Reply to "512 BB Anyone ?"

Hey Evod, I didn't realize you were a BB owner too. There's another guy "Murph" who is also in CA who has both. Hard to compare, but here goes...

For DavidB, I've seen very few Taurus hit 0-60 in 5.5 and do 174! But then again, the power delivery in the Boxer is super linear, long legged. The Pantera is a punch in the stomach raw kind of delivery.

Pantera is lots of torque and noise; the Boxer is just alarmingly fast when you look down (like I did about 30 minutes ago) and you're doing 90.

To me, the Pantera always SEEMS to be going faster than it is; the Ferrari actually IS going faster.

Ride quality, no comparison. Pantera more hard edged (lots of contact patch too, so let's be fair) plus a lot of motor weight back there. Ferrari soaks bumps, but is more of a 'leaner'than the Pantera. Short story: Pantera handles better. Boxer cruises better.

Ergonomics? Next question.

Trunk space? Pantera kicks it here. The Boxer is a pain in the patootie to even open up the front trunk, which will hold like, two socks folded properly. The Pantera eats luggage and stuff. (The BB has a LOT more room behind the seats than a Pantera, but that ain't saying much.)

Interior quality - Ferrari wins by a landslide. Stuff fits, twists, works, is neater, tighter and all that. Remembering that the Pantera was $12grand new and the Boxer was $35grand or something, it had BETTER be better.

The Pantera has the stupidest stock seats ever put in to a supercar. Ever. But the 'quality' elsewhere is fine. I mean, even though its vinyl covered, things fit pretty well (I've had both interiors completely out). The F car is a lot more comfortable.

Far as reliability, hard to say. Sure, the Ford bits are bullet proof and/or cheap when they break, but man, the Pantera takes a lot more "engineering rethink" AND parts that aren't that much cheaper. I've spent a ton getting the Pantera's ac to work; the Ferrari not a dime. Just replaced the starter and solenoid on the Ferrari - both rebuilt for $125.

The 'motor out' belt service on the Ferrari is a major, major ordeal. Receipt on mine (before I got it thank goodness) was $27,000. When the motor's out, you just do stuff. Rebuild both alternators, do the water pump, blah blah.

The Pantera is a very user-friendly car. You can work on it, get to stuff better, and its not intimidating at all. Honestly, I think the build qualty of the Ghia body is every bit as good as Scaglietti's on the BB. The F car is a bit tighter on body tolerances, but what the hey. They both work and fit together quite well.

But the BB is the last of the hand-hammered cars, built largely by hand, and has the ridiculously smooth flat 12 humming in your ear. A treat in most every sense.

The Pantera - to me - is actually a bit more fun to drive. Yet the values and respect seem to parallel each other. The Boxer is of course worth maybe 4 times a Pantera, or perhaps 3.5, condition to condition. This multiple is probably consistent in the LONG RANGE maintenance, but I haven't paid it yet.

So, take your pick. Or just get both.