One of the best looking Ferraris ever produced. This is coming from a 308 guy. I was just browsing my instagram search, and a couple 355 pics came up. Wow. That is all.
The 355 is completely lovely and impressive in every way. Wish I could afford to own (note: own, not purchase) one.
It is indeed a beautiful car. And perhaps one of the best performing cars Ferrari has ever built. Keeping it alive and well is another story.
Keeping a good one alive and well is not too bad. Getting one straightened out after being neglected is a daunting task not for the faint of heart. Ask me how I know It is the real world reason well sorted 355's fetch a premium and neglected ones get sold cheap.
I will probably always think these cars look from the back is second to none, regardless of the beauty of the rest of it Image Unavailable, Please Login
... One of the best aging cars in the whole of human history. ... One of the best sounding cars in the whole of human history. ... Mandatory to be in a top 10 greatest Ferrari of all-time list (alongside my beloved 458). A 355 is a wonderful thing to have. Inspite of it all. Kind regards, Nuno.
Have to agree The lines on the spider are just on another level of beauty. Image Unavailable, Please Login
They all look great to me (except the 348 wheel finish) Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I will break rank and disagree with everyone. The 355 is not "one of the best looking" Ferrari ever. It is the best looking Ferrari period specially the spyder given it's the most proportioned. There will never be a car with better form of equal function. I say this with reference to the 355 platform potential and the direction cars design is going. The average car today produces 3 to 4 times the horse power it predecessor did 20 years ago. To utilize the extra power, cars structural design changed. Unfortunately the most economic friendly design to counter the drag elements is also less than eye candy. Moving forward every car will be a hatchback. No trunk area just a tapered down roofline leaving proportion, the most important factor that defines a car beauty well, not proportioned. Factor one, look at the 360,430,458,488 side view. Notice the front end is stubby and an extra long back end. Factor 2, notice the back half is much higher than the front half. Factor 3, looking from the back, the front and rear bumpers of the 355 make an uninterrupted horizontal line where the back of the 458 is more disruptive than a bad kid in grade school. Factor 4, the silhouette of the 355 has a subtle uninterrupted curve from front to back. Factor 5, the 355 is square with round edges in the right places where the other models more rounded overall. These are some features that give a car it's overall proportion. Beauty is all about proportion that is why, excuse my language, fat women are less attractive and please don't make me explain. But a car doesn't have to be a compromise between form and function. It can be both. The 355 has the beauty and the platform to match even exceed its successors. It just need an extra 100 horses.
I agree I love looking at the 355 almost as much as I love driving it !! I have my challenge car sitting next to my desk 😆🙏🏻 Image Unavailable, Please Login
Every day I drive it I get asked at least twice, "What year is that?" Most are surprised it's 20 years old.
It's one of the best and that opinion mainly restricted to a certain age group I'd say. My daughter and my Fiancee's children prefer the look of my 360 to my previous F355. Anyway the best is the 288GTO or is the 250GTO?
The car was wrapped by one of the best graphic guys in the business Matt Clark Over 200 separate pieces of vinyl and then the car is completely warped with clear !
Now that we agree the 355 is the best looking Ferrari ever, let's look at function. I don't think everyone realizes the racing potential of the 355 platform. I'll explain it this way. When a rocket engine ignites, air and volatile fuel mixture create a combustion of tremendous outward pressure pushing in all directions due to air expanding is higher than atmospheric pressure. The pressure is channeled out in one direction. The result is thrust pushing the rocket in the opposite direction . Inversely, when an object moves from a position to the next, it leaves a vacuum in the space it once occupies. The result is a collapsing pressure. Air and objects near by are sucked in to fill the void. Here lies the problem with car racing and why I will argue the 355 architecture is the best suited for racing. A fast moving car creates a vacuum. Depending on the speed, the vacuum may translate into hundreds of pound of force. The force causes the back end of the car to loose traction between the wheels and the ground which result in the car "fish tailing" going into a sharp corner. In the early days of car racing, engineers combats this affect by adding a gigantic wing onto the trunk. It works great but a lawn chain sitting on top a car is not an attractive feature. Porsche did away with wings by incorporating an invisible retractable one. Ferrari did away with wings by extending the roof line in a gradual slope on all the later models. But Ferrari solved the lifting of the back end problem years ago with the creation of the 355. The one simple piece on the 355 that makes it unique and a racing engineering marvel is the rear deck lid. Nearly 70% of the surface area is porous. The intend was to allow hot air from the engine to escape but little did the geeks LoL at Pinenfarina know, the holes in the deck lid serve many purposes. One, there is this thing calls convection. Hot air rises to the top sucking in cold air from the bottom. And we know that air is more dense near the ground than air above it. The shape of cars front end, when moving forward forces air to condense below. It pushes up the car rear end. Air forced above the car creates a vacuum right above the trunk area. The two forces push and pull up the car rear end. Because the 355 deck lid is porous with a small surface area, the push from the bottom and the pull at the top are minimized and hence the car stays glued to the ground. I'm really impressed with the 355 architect. Nearly every feature is beautifully placed and has a function . This car in many ways a better racing platform than any car (street legal) in existent and I say it again. It just need an extra 100 horses. Let this be our homework. The first person to come up with a turbo for the 355 will get a stooge lifetime achievement award and dinner for two at the Palm.
