Snow Snow Go Away!

Well, there's not much to post about today. As expected, with a big snowstorm covering most of the Eastern US, the phones are pretty quiet this morning. We're still packing up lots of genuine Ferrari parts and accessories, because despite the bad weather, FedEx is still running and our international customers still expect shipments to be leaving the US this afternoon.

We did get an extra SD3 diagnostic computer into inventory last week, and maybe I'll spend the day playing with it and checking out the 430 Scuderia stuff.

A Ferrari Parts WOOT? From Ricambi America

I was downstairs packing up some random bits and pieces and noticed that our stock of Challenge Stradale TCUs had grown waaaaay too large! So, taking a page from another great Internet site, I though we should deep-discount these items and see if we can lower our stock position to a more reasonable level. Holding thousands of genuine Ferrari Parts on our shelf at Ricambi America might look neat to a visitor, but its quite an investment. No need to carry too many of these items in inventory as long as our sourcing in Italy remains strong.

So, for customers with a 360 Modena or 360 Spider who want to experience neck snapping fast F1 shifts, this swappable Transmission Control Unit, is just the item! It is a genuine Ferrari article with the 2004 Challenge Stradale firmware. Take it to the track, and have some fun. Yes, around town the shifts of your F1 will be a bit rougher, but at high revs, you'll feel like Michael Schumacher at Monza. :)

The wheels on the bus go round and round!

In the past, one of the hottest items we sold for 360 and F430 owners was a set of genuine Ferrari Challenge Stradale wheels. Now, with the advent of the F430 Scuderia, it seems everyone wants a new pair of shoes. Because Ferrari parts for new models (like the Scud) are often blocked by the factory for resale until a certain period of time elapses, we were delighted to get several sets of these genuine Scuderia wheels into inventory yesterday!

They are all presold (and in fact already reboxed and headed onward to customers), but its nice to know they are now commerically available. We can get them in both titanium (shown) and the race-inspired Ferrari gold. Are they cheap? No. Are they an absolutely super-cool way to make your Ferrari stand apart from the pack? Heck yeah!

Our new website design is also now fully operational! Although a few little issues were identified after the go-live, our site at Ricambi America is up and running and looks fantastic. We chose to integrate some of our advertising photos into our mainpage -- trying to make the image and 'feel' of Ricambi America more consistent across different media.

Roll with it, baby!

Every now and then, we get some amazingly unusual, rare, original and genuine Ferrari parts at Ricambi America. Although we don't specialize in the vintage cars (like 365BB and such) whenever a cool item comes our way, we're happy to stash it on the shelf for a future buyer.

Today, we finally got around to taking pictures of our long-lost Ferrari BB512 spare wheel. This baby has the original tire, original decals, and probably the air from 30 years ago! I wouldn't suggest anyone actually roll this on their Boxer, but for concours correct items, it is an absolutely perfect item !

Darn cool, eh?

We shot this video back when the weather was warmer... ah, I wish it were warm again. :(

It is COLD!

It's so cold today that I'm having a hard time even thinking of what to post in my blog! I recently saw this phrase "International service from one of the worlds largest Ferrari parts inventories, we have more Ferrari parts, more Ferrari parts experience and better Ferrari parts prices than most anyone in the business" and thought it does really nicely summarize Ricambi America.

Last night we updated our website to better guide customers into our detailed Ferrari parts diagrams and catalogs In addition to familiar layout on the parts page, we offer a tree navigation from anywhere on our site. This new format also nicely accommodates our Lamborghini parts, and Maserati parts -- in addition to giving us some 'growth' opportunities in the new folder structure.

Hopefully this format will assist our worldwide customers and allow them to have a smoother, more detailed, and more rewarding experience at Ricambi America.

The Grill of my Dreams?

As many people know, I am an avid supporter of the Ferrari 348, and have one myself. It is a Ferrari which got strong criticism from the press when it was released in 1989 and never made much of a commercial splash. In fact, the cars languished in showrooms for a long time as dealers had difficulty finding buyers during a down economy with a 'less the loved' Ferrari model.

At Ricambi America, we sell Ferrari parts for just about every modern Ferrari on the road -- but when 348 owners call, of course I take a special interest in their cars, and certainly share their passions (and frustrations) for these little 8-cylinder gems. Whether a customer needs a new clutch, brake pads, major service kit, or just something fun like aluminum racing pedals, I love to hear how customers are living with their 348. Unlike the later cars such as a Ferrari F355, 360 Modena, F430, Scuderia, or Stradale, the 348 is a little 8-cylinder car that was 'modern' in its day, and experienced some significant teething pains.

So, leaving aside all the genuine Ferrari parts that might be needed in the mechanical realm, critics then focus on the styling. The massive side strakes for cooling, while a bit odd, are generally liked by the public because they remind people that a 348 is a 'Baby Testarossa". On the other hand, the rear grill of a 348 is usally disliked. With its rectangual tail lights, and aluminum grill work, it looks non-Ferrari. Missing were the iconic round taillights of previous Ferraris. In fact, so 'unliked' was this design, that Ferrari immediately reverted to the round taillights with te F355 and hasn't turned back!

Last week, I was fortunate enough to receive a protoype version of the Ferrari 348 Challenge Grill -- aka, the LeMans Grill for my car. We're still in the final stages of fit and wiring, but the pictures below show just how neat it looks! Maybe not for everyone, but for a diehard 348 junkie like me, it's the perfect Ferrari part.