Today's Nice Price or Crack Pipe Ferrari is said to have once been owned by the rock guitar legend Edward Van Halen. You'll need to decide if that provenance, along with some other factors means its price also totally rocks.
If it weren't for the fact that he is very much alive, Herbert Hartge would be rolling in his grave over the 69% Crack Pipe loss suffered by his former ride - the 1998 Hartge 5.0 M Coupe we featured yesterday. That car's price made its unavailability in the U.S. a little less bitter a pill to swallow.
If you have no trouble swallowing then you might just be a rock and roll groupie. That's because groupies get to hang with the band and there's usually a lot of tasty beverages around to drink after the shows - you know, things like Redbull, Fanta, and maybe even a Fresca or two.
If you're no so much on the drinking with the rockers but do like the thought of driving Eddie Van Halen's former car, then allow me to introduce you to today's 1990 Ferrari 348ts which it is claimed was once owned by the guitarist.
Not only was this metallic blue (the ad calls it Grigio) over dove grey targa supposedly owned by Van Halen, but the ad says that it was featured in the famous 'hardcopy incident.' What the hell is that? I don't know, but supposedly it's all explained in Sammy Hagar's book. However, If you think I'm reading 50 Shades of Brah! by Sammy Hagar you're sorely mistaken.
Whatever the incident, this car now is saddled with a salvage title because of it. Perhaps, it was the case that while Hagar may not have been able to drive 55, Van Halen simply couldn't drive? Making up for that tainted title somewhat, the car comes with a Van Halen striped horn button and seemingly some other rock-related paraphernalia including a Guitar Hero game.
You might recall the 348ts as being one of the first mid-engine V8 cars from Maranello to carry their all-alloy mills longitudinally and fitted to a transverse gearbox. It was a setup that the Italians claimed improved weight balance and handling, and made people go whaaaaaaaaaa? which is always fun.
This one has only 9,000 miles on the clock and it's quite possible that for some of those miles the passenger seat was occupied by Lifetime Channel star emeritus Valerie Bertinelli, who is also Van Halen's ex wife. Despite the salvage title the car looks great on the outside, and it's refreshing to see a Ferrari in a non-traditional color every now and then.
The interior looks okay too, albeit a bit grimy in places. In fact, you might just want to bring a towel. The motor looks fine, however the lack of a comprehensive maintenance history noted in the ad leaves one yearning for more detail about its condition.
I grew up with Van Halen as a local band here in the Pasadena area, and my wife went to school with Diamond Dave's sister. I always liked them until Roth and the rest parted ways. I don't have much love for the music of Van Hagar, but I do appreciate the fact that Sammy's probably a totally nice dude.
I don't know however, if I ever liked the band enough to want to own one of its members' cast-off cars. Different strokes for different folks, as they say, and somebody out there just might. We're here today to help THAT GUY determine if he's getting a deal or not.
The price in the Craigslist ad is $59,998, and the car also is presently being offered on eBay as a straight up auction with a non-reserve meeting $32,600 being the current high bid. I've pulled some of the description from the eBay ad, but as it's an auction, we're going with the Craigslist page for our evaluation.
What do you think about $59,998 for this former Eddie Van Halen Ferrari? Is that a price that should make a fan with the cash jump at the opportunity? Or, is that too much to make everybody want some?
You decide!
Los Angeles Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
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