I traded my '98 355B F1 for an R8 a couple years ago. I'm having a severe case of regret. There nothing like the sound of a 355. I'm thinking of buying a '95 Spider now. Can someone tell me what the differences are with passing smog and inspection between a 2.7 and a 5.2 car in Texas? The car I'm looking at failed smog once in 2014. 1995 Ferrari F355 Spider (S0103152) ? M. Brandon Motorcars
That's a really nice spider at M Brandon. I've seen it in person. If you want a spider, hard to go wrong with that one. Robb
In AZ, all 2.7 cars go on the rolling road. All 5.2 cars just get plugged in to check the codes. Robb
have a 95 Spider in the Dallas area. Pre-OBDII cars are tricky. You will need to find an inspection station that can properly inspect OBDI cars (pre-1996). I have a place by the house that is one of the only ones still in town that have a certified emissions dyno test station to properly smog test OBDI cars. It costs the same as an OBDII inspection. They will roll your car on to the dyno so the rear wheel spin the roller. They will insert a probe in each side of the exhaust. They will measure the exhaust gases at idle and at 2200RPM. When it passes, you'll get a standard emissions test sheet just like you would for any newer car. You'll need to have the exhaust system setup somewhat in stock form to pass meaning you'll need to have cats that work and a bypass valve that works and is shut during the idle and 2200RPM tests. I have fabspeed headers, tubi exhaust, OE cats, and a stock bypass valve, and my car tests extremely clean. It's required every year. Once these cars are 25 years old, these cars will be exempt. Only a few more years to go. Good luck.
Interestingly enough, the car you are looking at via the link you posted has a serial that is less than a hundred away from mine. Mine is also made in the same month as this car. The late 95s with the F129B engine are really interesting cars. Much more problem-free than the early 95 cars. I just did my original factory bronze valve guides at 64k this past winter. Long-term care and maintenance along with proper documentation is key.
Just went and checked it out. It is a nice looking car. He's got a red '97 that appears to be bone stock also. It's almost perfect.
Close to mine also....I have 2980 with a build date of july 1995 Do you know if I have the f129b? Never heard of an engine difference between early & late 95s, would love to know more about it.
I traded the R8 for a Porsche recently. The R8 is much more modern and faster but the sound is not even close. Mine was a V10 Spider. I don't miss the R8 like the 355.
Mine is 3249. Next time you do an oil change, you can look at the top of the engine just behind the oil filter assembly to see the engine version and number. There is a lot of misinformation online about the F129 engine. Wikipedia says that 94-98 had the F129B engine and 98-99 has the F129C engine. Other more reliable sources say that 94-95 2.7 cars had the F129B engine and 96-99 5.2 cars had the F129C engine. There are other reports that early F355 cars had a F129A engine where the major differences were related to cylinder head design. Supposedly the early F129A cylinder heads had slightly different porting than the later F129B engines and were prone to cracking and that the 'B' engine was more reliable but still had all of the supposed positives associated with owning a 1995 car. I'm not sure if the change from the A to the B engine correlates to the migration from dual fuel pumps and filters to a single pump and filter or if these changes during the 1995 run are completely un-related. Mine is a late 1995 with a F129B engine and a single fuel pump and filter. Here is a link to an older thread where some of this is discussed http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/348-355-sponsored-bradan/518363-95-vs-96-99-cylinder-heads.html
At a recent track day my 355 was overlooked as an old Ferrari among a whole whack load of new cars (F12's, 458's, Aventadors, etc.) After the first round out there was a lot more interest in the 355 as the dramatic exhaust note stole the show. 355 with a Tubi or Capristo is essentially unrivalled in sound. Hard to replace the overall driving experience with a modern vehicle.
I assume you need to register it in an emmissions county? I split time between Dallas and East Texas and can get away with quite a bit on vehicles that are registered outside of the Metroplex.