355 with non matching vin - alarm bells ?

[stef1808]

Hi there

Due to subliminal pressure from the forums the 355 itch must be taken care of - and what better car to swap my current convertible in exchange for a 355 GTS

With a budget of around £50k I went out in search of a car and quickly decided an EU import is the way to go.
Having found a car i was happy with, I got Ferrari DE(?) to check it out and provide me with a report

I have 2 main issues:
1. Ive had no joy with checking the vin number, most sites I checked recognise its a Ferrari (I guess ZFF gives it away) but cant find the model info
(1 site even thought it was a F40)


2. I think I have rough idea of the market for these cars, and although I would be picking the car up with high millage, the idea would be to sell it on in couple years time (depending how I get on with it) with an estimated 80-85,000 kilometers on it(around 52k miles) and would hope to break even on the car. Realistic idea or to much "man-maths" clouding my decisions?

Im not afraid to walk away but truth be told - dont really want to!

Greatly appreciate any feedback

Best wishes,

Stef

[johnnyreggae]

You manmaths assumes you know the exchange rate to the euro (or whatever currency you sell in) in a couple of years time - if so please share !

If the vin does not compute publish it here (less chassis no) to see if others can identify - else any buyer will have the same issue when you sell

[stef1808]

Did the man-maths on the currency exchange - turns out I stand to make millions in profit and should buy the car whatever the result



Love doing manmaths!!

Ok back to the vin

Suppose there isn't much harm in posting it:
ZFFPA42B000101765

Am I missing something ?

[Davo456gt]

Try this site... might give you some better ideas around the VIN numbers

http://www.ferrari355registry.com/Ferrari_View.asp...


I found it by taking off the last 6 digits of your car, and just doing a google search

http://www.ferrari355registry.com/Ferrari_View.asp...

you should also check the build number of the car, it should be somewhere around 18724 I believe

[stef1808]

Davo456gt said:

Try this site... might give you some better ideas around the VIN numbers

http://www.ferrari355registry.com/Ferrari_View.asp...


I found it by taking off the last 6 digits of your car, and just doing a google search

http://www.ferrari355registry.com/Ferrari_View.asp...

you should also check the build number of the car, it should be somewhere around 18724 I believe

Yeah - this is the problem, its coming back as a US car, and the 2nd one as Japanese

Thanks anyway

edit: apologies - actually it looks very interesting, came up with this:

http://www.ferrari355registry.com/Ferrari_View.asp...

car is advertised as a black/beige 96 blt GTS from Germany, the gap is closing

Edited by stef1808 on Saturday 1st November 16:04

[johnnyreggae]

How about someone misread the letter A and it should be R : http://www.ferrari355registry.com/Ferrari_View.asp... so it then makes sense

Edited by johnnyreggae on Saturday 1st November 16:10

[stef1808]

johnnyreggae said:

How about someone misread the letter A and it should be R : http://www.ferrari355registry.com/Ferrari_View.asp... so it then makes sense

Edited by johnnyreggae on Saturday 1st November 16:10

its the 94 blt throwing me off

meant to be 96

[johnnyreggae]

Not sure what difference it makes but the registry range suggest 1995 build which ties with the vin saying airbags as I believe they were not fitted to 94 / 2.7 cars so the reference to 94 & (probably 96) are errors

Edited by johnnyreggae on Saturday 1st November 17:31

[gmarsh]

The Black Book by Matthias Urban lists ZFFPA428B000101765 (mentioned above) as having left the factory as 'GTS Black/Crema LHD EU'.

[jtremlett]

stef1808 said:

Did the man-maths on the currency exchange - turns out I stand to make millions in profit and should buy the car whatever the result



Love doing manmaths!!

Ok back to the vin

Suppose there isn't much harm in posting it:
ZFFPA42B000101765

Am I missing something ?

The VIN is correct and matches the car. The eighth character tells you the market. B indicates a Euro-spec car whereas a US-spec car would have A and a UK car C. The 6th and 7th digits (i.e. 42) tell you the model. 42 indicates a 355 GTS. 41 would be a 355 Berlinetta and 48 a 355 Spider.

I don't have very much on this car but according to my records it is black with cream interior, was at one time registered in Switzerland and more recently in Germany.

Edvar van Daalen's site has a comprehensive Ferrari VIN decoder here: http://www.red-headed.com/vin.html

Jonathan

[andrew]

jtremlett said:

stef1808 said:

Did the man-maths on the currency exchange - turns out I stand to make millions in profit and should buy the car whatever the result



Love doing manmaths!!

Ok back to the vin

Suppose there isn't much harm in posting it:
ZFFPA42B000101765

Am I missing something ?

The VIN is correct and matches the car. The eighth character tells you the market. B indicates a Euro-spec car whereas a US-spec car would have A and a UK car C. The 6th and 7th digits (i.e. 42) tell you the model. 42 indicates a 355 GTS. 41 would be a 355 Berlinetta and 48 a 355 Spider.

I don't have very much on this car but according to my records it is black with cream interior, was at one time registered in Switzerland and more recently in Germany.

Edvar van Daalen's site has a comprehensive Ferrari VIN decoder here: http://www.red-headed.com/vin.html

Jonathan

does the 65 at the end still indicate that it's toyota based ?

[jtremlett]

andrew said:

does the 65 at the end still indicate that it's toyota based ?

There's always one troublemaker isn't there? And it's always the same one!!! If I were you I'd be more concerned about that panzer you drive that purports to be Italian but has Audi stamped all over it.

Jonathan

[andrew]

jtremlett said:

andrew said:

does the 65 at the end still indicate that it's toyota based ?

There's always one troublemaker isn't there? And it's always the same one!!! If I were you I'd be more concerned about that panzer you drive that purports to be Italian but has Audi stamped all over it.

Jonathan

good morning mr "how's the old battleaxe"

[stef1808]

jtremlett said:

he VIN is correct and matches the car. The eighth character tells you the market. B indicates a Euro-spec car whereas a US-spec car would have A and a UK car C. The 6th and 7th digits (i.e. 42) tell you the model. 42 indicates a 355 GTS. 41 would be a 355 Berlinetta and 48 a 355 Spider.

I don't have very much on this car but according to my records it is black with cream interior, was at one time registered in Switzerland and more recently in Germany.

Edvar van Daalen's site has a comprehensive Ferrari VIN decoder here: http://www.red-headed.com/vin.html

Jonathan

Jonathan: its about time I learnt how to decode a vin - very interesting, thanks

Should of guessed Switzerland also

Getting the report today, will keep you updated

Thanks everyone !

[polar8]

I have a lovely 1999 silver GTS F1 - not advertised anywhere but I'm considering selling as circumstances have changed. Close to your budget. Pics on last couple of pages of the supercars spotted thread. If if interested pm me. Amazing cars btw, you will not regret.

[gmarsh]

The chassis number stated by 'andrew' confirms the car as originally being a Europe LHD EU car, as stated elsewhere, as the chassis number includes B. Cars (LHD)originally sold into Switzerland, Scandinavia, Czech or Sweden had an S in the chassis number.