With contracts exchanged on my bothersome flat and completion due early next month I am now on the hunt for a 355. Sold the Golf yesterday for £300 more that I paid for it, so that should cover the insurance

I have thought about a getting a porker but the Ferrari is the only car I have ever wanted.
Current budget will allow a good 355 or a cheap 360. I have decided on the 355. It will be red. The only decision left to be made is the model.

I have a choice of 3.

Hardtop, Targa, SoftTop.



So what do you think?

I love the looks of the hard top.

If I am buyiong a Ferrari then why not have a soft top, I can't think of anything better that listening to Ferrari soundtrack while blatting about in the Highlands

So do I go for the Targa and get the best of both worlds?

 

Yes, but go for stick-shift manual. They're rarer and now worth more than those with the F1 'box.

I drove a manual 360: very impressive. I am sure the 355 will be similar.
Happy hunting!

 

Had planned on the Stick Shift anyway. Was in a 360 with the flappy paddle and hated it.

 

Was lucky enough to drive a 355 at a 'Supercars trackday' (along with race prepped 911, Dodge Viper 8L V10 and Lotus Esprit twin turbo. The Ferrari was absolutely sublime and so far ahead of the others in almost every respect - I'm sure you'll love it!

 

Are you using it as your main car? If so what mileage will you be doing. I am interested in what sort of running costs / reliability these have over my 911 turbo.

 

Your 911 will be significantly more reliable and cheaper to run in pretty much every way possible.

However just bear in mind that you can't take your money with you...

 

Golf mk2 to a Ferrari 355?! Thats a bit of a jump!!

If you could be looking at a low end 360 then I'd certainly be test driving both. I know some people say the driving position in the 355 is a bit dodgy.

Either way stunning cars and few will ever get the chance to own one.

 

Very much a second car, we have a Q7 to ferry the kids and wifey about. I have had the golf for about 10 months and on done a couple of hundred miles in it. Although I expect the Ferrari will see a bit more tarmac.

Thought seriously about a 911 for reliabilty, ease of use etc, but it wasn't the car that I dreamt about as a nipper, the Ferrari was.
During my late teenage years a Golf GTi was all I wanted, but that was during the £50million hot hatch insurance era
I have had the Golf, soon to have the ferrari, had a scoob (sti3), and Evo 6 (running 360bhp) and a few other that I care not to mention (lets just say Rover 214 soft top and leave it there).
The only realistc thing left on my list is the Aston and when I come to sell the 355 the new V8 may have come down into my price range
Quite fancy the Bentley Continental GT also but still a bit too expensive.

 

What a nice dilema to have.

Personally, I think all 3 look stunning, 355 has to be one of my all time favourite cars. Agree with your choice of colour as well, has to be red !!

Get some pics up once you've bought it

Not sure about the Bentley Continental myself, I think they look ugly, front end reminds me of a Rover Never understood the fascination with them, could think of 100's of cars I'd rather buy for that money.

Chris

 

expensive for a 355 but might be worth a look

Boundary

 

Quite rightly he doesn't want an F1 gearbox though.

 

My budget is around the 45k mark although I can probably push a bit more if required.
Will be off to look at these as soon as the cash hits the bank:

Ferraris for Sale

I like the soft top at 42k or the Targa (I think!) at 45k

Don't like the black Challenge grill on the back though

 

I'd probably go for the 1998 GTS at 46K. Looks just right to me.

Decisions, decisions...

 

Great choice, the F355 is a beautiful car and IMHO will definitely become a future classic, the last and best of the "old" shapes, unlike the 360.

I'd go for the Berlinetta, just looks brilliant IMHO compared to targa and soft-top, has better chassis rigidity (back then without the roof they used to be a little flexy...), less things to go wrong (roof mechanism, seals, etc) and will hold its value much better.

Red of course

Post pics when you got it! I was seriously thinking about one myself (in Italy they can be had for 50,000 euros and I spent 40,000 on a Golf R32...) but with the amount of miles I do per year I probably couldn't afford maintenance and parts if something went wrong.

Wall

 

I would take the Mk2 16 valve

How much do you want for it ?

 

What's the typical servicing costs for something like a 355 ?

Drove a 360 last week and I've now fallen in love with the whole Ferrari thing, might be an itch I need to scratch at some point in the future.

 

Whats wrong with the F1 gearbox then?

Should I find myself after one obviously

 

I had a 360 with F1 for 6 months, the box is great, might take a little getting used to but when you get it right it is superb.
I wouldn't dismiss the 360 just yet....
One piece of advice, get the clutch checked before you buy if you go F1. Mine had about 92-97% wear when I sold it fairly pricey I am led to believe. I sold mine before it needed new rears/clutch/service so very lucky.
Also check for any recalls, the ECU on mine was supposed to have been done but wasn't, that would have been another 1k or so...

Great fun though, best 6 months of my driving life but make sure you can afford the depreciation or buy very wisely!

 

Visit FerrariChat. Seem a helpful bunch when it comes to Ferraris.

 

Although I prefer the looks of the 355, I'd go for a 360 if it were my cash. They're supposed to be much more reliable, and servicing is cheaper too I believe

 

Adam M was looking into a 355 but decided against it due to the huge servicing costs as opposed to a 360 IIRC

 

At least someones not feeling the credit crunch, prices rising , etc etc!

 

So tomorrow is the big day, flying down to Verdi in London to have a look and drive of a few 355 and 360s. Still think that 355 is the way to go, but will know better tomorrow.

this is the current favourite

 

Seems to tick all the right boxes the Berlinetta for a few K more is also nice but not Crema.

 

Again, do some research on ferrarichat and make sure Verdi isn't the ferrari equiv of keighly trade centre I know there is one that gets slated, but can't remember which one it is

The GTB is the better drivers car and you will hear the engine regardless as it's next to your ears, the GTS, Spider is always a compromise, just depends if you prefer driving or posing

Have you thought about a 550? I'd say that it is more likely to hold it's value than a 355 or 360, although the 360 would be the better of the two, and we all know that 'proper Ferrari's' have 12 cylinders

If it was my money, I'd opt for a 328, or a 246 if I could stretch to one, but it isn't, it's yours, so I wish you all the best in your purchase

But hell, who am I to say, it's not like I know anything about them

me as a kid at christmas..

 

Cool pic, I'm thinking of "Ferris Bueller" for some reason

 

erm, 13 years old + TR + 2nd gear + Limiter = 100 iirc

I was about 8-9 there

 

In its day car mag journos used to find that if they slightly over-revved the big 48 valve V12 of a Countach QV, they could just hit 60mph in FIRST gear.

Avoiding any gear changes obviously helped their recorded 0-60mph times, but probably didn't do the engines of the test cars much good!