My JCW's new buddy

[Mon the fish]

I've decided a few things lately. One, that life is too short; and two, that the R53 is my favourite Mini. I've had mine 9 years now (from new), and it's perfect to me. I could have got an F56, but the only car I really wanted was a silver 550 Maranello. So I've bought this...

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What a car. The engine is an absolute masterpiece - drove it home from Derbyshire over the A93 yesterday, and had the drive of my life. So much power, yet so flexible and tractable. And the noise. The noise... :smilewinkgrin:

If anyone wants a gander at it, it lives in Alford so pop in and see me! The R53 is away getting serviced just now, I'll do a photoshoot when I get it back.

Quite a happy bunny just now :thumbs up:

[N16SHP]

NICE!!!!

[gauldrymini]

Like:thumbs up:

[Gismo]

A beauty, am sure you'll enjoy that

[weefossy]

Nice, looking forward to seeing more pictures. Enjoy

[Stewart]

Wait its hard enough keeping up on the mini front, now it's Ferrari's ;) very nice.



PS. your officially barred from MPG discussions now :smilewinkgrin:

[Colin]

Mmmmmm :thumbs up:

[AndyP & Lenore]

Absolutely gorgeous. Very jealous.

But, does it not need to be kept in a garage that looks more like this: :smilewinkgrin::smilewinkgrin:

http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/clean-garage-19656214.jpg

[Crombers]

Stunning :yes nod:

[Craig]

I can see me having a day out to Alford next time I'm up that way - absolutely amazing :). I remember Mark Dryden's Dad had a blue one at a track day I was at and it was a piece of art and as you say sounded amazing !

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[illegalhunter]

Wow wow and wow again

[Mon the fish]

Wait its hard enough keeping up on the mini front, now it's Ferrari's ;) very nice.



PS. your officially barred from MPG discussions now :smilewinkgrin:

I have put £200 in petrol in it in 2 days...

[Mon the fish]

Absolutely gorgeous. Very jealous.

But, does it not need to be kept in a garage that looks more like this: :smilewinkgrin::smilewinkgrin:

http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/clean-garage-19656214.jpg

Garage does need cleared out, I'll give you that

[EcosseGP]

Cracking car and a sensible investment ... £200 of fuel in 2 days now that's thirsty ;)

[KenL]

What a fab thing to own, enjoy.

[RobSco]

Very Nice Gordon, and an excellent way of treating yourself, Why Not... :thumbs up: ...Enjoy your new car and I'm sure you'll get plenty visitors... lol :motoring: Look forward to seeing some more photos...

[zimbo]

Very nice, glad to see that it's NOT red :thumbs up: £200 in 2 days :thud: was that just starting it up and listening to that lovely engine and letting it idle for a while and blipping the throttle every now and then before switching it off again :yes nod:

I've always fancied owning an F355 :sad:

[Eddie_JCW]

I'm not a huge Ferrari fan but I've always liked those too, I would have it in navy though.
My dream cars are
1. BMW M5 e60 v10 any colour apart from white
2. TVR Tuscan in crystal topaz
3. An Aston DB7 in B.R.G.

[Mon the fish]

Very nice, glad to see that it's NOT red :thumbs up: £200 in 2 days :thud: was that just starting it up and listening to that lovely engine and letting it idle for a while and blipping the throttle every now and then before switching it off again :yes nod:

I've always fancied owning an F355 :sad:

Derbyshire to Alford. The 550 has always been my ultimate, but I did consider the F355 until I seen the running costs - everything is an engine-out job. Cambelts need done every 3 years, which takes 24 hours labour!

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[zimbo]

Derbyshire to Alford. The 550 has always been my ultimate, but I did consider the F355 until I seen the running costs - everything is an engine-out job. Cambelts need done every 3 years, which takes 24 hours labour!

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Lol well I guess my Ferrari ownership shall remain a fantasy :sad:

[ianking]

Very nice.

[ELFMAN]

At first i thought it was a toy one, then noticed it wasn't. I was going to keep calm, but.... S*d it!
You Lucky Lucky Lucky Lucky B*******!
Many happy and safe miles. At last you've got something that makes a tuned R53's mpg look like a Hybrid!

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Good thing about MY 550 is that I can park it on top of the telly :smilewinkgrin:

[weefossy]

Aye, bragging about the size oh yer telly again....

[Mon the fish]

Thanks for all your kind words guys, I'm still on cloud 9 and can't quite believe I own it :-)

Today's the first day since I got it that I've not driven it, getting withdrawal symptoms I think.

Elfman - I also have a 1/18 550 model in red, however I've managed to source one in silver with a blood red interior just like my full-size one :-)

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[Stewart]

I have put £200 in petrol in it in 2 days...

Aye but oh boy if ever it was worth it!

[Big Col]

PHWOAR!

[ELFMAN]

Aye, bragging about the size oh yer telly again....

Not really Malcolm - it's the old telly in my 'den', and 'cos it's not a flatscreen, you can park stuff on the top! I don't brag about the size of anything...

[Mon the fish]

Time for an update, to prove that the car hasn't ruined me (yet) :p


Some of you might remember I posted a thread last year on my 2nd Euro road trip with the Mini. It was planned to be a 3rd one this year, 'Ring, Lake Como etc. All was booked up on Xmas day. However this changed on one day, when I found out that as an owner I could get a Ferrari factory tour, and also that the villa at the end of Casino Royale on Lake Como, has an apartment you can rent.


So a quick call to the ferry people, and some changes to hotel etc, and the 550 was going to be heading home to Maranello :)


We had 4 days in Munich, where I spent some time relaxing in beer gardens
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j187/gordonfgunn/EuroTourJun14029_zpsb45b5c15.jpg


However we did have time for a brief self-guided Third Reich tour - this is Hitler's balcony
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j187/gordonfgunn/EuroTourJun14082_zps023abb00.jpg


Some of the Munich parking was good
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j187/gordonfgunn/EuroTourJun14077_zps79df7c48.jpg


And so it was on to Lake Como - just arrived
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j187/gordonfgunn/EuroTourJun14152_zpsbccae31c.jpg


Met up with a guy from a Ferrari forum, who was picking up his LHD 575M in Como. We pre-arranged to meet to get some snaps in front of the villa, sadly my car had over 1k miles of dirt on it, his was gleaming :glare:
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j187/gordonfgunn/EuroTourJun14181_zps8f453309.jpg
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j187/gordonfgunn/EuroTourJun14184_zps0cef818f.jpg


After a week of doing not much, we set off for Maranello. It's true what they say about driving a Ferrari in Italy - everyone gets out of your way, and speed limits seem 'optional' - I went past the Carabinieri at over 120mph and they didn't even flinch :laugh:


At Enzo's dads old workshops, where Enzo was born. This is a brilliant museum, all about the history of cars in Modena, not just about Enzo
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j187/gordonfgunn/EuroTourJun14245_zps1187fe10.jpg


Leaving the factory for the second time in it's life
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j187/gordonfgunn/EuroTourJun14268_zpsfa5a6743.jpg


The factory tour was fantastic, the big difference compared to the Mini factory tour was seeing the engines being built. Had a lovely meal at the Montana in the evening, no drivers in sadly but Rory Byrne was there.


On the way home through Switzerland we did the St Gotthard pass
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j187/gordonfgunn/EuroTourJun14279_zpsba76f8aa.jpg


http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j187/gordonfgunn/EuroTourJun14302_zps357820a7.jpg


And then stopped at the Schlumpf collection in Mulhouse. If you like vintage/classic cars you'll love this place; it's unbelievable - hundreds of cars, the greatest collection of Bugatti's in the world
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j187/gordonfgunn/EuroTourJun14355_zps137fc096.jpg


http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j187/gordonfgunn/EuroTourJun14358_zps96ccb807.jpg


http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j187/gordonfgunn/EuroTourJun14362_zpsce739a34.jpg


http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j187/gordonfgunn/EuroTourJun14395_zps35191851.jpg


http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j187/gordonfgunn/EuroTourJun14408_zps63858540.jpg


Drove back up through Germany, where the car was completely in its element - hour after hour of 130mph cruising, and the temps/pressures never budged. It's so impressive and stable at high speed for a 17 year old Italian car.


When we got to our last overnight stop, the car park was full so I parked at the front door until I got a garage key - the receptionist wasn't exactly delighted by this
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j187/gordonfgunn/EuroTourJun14419_zps48e461b7.jpg


And that's that. 2500 miles in a fortnight, with the only issues being:
- bonnet open light comes on at 160mph (:lol:)
- ABS light flickered briefly one morning, all fine since
- Randomly for 2 mornings the air-con only worked on full fan speed. Fixed itself after 30 mins, and is working fine now


Think I got 18mpg all in, didn't measure it because tbh I don't think you can complain about a V12s mpg. I certainly didn't spend as much on petrol as I'd planned to, which was a nice bonus.


It turns out that you can actually use a Ferrari as a car, and that it isn't water soluble. Who would have thought!


And lastly, some pics to annoy the clean freaks...
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j187/gordonfgunn/EuroTourJun14422_zps44107c63.jpg


http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j187/gordonfgunn/EuroTourJun14424_zps35f27e4c.jpg


2 weeks of high-speed fly killing
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j187/gordonfgunn/EuroTourJun14425_zps82cbba27.jpg

[Craig]

Awesome report Gordon and looks like you had a great time - well the front of your car shows you did !!:)


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[badwolf340]

Good to see it being used

[Track Ali]

Sounds like a fantastic trip Gordon. I remember when I was 16 we swung by the Ferrari factory on our Europe tour. It was quite funny because some punter had turned up in a Pagani Zonda (which had just been released I think) and all the crowds were crammed round it instead of the Ferrari's.

I have to say I think you took the perfect Ferrari with you for a trip like that. I've said it before - the 550 is a handsome car and has just the right blend of modern usability and classic appeal.

Very jealous (but in a good way) :thumbs up:

[Eddie_JCW]

Excellent report. Great photos too ;)

[mini mad andy]

Nice trip, good to hear you enjoyed using the car doing what it is meant to do, presume you didn't take it round the "Ring" like you were planning to do in the Mini though.


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[ELFMAN]

I travelled to work in Hamilton this morning in a 1.2 Skoda Fabia... in the rain :frown: Bet you're well jealous Gordon! :smilewinkgrin:

Excellent Trip Report and photos :thumbs up:

[Mon the fish]

Nice trip, good to hear you enjoyed using the car doing what it is meant to do, presume you didn't take it round the "Ring" like you were planning to do in the Mini though.


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No, changed the route when I decided to take the 550. I'll take the R53 to the 'Ring again, but never the 550 for a few reasons:
- it's not really a car for it, it's a big GT
- it's too valuable (to me anyway!)
- blatting down the foxhole in an R53 was exciting/fast enough, in a 485bhp car it would be really scary
- I couldn't do the badge justice, and much like I laughed at folk in expensive cars when I overtook them in my R53, I don't want to be the one being laughed at!

The 'Ring is seriously addictive, and I will go back. Just not with this

[Gismo]

Great write up :thumbs up:

[Crombers]

An inspirational read .......... a lesson to us all to get boxes such like this 'ticked'

:thumbs up::cool::clap::drool::motoring::beer::excited::wh oohoo::dance: ...... bet it did it all



:bow::bow::bow:

[EcosseGP]

Excellent write up and photos are fantastic .. Love the parking one too !
Can't believe the state of the front of the car I'd have been washing that every night lol :)


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[MINI William]

Great write up. Looks like you had a great time.

[mini mad andy]

No, changed the route when I decided to take the 550. I'll take the R53 to the 'Ring again, but never the 550 for a few reasons:
- it's not really a car for it, it's a big GT
- it's too valuable (to me anyway!)
- blatting down the foxhole in an R53 was exciting/fast enough, in a 485bhp car it would be really scary
- I couldn't do the badge justice, and much like I laughed at folk in expensive cars when I overtook them in my R53, I don't want to be the one being laughed at!

The 'Ring is seriously addictive, and I will go back. Just not with this

Yeah, don't blame you, it could end up in very expensive tears and to be honest you would probably have a lot more fun in the Mini.

[Mon the fish]

Quick update, as I've just had the bill for the annual service.

Years costs:
Tax - £230 (cheaper than R53)
Insurance - £700
Service - £3300....

There doesn't seem to be a TLC XL option sadly

[EcosseGP]

That just a routine service price or a major one ?

[Gismo]

Quick update, as I've just had the bill for the annual service.

Years costs:
Tax - £230 (cheaper than R53)
Insurance - £700
Service - £3300....

There doesn't seem to be a TLC XL option sadlyWow, as already asked, is that a routine service?

[Mon the fish]

Yup, yearly, not the cambelts. Few wee niggly things done, refurb of suspension arms etc.

Spark plugs - £130
Pads and discs - £800

[Craig]

Wow !! That'll smart a bit :)


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[EcosseGP]

That's not too bad for pads and discs some of the Porsche ones are more than that ..

[gauldrymini]

...nippy sweeties :popcorn:

[Crombers]

Holy feck ........ £3£££ :thud: