubhouse to talk to the service team about our 2006 Ferrari F430 coupe that keeps losing rivets that hold the rear challenge grill in place. It was getting annoying - how hard is it to keep the challenge grill from rattling? They had no answer, by the way. Then, I stopped in to say hello to Charlie Miles, the sales manager from whom Club Sportiva purchased the F430 last year to see what he had in inventory. I wasn't in heavy search mode that day, but he showed me a couple great Ferrari and Maserati models that were both new and pre-owned.

One vehicle in particular stood out in my mind, a 2007 Maserati Quattroporte in pozzi blue (a custom ordered Ferrari color) over cuoio (saddle brown) leather with 1,900 miles. The car's color combination really seemed exceptional when compared to the standard and over wrought silver over black or black over black that lack elegance and sophistication. Cars, like Maserati, Aston Martin and Bentley, look best in unique color combinations that accentuate the unique handmade nature of the car's special heritage and thus, should be specified by the owner who hand selects the bespoke interior layout.

This particular car was essentially brand new and came with the DuoSelect transmission that could allow Members to shift their way through the gears. Since Club Sportiva sold its Bentley sedan in mid 2007, the Club was without a true four door, five seat sedan that can haul friends and family in luxury. In a recent Member survey, we were told it was time for another four door sedan. The Quattroporte was clearly on the short list.

The next day, I called Charlie back and offered to trade a fully loaded 2005 Mercedes-Benz SLK350 with only 13,000 miles that the Club had just voted to retire after a year of service. He was able to strike a very good deal for Club Sportiva and we consummated the trade. I immediately proceeded to drive the Mercedes-Benz to the Ferrari Maserati dealer to trade keys, owner's manuals and cars!

The Maserati Quattroporte Executive GT is stunning and should be, considering the original window sticker was over $131,000. The rear seats are power while the front seats have adaptive bolsters, massagers, cooling and heating built in for driver and passenger pleasure. The fit and finish could be a bit tighter, but I think a few of the issues on the glove box and rear passenger door can be resolved by the dealer on our next service visit. It is a heavy car, even with the sport mode turned on, but it is set up well for a large, long, luxury sedan. The DuoSelect transmission is the weak link on the car, of course that was changed in the second half of 2007 with a traditional automatic transmission. Because our Member have repeatedly said they enjoy shifting gears, we opted for an early 2007 model with DuoSelect giving drivers more control over the transmission.

With 400 horsepower on tap, you will need to use all of them to motivate the big sedan, but if you use the paddle shift levers and let the rpms rev to 5,000, you reap the benefits of both the power and the sporty Italian engine and exhaust. Under the 5,000 rpm range, the car is a bit sluggish, but then again, when you are hauling a party of five to dinner and the opera, no one wants tossed around in the back seat anyway...

The car is just being pressed into service for a nine month tour of duty. I firmly believe it will be a grand hit to all to have the pleasure of driving it. Take your turn behind the wood and leather steering wheel and give me your personal feedback!

Labels: Buying Experience, Cambiocorsa, Club Sportiva, DuoSelect, exotic car share club, F1 paddle shift transmission, Maserati Quattroporte Executive GT

This is a new debate that is quietly raging. I say raging because most car enthusiasts say they strongly prefer to row their own gears yet exotic car sales show just the opposite. Paddle shifted transmission sales are approaching 100% for Ferrari and Lamborghini. A lot of the special Ferrari models are only offered in F1, like the 430 Scuderia, 360 Challenge Stradale and Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera. Isn't it an oddity that enthusiasts vocally say they love their manual transmissions yet Ferrari and Lamborghini sales are nearly 95% F1 transmissions?

Then, who is buying all these exotic cars with F1 transmissions if the car enthusiasts declare they want manual transmissions? And why should a manufacturer bother offering a manual transmission on a limited run of, say, 750 cars if the manual transmission take rate is only 5%? Do they really want to deal with the manufacturing complexity to sell a paltry 37 cars with a manual when they can simplify their process dramatically by standardizing the F1 transmission and at the same time charging a hefty premium for it?

And there in lies the answer to our conundrum. The missing link, I believe, is that the manufacturers prefer to sell F1 transmissions and thus encourage the dealers, who are highly persuasive individuals and, by the way, highly incentivized to sell $10,000 paddle shift transmissions. This means the true preference of the car enthusiast is being ignored and rolled over. The marketing folks then point to the sales results that no one wants a low tech manual transmission to validate their decision to further popularize and institutionalize the F1 transmission.

At Club Sportiva, I interface with hundreds of Members and thousands of car enthusiasts on an annual basis. In my conversations, I rarely hear enthusiasts glowing about the F1 transmissions in a manner that explains the preponderance of its sales figures. Sure, the F1 system is cool and it grows on you as you use it and it downs shifts in a heavenly fashion every time you pull the down shift paddle as the throttle blips to match the revs, but is it naturally selling at a 95% take rate at a significant price premium? Or is this a case of influence through the power of suggestion at the dealer level?


I think the dealers are over-hyping the F1 transmissions by focusing their clients on the ease of shifting if they will drive occasionally or only plan to drive a few times a year on a track. The dealers are also focusing on the resale value of the car if the client doesn't want to be selling a car with a plebeian manual transmission when everyone else wants an F1. And they focus on the prestigious tie in with F1 racing heritage, where the F1 transmission is obviously derived. This is all fine and good, but F1 paddle shifters are being pushed on enthusiasts and if it continues, the standard manual transmission will literally quickly disappear.

Keep in mind that already in the U.S., traditional automatic transmissions dominate mass market cars at roughly 90% of all cars produced. Now, we are witnessing the remaining small number of manual transmissions sold are rapidly migrating the way of a semi-automatic shifting method. Manufacturers can't justify the manufacturing and logistics complexity if take rates are too low. The manual transmission may very likely go the way of the dinosaur within the next few years.

Is this really happening? Could the manual transmission be going silently extinct before our very eyes? Are the dealers really using persuasion to talk exotic car owners into higher cost, high tech F1 shifters? Will there be a revival of manual transmissions?

I vote to keep buying manual transmissions before it is too late! What is your input?

Labels: Challenge Stradale, Club Sportiva, e.gear, exotic car share club, F1 paddle shift transmission, Ferrari 430 Scuderia, Ferrari F430, Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera, manual transmission, Stick shift

The old debate, which is better? A sports car with some miles, maybe a little bolster wear and a couple rocks chips or a pristine beauty relegated to the garage and concours circuit but with a perpetually dead battery however cosmetically perfect otherwise?

To me, as well as hundreds of Club Sportiva Members over the years, it is an easy question. A car is meant to be driven and I'll take a car with an imperfection any day over a stunningly gorgeous near-zero mileage beauty.

However, not everyone feels the way I do. My least favorite car is the gorgeous classic that can't be driven for fear of use. I am so appalled by this strategy of plowing restoration cost into a car that will never be used because the owner can't deflower the car after the cosmetic enhancements. True, I'm being a tad bit melodramatic, but my point still stands. The car probably needs another wax to protect it from the dust...

On the other hand, I ever so much applaud the person who does spend the time and money to restore their car and then actually enjoys getting behind the wheel. Those are the true (and bravest) folks who not only love their toy enough to spend thousands to restore it but then have the guts to enjoy seat time on the open roads. Those are the people who deserve every thumbs up they get on the road. Bravo.

I also really poke fun at those folks who have a great driving car parked in their garage who don't actually drive it. This car is the occasional sunny Saturday driver or the rare and elusive Friday-I'll-take-her to-work-car to-show-the-guys car that should be driven a lot more but isn't. These guys need the biggest whack on the wrist. At least the trailer queen car stays permanently waxed in the cryogenics garage because a single rock chip will cost a few points at the Palo Alto Concours and adding 3M clear coat is so not an option. Not that I'm defending that owner (or car) but at least that individual is competitively striving for perfection and a massive trophy even if the car is wildly unhappy with the way its life turned out.

The guy with the 2004 Porsche 911 C4 cabriolet who has 4,500 miles deserves the dead battery which he curses every time he actually tries to start the car. Look at it this way, the car is going to depreciate whether or not you are driving it and, believe it or not, it actually drives as well and easily as your BMW sedan, so why let it linger sadly in the garage. Get out and enjoy it. Who wants to tell their grand children they had a cool car that sat in the garage until they sold it?

The old days of sports cars being hard to drive, unreliable and a high drama driving experience are generally in the past. Really, over the past 10 years, any car can be driven daily, from Ferrari to Lotus and everything in between. Having a toy in the garage only enhances your life experiences if you get to enjoy driving it.

For the enthusiasts who just can't bring themselves to drive their garage queens, feel free to drive Club Sportiva's collection guilt-free. But regardless, I encourage everyone to put miles on their cars and enjoy every down shift, every 90 degree turn, every stomp-to-go acceleration opportunity.

Sports cars are meant to be driven regularly and in a spirited fashion. Grab the keys without hesitation and step on it tomorrow, or better yet, today. Just Drive!

Labels: Club Sportiva, daily driver, garage queen, show car, sports car, trailer queen, weekend car

All right! So, I am fired up to get some good car dialog going. What is the purest sports car available today? Let's say money is an object in this debate and therefore the Ferrari 430 Scuderia or Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera are out of the question for the moment. Would the Porsche 911, built for 40+ years, be the purest? Maybe the new Porsche Cayman S or even the revised Porsche Boxster S? The light weight and rev happy Honda S2000? The new and incredible Audi R8 or maybe a "regular" F430 or Gallardo?

All those are great cars but...the Lotus Elise takes the prize. I've driven almost every sports car out there with few exceptions and the Elise packs punch...and I don't mean torque. I mean smiles per mile and bang for buck. One other thing I love about the Elise is that it certainly is not designed for everyone - minivan drivers slogging along in the fast lane need not slide in behind the wheel. It is raw, light, agile, loud, jarring, fast and rarely spotted on the road. That is a great combo of adjectives for $50k new at a dealer or even less when pre-owned.

Club Sportiva bought its Elise with the hard top, stage 2 sport exhaust and chrome orange at South Bay Lotus near Los Angeles in fall 2005 and it has held up solidly for 20,000 miles and looks and runs as it did the day it was new. Sure, we've had our share of warranty issues, but no worse than any other high-end sports car. I drove it from L.A. to San Francisco straight through and arrived at the Clubhouse surprisingly ready to continue rolling north for another day if needed. I wish we had a Club location in Seattle, or I would have kept driving!

It also looks great in orange, which frankly, only Lotus and Lamborghini can get away with where it actually helps resale value. Try an orange BMW or Ferrari at trade-in. You'll be seeing red - both in depreciation and frustration.

The Elise truly embodies Collin Chapman's philosophy that to make a car quicker you add lightness. Think about that statement for a moment. Some people say the Elise is too insect-like in design. To those people I say drive it and then tell me if you really care that the radiator grill looks vaguely like a praying mantis. Blip the throttle, heel-toe on a down shift, take an apex hard, lay on the brakes, take a few s curves fast and then say "I don't like the Elise because it looks different from all the aerodynamic drones out there" and I'll know you're not a car enthusiast. Seat time is the solution for those who debate the Elise.

Is it a torque-monster? No, it is not. If it had a big torquey engine, then the chassis would be heavier to support the engine, the transmission would be heavier to manage the power, the brakes would be bigger to handle the weight, and suddenly, you've just blown the beautiful simplicity and balance the Elise exhibits. I say, torque not needed on this car. For the power mongers, get the Exige or get something else, but don't be surprised when the Elise leaves you behind on a mountain road.

Ultimately, the question really is, are you a torque-head who needs brutal acceleration on the straights who cares less about finesse, or are you a person who wants to carve up a long, twisty mountain road? In California, we have mountain roads galore, so give me a light, nimble, high revving sports car any day!

My thoughts for the day! Comments desired...

Labels: Club Sportiva, exotic car share club, Lotus Elise, sports car