My 25th Birthday and the Ferrari 348

[MidEngine4Life]

Current San Francisco Forecast for April 16th: Sunny, High of 67f
http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com//media/reviews/generations/ferraris.entry.level/gen.4.1993.348.spider.500.jpg
As some of you may already know Im renting a Ferrari 348 Spyder for my birthday, which is now just 7 days away! I plan on making the most of my car by taking plenty of photos with the Golden Gate Bridge, but my main feature will be a top gear style (or so im hoping) video of the car cruising around San Francisco streets. I just bought the video editing program ill be using to make the video and I thought I would go into the garage and get some good footage of my Dad's Nissan 300ZX to practice with. Unfortunately however, my dads daily driver, the Mercury Sable, was in there instead.

Here is my first vid, just a test, to make sure i get it right on my birthday. Obviously the quality is lacking and my camera work is a little jumpy but hey, im working on it.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ChmLjlEGoAk

Check back for updates between now and the day after my b-day (april 17th)


Edit: I just figured out how to get the stereotypical Top Gear black edges filter, so with enough tlc I think I can do pretty well with this vid ;)

[silentm]

haha cool, that's a great idea. i'll be looking forward to your little video production! :)

[MidEngine4Life]

I just remembered Im moving out into my new apartment on sunday and I'm unsure of my internet situation there so it may be a few days before i'm able to get all the pics and video up

Update: Im all settled in here in my new flat. I just got internet working, but its a temporary fix at the moment. I couldnt get the wireless router i bought today to work, i had to run a cable through half the place into my room.

[MidEngine4Life]

So I get up at 6am this morning and get ready for my big day. I leave with my friend and my dad for Frisco at about 6:40 with the reservation at 8am

Well we get there and there is nothing there! It says to pick up my car at 1 Main Street, but that address doesnt exist! So I call them, not once but twice and finally get through and say im having trouble finding your place and when i tell them im in SF they're stunned. The lady said "ummmmm were not opened in San Francisco yet" and I say well uh I made reservations on your website for it in october and i even got a confirmation e-mail just the other day. Stunned and confused she hands me off to some other guy who really doesnt sound like he has a clue in the world what he's doing...jokingly says "well at least we know when we open that lot in SF the website works ha ha"

So im heartbroken, and a little out of it. I decided to try a phone book to see if there are any other exotic car rental places in the city. I found my best luck with a place called "specialty rentals", but the nicest car they have available is a Mercedes SLK and they wont have their Lotus Elise available until tomorrow.

So we have breakfast on the wharf, catch a few glimpses of the GG bridge and then start heading home. I suddenly get this crazy idea....

"Hey, why dont we all just fly out to Las Vegas and rent the Ferrari there?" Afterall I do work for Southwest Airlines and its all free. We all just happened to have tomorrow off work as well so thats whats happening lol.

Our flight leaves in about 4 hours, we're gonna spend the night, then pick up the Ferrari in the morning down on the strip. If im not to exhausted after all this I should have some photos up by thursday night and a video by friday night.

Wish me luck!
Tomorrows forecast for Las Vegas: A mainly sunny sky. High near 75F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph.

[nthfinity]

sorry to hear it :(

I still remember the first time I drove a Ferrari.... right about a year ago :) .... fantastic machines! Happy birthday, and best luck to you!

[Jasoos]

it'll be worth it, trust me!! Good luck, and DON'T BEND IT!!

[Pokiou]

good luck man looks like your going to have one hell of a ball/time!.

[RC45]

Make sure those other sharks don't bill youfor a car you never rented ;)

[r2r]

Just enjoy the experience, and forget about the photo and video shooting until some extra time at the end of the day. :-)

[silentm]

aw man sucks to hear about that! :(

i hope your holidays in Vegas will be worth it! :D

[Nettoyeur]

Sounds awesome... Hope your day will be great. I myself are looking forward to May 15th when I'm going to try out a Ferrari 430. It's only 70 minutes but...

Happy birthday btw.

[MidEngine4Life]

Ok I got back not long ago and it was certainly worth the hassle. I got some great pics, some great video, and some great memories. The weather was perfect, and we used about the right amount of miles in the right amount of time. Im transfering all the photos and video to my comp right now for editing so expect those soon but for now, here is a teaser.
http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/4/lv1mo0.th.jpg (http://img210.imageshack.us/my.php?image=lv1mo0.jpg)

[79TA]

Cool. The area around Las Vegas has some really good driving roads like near Hoover Dam and the Valley of Fire.

[MidEngine4Life]

Alrighty here we go. I stayed up all night working on this. Im sure I could have put a lot more effort into and made it better, but oh well. Pictures coming tonight after I get off work.
Ferrari 348 Spider - YouTube

[dutchmasterflex]

How much extra do they charge if you bring it back with bald tires and smelly clutch?

[MidEngine4Life]

It can be pretty pricey. I forgot how much they said it would be, but they did say you would have to buy new tires and if you take it off pavement at all theres an extra $250 charge.

[Mattk]

Looks like you had fun in the end!

[MidEngine4Life]

http://a935.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/57/l_1ca1ce9af5afe8848d521c80aaaf424e.jpg
I sure did! And here are the pics! Its gonna be hard picking just one for next months photo competition. For some reason image shack shrunk some of the pics. Let me know you need higher res versions of any of the pics
http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/4/lv1mo0.th.jpg (http://img210.imageshack.us/my.php?image=lv1mo0.jpg) http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/7513/lv2kb3.th.jpg (http://img293.imageshack.us/my.php?image=lv2kb3.jpg) http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/181/lv3je2.th.jpg (http://img293.imageshack.us/my.php?image=lv3je2.jpg) http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/4835/lv4yi3.th.jpg (http://img293.imageshack.us/my.php?image=lv4yi3.jpg) http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/2317/lv5is7.th.jpg (http://img175.imageshack.us/my.php?image=lv5is7.jpg) http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/7484/lv6nq7.th.jpg (http://img294.imageshack.us/my.php?image=lv6nq7.jpg) http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/4468/lv7ud9.th.jpg (http://img186.imageshack.us/my.php?image=lv7ud9.jpg) http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/9428/lv8sd8.th.jpg (http://img225.imageshack.us/my.php?image=lv8sd8.jpg) http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/7566/lv9bt1.th.jpg (http://img228.imageshack.us/my.php?image=lv9bt1.jpg) http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/5149/lv11ro1.th.jpg (http://img120.imageshack.us/my.php?image=lv11ro1.jpg) http://img185.imageshack.us/img185/6032/lv12pl3.th.jpg (http://img185.imageshack.us/my.php?image=lv12pl3.jpg) http://img185.imageshack.us/img185/5076/lv10my4.th.jpg (http://img185.imageshack.us/my.php?image=lv10my4.jpg)

[silentm]

wow very cool! didn't think the video would be so long and good :)

looks liek you had a great time in the end, too bad you couldn't drive down the strip at night ;)

[xbeakerx]

same place my wife and i rented our car in vegas but it was in no way a ferrari 348.

http://www.kbox.ca/upload/files/67/DVC00184.JPG

[xbeakerx]

this must be the car you drove...

http://www.kbox.ca/upload/files/67/DVC00109.JPG

[Mattk]

^Menopause: The Musical!??!?

[MidEngine4Life]

this must be the car you drove...

http://www.kbox.ca/upload/files/67/DVC00109.JPG

Yup looks like the same plates

[styla21]

^Menopause: The Musical!??!?

LMAO :mrgreen:
Keen spotting..

[MidEngine4Life]

^lol only in vegas^

[MidEngine4Life]

Here are some more pics, some possibly for the competition.
http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/2647/lv15jr3.th.jpg (http://img178.imageshack.us/my.php?image=lv15jr3.jpg) http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/8301/lv13vi4.th.jpg (http://img444.imageshack.us/my.php?image=lv13vi4.jpg) http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/5256/lv14ba2.th.jpg (http://img151.imageshack.us/my.php?image=lv14ba2.jpg) http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/2089/lv16ee5.th.jpg (http://img402.imageshack.us/my.php?image=lv16ee5.jpg) http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/2195/lv18pp8.th.jpg (http://img178.imageshack.us/my.php?image=lv18pp8.jpg) http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/5603/lv17mn6.th.jpg (http://img178.imageshack.us/my.php?image=lv17mn6.jpg) http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/6892/flag2mx7.th.jpg (http://img186.imageshack.us/my.php?image=flag2mx7.jpg)
Whoa whoops howd that last one get there ;)

[xbeakerx]

this is even better....


http://www.kbox.ca/upload/files/67/DVC00097.JPG

[zacknolden]

The name 348 'tb' refers to the fact the engine is a 3.4 litre, V8 with a transverse, hence the 't', mounted gearbox.
__________________________________________________
Floor mats (www.partstrain.com/ShopByDepartment/Floor_Mat) or floor spots?

[RC45]

Hhhhmm - an the b in tb, was for the Berlinetta (the coupe) and the s was for Spider... the convertible.. but I have been known to be wrong before.... it happened once back in '89 - I missed pi by .00000000001 ;)