My latest Ferrari.

[Mitch]

Turn it up and have a listen http://youtu.be/cBczOWXohsI

That's a great first intro to the vetro! Lovely sound.

[40 scout]

Not the Wayfarer by any chance Mike ??

Great grub

Steve

Yes, looking from the top of Heaton Hill, you've got Barnstable to the left and Braunton my old home town, to the right.
We went over the river to Instow for lunch when I went down for the weekend on the second visit, more of that later.

[sladey]

Sounds great mike

[Mike]

thanks guys, hoped you'd like the noise, it really sold it for me! As for West Buckland school I should have been so lucky,
and yep the Wayfarer, as you say good food and a great pint.

Talking of food and drink, the next post will feature a bit of a travel piece on the area as my wife and I go back down for
the weekend to do the inspection with my new best friend the Ferrari mechanic and his lovely lady..........to be continued.

[johnM]

Another story well told. Looking forward to the next snippet.

[Mike]

So now the car was out in the daylight to see for the first time, and it seemed just what I was looking for.There was a couple of
obvious thing as it drove out of the garage which you can see in the film clip, like only one reversing light working, must be
those Italian electrics, and the hand brake was rubbish but that's perfectly normal for a 308.

So this was my first picture of it on the sureshot. Bonnets open where we had connected the battery to start it up.



The owner and his partner were a charming couple and after coffee as we went over all the extensive paperwork we took it out
for a quick test drive. It was obvious it was a well sorted and cared for example that just needed a through service and a little
detailing attention here and there to make it perfect.

Put it down to the coincidence of where we were, the fact that the sun was shining, the owner was a nice guy and the car was
great, all conspired to make me say I would take it subject to a proper inspection, so we made plans for me to come back the
following weekend.

[Mike]

So now the travelogue for those who don't know the area! North Devon is a wonderful place to visit especially with the new roads
built since I lived there make it really accessible from the M5. Might be best to go out of season though, it can get really busy in
the July/August time.



Its the stunning coastline that's the attraction and the estuaries of the rivers Taw and Torridge coming together form a really
diverse natural and beautiful eco system in the area. Barnstaple is the main market town but can get a real bottle neck, but it's
the villages of Croyde, Putsborough and Woolacombe that people head to for the great beaches and the surfing, probably some
of the best in the UK. Saunton Sands and Braunton Burrows behind, was my old playground, an incredible area featuring not only
one of the longest beaches in the Britain, but a huge area of sand dunes leading out onto the Great Field, an alluvial plain and
natural phenomenon formed by the confluence of the two rivers.



Baunton where I lived was a sleepy little place years ago, but now it's all trendy surfer dudes and surf shops as far as the eye can
see. The Saunton Sands Hotel has stunning views over the bay and I'm sure the food is a lot better since I worked the summer in
the kitchens! Not cheap though.....

http://www.sauntonsands.co.uk/

South of the estuary is Instow and the Wayfarer already mentioned, and then Bideford a great little fishing town which had a very
prestigious art college renown for turning out the odd photographer......

[scalino65]

and then Bideford a great little fishing town which had a very
prestigious art college renown for turning out the odd photographer...... [/quote]

...and at least one other ddk-er

[dragonfly]

We take our kids to Saunton every October half term for a spot of surfing. Definitely not the hotel for us though, the chalets behind the beach carpark just out of shot there are more our budget.
The 308 looks lovely

[Mike]

...and at least one other ddk-er

the beach carpark

As a 16/17 year old I've very fond memories of that beach car park, or more specifically the sand dunes behind it

[40 scout]

Ha - the chalets are actually 'beach villas' (fairly posh sheds)! We've booked three of them in July for the last 10 years - happy times

Sadly now taken over by others and ridiculously priced

Usually raining but worth it for the occasional big clean day of surf and pasties !

Also had the sideshow of seeing a Hercules land on the beach complete with a full amphibious assault
inc two hovercraft, all load back on the plane and take off - cue lots of perplexed holidaymakers

Great neck of the woods

Steve

We take our kids to Saunton every October half term for a spot of surfing. Definitely not the hotel for us though, the chalets behind the beach carpark just out of shot there are more our budget.
The 308 looks lovely

[Vetro]

still use the car park dunes
ferrari seem to gravitate to Instow as do other wonderful cars both pictured in the lay-by as you come in to the village.

[Mike]

Great cars there, thanks for posting them!

So just to finish the travelogue and bring it back full circle to the car, I just wanted to mention a great out of season bolt hole,
the Red Lion at Clovelly.

Carrying on from Bideford on the south side of the estuary heading towards Hartland Point is the incredibly picturesque village
of Clovelly, an old fishing village tucked into the hillside. Famous for the steep steps down from the car park at the top of the
hill to the harbour, it's where every Captain Bird's Eye commercial must have been filmed, it's well worth a visit.

We pulled in there for some repair work on the Neil Bainbridge round Britain trip a few years back, the Red Lion's to the right
on the harbour wall.



So no cars in the village, but the good news is that if you're booked in the hotel you get access to the secret track so you can
drive down to the pebble beach behind the harbour wall, beats those steps any day.

http://www.clovelly.co.uk/stay-in-clove ... lion-hotel

[Mike]

I hope those last few posts give an idea of the area, but at the same time shows the serendipity of finding the car down there.
It really was as if it was meant to be, even the weather played it's part as the sun was shining not only on that first visit but
when we went back for the detailed inspection, the sun shone throughout the wonderful spring weekend.

I mentioned the Red Lion at Clovelly above, and that's where we made base camp on the return visit for the inspection.

Obviously I needed to have the car looked at by someone who knew what they were doing and here's where the connection
back to the Martini car comes in. The 6 year build had given me a great many contacts, not only with workshops of engineers,
painters, metalshops and trimmers but also with other owners of great cars. One of those owners not only has an original RSR
in his extensive collection but a few Ferrari's as well. So it was thanks to him that I came to know Aldo Riti a Maranello trained
independent Ferrari technician with a wealth of experience in the older cars.

He had come to the launch of the Martini car back in April so he knew how I liked my cars, and he very kindly agreed to come
down and check the Ferrari out. We decided to make a weekend of it and take my wife and Aldo's wonderful partner Tasmin, to
meet up with the 308 owners Trudie and Clark.

The local MOT station gave us their ramp for half an hour and straight away you could see the underside was as good as the top.
The classic oval main chassis rails as seen on all Ferrari's from the 50's onwards are pretty bullet proof unless the car has been
really neglected, but the main area to look for rust on a 308 are the steel outriggers, the smaller rails that support the body
extremities.

The car had last been gone right through back in 1989 in preparation for that years Ferrari Club concours, where it won it's class.
All four corners had been off and refurbed, the suspension had been powdercoated and the brakes rebuilt, which on a fibreglass
car is pretty much it with the exception of the engine bay. That to had been detailed although it had polished cam covers which
are obviously not standard.

Everything underneath had been waxoyled and I think the fact that it had done less then 10,000 miles since it won the award, is
the reason it's in the condition it is. Aldo did the test drive and described the engine as a 'peach', only picking up on the carbs
needing adjustment and the suspension wanted setting up correctly. That was it apart from the paint detailing I've already
mentioned and a full service which was overdue.

So we retired to the Red Lion to mull it over and Clark and Trudie came over to join us for dinner. In the back bar over a few
drinks the deal was done and not only did I buy the car, but we found a couple of new mates as well.

Sorry to report no pictures of that day, a little tied up to use the camera, but here's a couple of the hotel again, the rooms to
ask for if you go are in the 'Sail Loft' and this is the view from inside ours, the cars are literally parked below on the pebble beach.
We left the Ferrari at Clark's place, if it had been parked there it could have been the pebble beach concours.....



Mrs Mike even co-ordinated her jeans to the car that day, though not quite sure why she's wearing a pair of dead seals on her feet.....



So the car was mine and now looking forward to getting it home, doing the little bit of work needed and getting to know it.
In the next post I finally get round to taking some proper pictures, at last I hear you say....

[sladey]

Can we change the thread title to "welcome to Devon"