Converting an F430 auto to manual

Converting an F430 auto to manual

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Discussion

rossfitz

Original Poster:

501 posts

258 months

Thursday 13th May 2021
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Has anyone done this in The UK? Seems that there’s a £40K plus differential between the two types of transmission at present, so must be an option. I see they’ve done it in The States and saw a similar thing for BMW CSL on Harry’s Garage.

Spleen

5,453 posts

128 months

Thursday 13th May 2021
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I imagine that by the time you factor in the actual cost of conversion and then the car's value after major surgery, noting how Anal McLoony most Ferrari owners are about provenance and originality, that 40k margin will be significantly reduced. That said, if you're just doing it for yourself then Bob is indeed your uncle. As for anyone doing it in the UK, not heard.

Edited by Spleen on Thursday 13th May 12:41

p4cks

7,013 posts

206 months

Thursday 13th May 2021
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Spleen said:
noting how Anal McLooney most Ferrari owners are about provenance and originality
Read the thread title and instantly thought this myself so I'm pleased it was within the first reply!

Gnevans

490 posts

129 months

Thursday 13th May 2021
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https://www.normalguysupercar.com/product/ferrari-...

There is definitely a UK company doing this. I’ve read about it this year in one of a myriad of car magazines.

https://www.gatedsix.com/

rossfitz

Original Poster:

501 posts

258 months

Thursday 13th May 2021
quotequote all
p4cks said:
Spleen said:
noting how Anal McLooney most Ferrari owners are about provenance and originality
Read the thread title and instantly thought this myself so I'm pleased it was within the first reply!
I get it, but not yet being a Ferrari owner, my thoughts were this route would give a lower price level access to the car with an option to convert at any point. I'd imagine the price gap between manual and the rest will only get bigger in time, whereas the cost of conversion should remain constant. It would be for me, but the provenance of the converter would need to be established should a resale be considered.

davek_964

9,297 posts

182 months

Thursday 13th May 2021
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rossfitz said:
I get it, but not yet being a Ferrari owner, my thoughts were this route would give a lower price level access to the car with an option to convert at any point. I'd imagine the price gap between manual and the rest will only get bigger in time, whereas the cost of conversion should remain constant. It would be for me, but the provenance of the converter would need to be established should a resale be considered.
I don't know how much more a converted car would really be worth over an auto - you would massively restrict the pool of potential buyers. I don't consider myself particularly anal regarding Ferrari - but I wouldn't touch one that had been converted like that, and I doubt I'm in the minority.

It's hard to predict - but I don't agree with your conclusion that the price difference will grow. I went from manual Ferrari to paddle shift car and I thought it was one of the big negatives of buying a newer car. But 20 months on, I don't miss it at all - and to be honest, if I was buying a different car tomorrow and could choose manual or (decent) paddle shift - I'd have the latter.

rossfitz

Original Poster:

501 posts

258 months

Thursday 13th May 2021
quotequote all
Interesting. I guess my understanding of the Ferrari market and owners expectations is non existent, so appreciate the feedback. Sounds like a non starter. Maybe I just need to sump up the extra for the manual if that's what I want.

Spleen

5,453 posts

128 months

Thursday 13th May 2021
quotequote all
rossfitz said:
I get it, but not yet being a Ferrari owner, my thoughts were this route would give a lower price level access to the car with an option to convert at any point. I'd imagine the price gap between manual and the rest will only get bigger in time, whereas the cost of conversion should remain constant. It would be for me, but the provenance of the converter would need to be established should a resale be considered.
I'm still paddling in the shallow end in terms of ownership but I have found that the level of obsessiveness amongst Ferrari owners is way beyond anything I've experienced before and will absolutely dictate your ability to move along a converted car. I genuinely wouldn't be surprised if a converted manual sold at a price lower than an original F1. Not saying it will but entirely possible.

MDL111

7,172 posts

184 months

Thursday 13th May 2021
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I thought about getting a CS converted or possibly a 599. I have not done so yet but would not do it with a car I ever expect to sell again - as others have said most Ferrari buyers/owners are not people who consider modifying cars acceptable (and I think the UK is worse than most markets in that respect, see also focus on annual services etc) even if there is certainly room for improvement on Ferraris just like on other cars

Nurburgsingh

5,216 posts

245 months

Thursday 13th May 2021
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I’m assuming the conversion uses factory cabin parts - so the correct centre console, gate and shifter?

And you can update the V5C to say “manual”
So if you were buying one down the line, how would you tell that it’s a conversion not a genuine?

supersport

4,265 posts

234 months

Thursday 13th May 2021
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There was a Wheeler Dealers where they did this to an M3 DSG.

I was amazed how manual the car actually was, I think it helped that BMW had put a lot of everything needed in place. Not sure that Ferrari would be the same.

Spleen

5,453 posts

128 months

Thursday 13th May 2021
quotequote all
Nurburgsingh said:
I’m assuming the conversion uses factory cabin parts - so the correct centre console, gate and shifter?

And you can update the V5C to say “manual”
So if you were buying one down the line, how would you tell that it’s a conversion not a genuine?
It would say what the car originally was in the car's manuals (service book, etc). If the manuals are missing that's a red flag right there already. A quality independent inspection is likely to throw up a few queries as well.

RichardCHXX

112 posts

51 months

Muzzer79

11,060 posts

194 months

Thursday 13th May 2021
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I'm not a Ferrari owner either but, providing this is done correctly, is this not a little like converting your 2000's Aston Martin Vanquish to a manual?

i.e more desirable, if anything?

Early semi-auto cars were.....challenging, so I'm told. Providing the conversion isn't done by Greasy Graham in his railway-arches workshop, you get a manual car experience with no drawbacks?

I would expect it to be reversable and one should keep the original parts, just in case wink

I dream of a manual-converted 599...... cloud9

cgt2

7,143 posts

195 months

Thursday 13th May 2021
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I owned a manual 430. Despite all the hype it wasn't very different to a manual 360 and wasn't that easy to sell eventually either.

Despite wildly optimistic pricing on some manuals, mine made perhaps a £10k premium over the equivalent F1.

Given a choice today I would actually have an F1 as it is better suited to the nature of the car with e-diff.

If you want the manual experience a nice example of a 360 will give you 90% of the same experience.

andrew

10,090 posts

199 months

Thursday 13th May 2021
quotequote all
cgt2 said:
I owned a manual 430. Despite all the hype it wasn't very different to a manual 360 and wasn't that easy to sell eventually either.

Despite wildly optimistic pricing on some manuals, mine made perhaps a £10k premium over the equivalent F1.

Given a choice today I would actually have an F1 as it is better suited to the nature of the car with e-diff.

If you want the manual experience a nice example of a 360 will give you 90% of the same experience.
how dare you speak the truth ???

RichardCHXX

112 posts

51 months

Spleen

5,453 posts

128 months

Thursday 13th May 2021
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RichardCHXX said:
RichardCHXX said:
Why? We know it can be done, that's not the OP's question.

Chris355

822 posts

203 months

Thursday 13th May 2021
quotequote all
As has been said I would expect a converted one to be worth less than than the original unconverted car. It would also be harder to sell as a lot of buyers don’t like modified/tampered with ferraris. The value of the manual 430 is really in its rarity (eg very few genuine manual cars were made).

Whilst I use to be in the manual car camp, I have now owned a couple of paddleshift cars and have been completely converted and now massively prefer paddle shift.

markst

243 posts

172 months

Thursday 13th May 2021
quotequote all
andrew said:
cgt2 said:
I owned a manual 430. Despite all the hype it wasn't very different to a manual 360 and wasn't that easy to sell eventually either.

Despite wildly optimistic pricing on some manuals, mine made perhaps a £10k premium over the equivalent F1.

Given a choice today I would actually have an F1 as it is better suited to the nature of the car with e-diff.

If you want the manual experience a nice example of a 360 will give you 90% of the same experience.
how dare you speak the truth ???
having had 2 manual 430s plus 360s.......I agree - I'm actually tempted with a 308 for a change , lovely looking car, great interior..
failing that I will prob go back to a 360....less worry with manifolds with a 360 too !