- Price – Sold
- Year – 1996
- Chassis No – ZFFXR41C000106691
- Engine No – 44053
- Gearbox – 6-Speed Open Gate
- Exterior – Rosso Corsa
- Interior – Black Leather
- Steering – RHD
- Mileage – 75,990
1996 Ferrari F355 Berlinetta
Ferrari manufactured the F355 (Type 129) from May 1994 until 1999. The company produced 11273 cars, making it one of Ferrari’s most successful models at the time. The F355 certainly received rave reviews that guaranteed its future classic status. Mr. J. Clarkson famously stated in 1995 that it was “the greatest car in the world ever”. After which, he went on to buy one himself. The F355 was available in 3 body styles, Berlinetta (closed coupe), GTS (removable roof panel) and Spider. Of the 4915 Berlinettas Ferrari built, they supplied only 496 with RHD, and 75.8% of total production had the legendary and desirable 6-speed open-gate manual gearbox.
The Car
This particular car was supplied new by Reg Vardy, Tyne and Wear to Mr R.T. on 25 October 96. It is the perfect RHD Rosso Corse Berlinetta specification. It has a 6-speed open gated manual transmission and black leather interior. Being a 1996 car, it also has the later 5.2 Bosch Motronic equipped engine. It also has a Capristo Stage 1 exhaust fitted, which sounds brilliant.
The leather interior shows a nice patina and no serious wear, the dashboard does not show any leather shrinkage, and rarely for a Ferrari of this era, there are no sticky plastic surfaces. The red carpets are in excellent condition, and the whole interior has the feel of a well-cared-for car.
The car has had paint in its life to address the paint cracks and corrosion that affect the buttress wing interface on all 355s and to address stone chips on the nose. However, the paint presents very well; even the wear plates below the front spoiler are correctly painted.
The magnesium wheels are immaculate with new Ferrari centre badges fitted and a new set of the original specification Pirelli tyres have been fitted.
Ferrari fitted all cars with the same 5 valve per cylinder flat plane crank V8 displacing 3.5 litres generating a maximum power output of 380 PS (279 kW; 375 hp) at 8,250 rpm and 363 Nm (268 lbft) of torque at 6,000 rpm. Up to the end of the 1995 model year, they produced the cars with the Bosch Motronic 2.7 engine control unit. This was, in effect, two completely separate ignition and fuel systems, each operating on one bank of the V8. However, from 1996 until the end of production, the engine was fitted with the Bosch Motronic 5.2 engine control unit. This utilised one ignition and fuel system for the whole engine and gave slightly smoother running and improved economy.
Its History
There is a very comprehensive service history, a stack of maintenance invoices and old MOTs with the car. This includes details of regular annual services and the 4 yearly cam belt services. The history details work done by some of the best Ferrari specialists. As expected, the leather owners book pouch and manuals are complete, as is the original Ferrari tool kit.
The previous owner bought the car in October 2006. An extensive pre-purchase inspection report was completed when he purchased the car with 28,917 miles. He kept the car fully serviced and maintained, and used the car regularly, taking the mileage to 71,500 in 2012. The owner then placed the car in long-term storage until 2017, when it was purchased by the current owner. It has completed 4,500 miles in the car and has been diligently working through the car servicing and repairing items to bring it back to top condition after its period of storage.
In 2011 the previous owner had the exhaust manifolds refurbished and strengthened, dealing with one of the known weaknesses of the F355 model where the exhaust manifold crack as the original shaped metal is too thin. In addition to regular servicing, the current owner has addressed the following issues since 2017:
- Full service and cam Belt change in 2017.
- Hill Engineering upgraded cam belt tensioners fitted.
- New clutch.
- Bilstein rebuilt all Bilstein shocks, and new springs were fitted, including new wishbone bushes at the rear.
- New coil packs and spark plug leads.
- Replaced brake pads and discs.
- Replaced Sports Cats and Capristo Stage 1 rear box fitted.
- A new steering rack, as an inspection, showed a tiny amount of play in the original rack.
- After fitting the steering rack and suspension work, full alignment and geometry were done.
- Radiators replaced with new ‘Challenge’ specification fans fitted. These are noisier but generate a much larger airflow through the radiators than the standard fans.
- Finally, a new set of the original specification Pirelli tyres were fitted.
On the Road
Unlike many Ferraris, the owner has regularly driven this car and enjoyed taking the mileage to 75,000 miles. However, it has also been diligently maintained and drives superbly, feeling like the properly maintained F355 that it is. The worst thing for these cars is a lack of use.
Conclusion
If you buy an incredibly low mileage “collectors” quality Ferrari you are going to be afraid to drive it and add to the mileage reducing its “collectability”. If you don’t drive it, experience shows, this can lead to maintenance issues through lack of use. Whereas, with this car, you can actually drive and enjoy it without worrying about the additional miles affecting its value. What a great car and a great prospect for Sunday morning blasts and longer road trips!