Reflections

Being that time of the year it is probably worthwhile taking a few moments to have a think about what being an owner has meant.

The overall comment one could make would be that it is the ‘little’ things that you never really find out until afterwards. Probably the first of these relates to comprehensive insurance, which as it turns out can have some rather specific constraints (such as requiring an on-premise lock up garage) prior to obtaining discounted rates. So check ALL the conditions and limitation you may face.

Then who would ever forget the episode of over looking the engine immobilizer? I laugh now but at the time laughing was the furthest emotion being experienced.

The majority of time (and stress) was over the various issues with the thermocouple, which in the end turned out due to a number of factors including some new parts as well as securing the unit correctly in the vehicle (which it wasn’t on purchase). This however provided the benefit of being far more familiar with the car’s make up.

To round off the top three ‘episodes’ of the year the award goes to the simple challenges of refuelling which no doubt proved the most entertaining for those watching from the sidelines. Just remember boys and girls, the doors on a F355 are much wider than ‘normal’ cars. Again, simple things.

The lessons that you should take away from owning a vehicle like this is that firstly, it is not a new car. In fact it is almost 20 years old! Next, just like with any other vehicle there are good mechanics and there are mediocre ones and you should really ensure you find a good one before you proceed down the path of ownership.

The biggest lesson however is that a car like this is ‘different’ from ordinary cars of today in many ways. That has its positives and negatives, and importantly that is something that you need to be happy to live with because you’ll have to ride through the challenges, and there will be challenges. However, at the end of the day like anything worthwhile in life, any negatives are vastly outweighed by the enjoyment IF you do it for the right reasons.