Ferraris on 5th Avenue
In Naples, Florida, 5th Avenue South is an exclusive shopping district much like Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, California. For the last seven years, the Ferrari Club of Naples has convinced the city fathers to close six blocks of 5th Avenue for an exotic car show and cruise-in. Originally called “Ferraris on 5th Avenue,” it was a display of Ferrari club owner’s exotic vehicles. That has changed.
The show on February 11th had over 300 vehicles on 5th Avenue. While there were close to 100 Ferraris, there were multitudes of other makes such as: Alfa-Romeo, Aston-Martin, Audi, Austin-Healey, Bentley, BMW, Fisker, Jaguar, Koenigsegg, Lamborghinis, Lotus, Maserati, Mercedes-Benz, MG, Morgan, Porsche and Rolls-Royce. There was also a vast assortment of hot rods, street rods, customs, replicars, antiques and classics.
Many of the vehicles could be viewed as “Future Classics.” Most Ferraris are already considered as classics due to their heritage, design, engineering, limited numbers, initial cost and escalating resale value. A 1993 fly-yellow Ferrari 348tb Series Challenge Race Car was being offered for sale at the show. It is race ready and number 37 of only 100 produced. It could be yours for only $55,000.
The Alfa-Romeo 8C, Ford GT and Audi R8 are destined to be classics. The Ford GT-40 is already one. Will the Fisker Karma ever be a classic? Will it be renowned as the first, successful, $116,000, all-electric sporty car or as a sales disaster? Consider the Koenigsegg CCXR….a street-legal F1 coupe. It packs 1018 hp, gets you from 0-62 mph in 2.9 seconds and has a top end somewhere north of 250 mph. You will need around $2,000,000 to put this in your driveway. Rest assured that you will have the only one on your block and probably the only one in the state. I think the Koenigsegg. CCXR was a classic even before the first one was produced.
There were a good assortment of kit cars and “replicars” or “tribute cars.” Cobras are the most prevalent while the Ford GT-40, Auburn Boat Tail Speedster and the Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR were also cloned. Probably no future classics in this group.
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