Book Review: One Year with a Ferrari

The book: One Year with a Ferrari

Author: David Boxberger

Pages: 111

Purchase: Click here

Who doesn’t want to own a Ferrari? Mr. David Boxberger’s book One Year with a Ferrari is about a subject I’m sure most of us wish we could personally experience–about how, on a budget, one can buy a Ferrari, drive it for one year…and then sell it.

Derived from his blog (http://www.oneyearwithaferrari.com, now sadly defunct), David, a man with a regular job, convinces his wife (who is very understanding) that he can buy a used Ferrari, drive it for one year, and then sell it for a little bit less than what he originally paid. He also promises that she can drive it too, which probably helps seal the deal. Well, that and the promise to sell it after one year. With his wife onboard, David settles on three likely Ferrari models as candidates–the F355, 360, and 456–that would suffer the lowest depreciation (the book takes place in 2007), and satisfy the criteria that it look and sound like a Ferrari, be great to drive and evoke an emotional response while doing so, and fit within his budget that would be financed by a loan against his house (I need to point this out again that his wife is VERY understanding). After test-driving these models, and copious amounts of research, he decides to pursue an F355, ultimately purchasing a 1998 Ferrari F355 6-speed in Grigio, and so began David’s one year in a Ferrari.

The book encompasses his experiences finding, buying, driving, and finally selling his Ferrari F355. Oh! And for much of the book also replacing a healthy number of parts: whether performing the major–routine service on the car (almost $9000, ouch!), replacing the catalytic converter computers ($1372), through to the more minor–rejuvenating the interior (an ashtray is $275!). But his F355 is no garage queen, instead David drives it almost 6,000 miles during his year. No small feat when many Ferraris are driven mere hundreds of miles a year. David’s writing is humorous and full of experiences that any car enthusiast will instantly identify with.

While the book contains worthwhile and practical advice, it is perhaps just a bit lacking in scope. David never really goes into depth on some of the more practical aspects of Ferrari ownership. But perhaps that is because he doesn’t do much of his own wrenching. He leaves most of that to the professionals, instead focusing on driving it. No, this is the everyman’s journal of owning a Ferrari, and perhaps it is a more entertaining read due to that fact. At the end, he sums up his relationship with his F355 saying, “Ferrari did not build the 355 for me. They built it for the guy who bought it new. He drove it for a few years and sold it. He never dealt with a belt change, sticky interior bits or cat ECUs.” Accepting that statement, David’s One Year in a Ferrari will give you the feeling of owning a Ferrari F355 yourself, and everything that goes along with it…except the bills.