Need some help on this 348 Challenge...

I think a FChatter bought it fronn Ron Tonkin. I recall it having the same speaker boxes. I would guess it is the same car.

 

That is a mighty interesting car. For somewhere south of $59K I'd say it seems pretty nice. You don't see non-tracked Challenge cars come up too often and if everything checks out, this would be a keeper. It's a 1994 "B" fercrissakes and a Challenge car. Who's gonna pop this one?! Guys, if you are looking for a 348, they don't come better than this one!

Goth? Do it, man. Forget about the color.

 

I believe you are correct,
and I think he paid $62k for it.
It looks to be a really clean car.
I would call Steve Jones if anyone is interested.
He's a straight shooter and a super nice guy

 

Hello all, Im sorry to say, I let her go. I think my priorities are changing a little. I have multiple cars/bikes and just was thinning down a bit. Also looking towards possibly starting a new family soon too. I think this was the most deciding factor....so I may have taken that to the extremes (like I always do).

I know I will be looking for another in the future!


~Marc

 

Wow... what an absolutely gorgeous car! and for $60k, a bargain!!... especially for being so rare.

 

I was at Sport Auto yesterday to pick up my 360 from a little maintenance work, and was definitely impressed with the 348.
I really should have driven her, now that I think about it. Very curious to see how she performs vs. my 360.

I got my 360 from Sport Auto and those guys are really awesome. Everyone there is just a straight shooter
and goes out of the way to help you. Jim Schubert picked me up at the airport yesterday morning, was glad
to do it and then I got to hang out and talk shop with Tom the mechanic and my car was super well detailed by
Mark, who spent all day saturday on her. Darrell Kimrey is who I worked with and is the sales guy there and super
knowledgeable. Will buy there again for sure.

If you are serious, you'd better get there quick. I looked for nearly all year this year for my 360 in just the way I wanted it,
and as soon as they got her in, I put a deposit down sight unseen and was really glad I did.

Hunter

 

The car looks real nice and clean. If it were me, I would remove those rear speaker boxes and save some weight.

 

I'm with you on that! I removed a Rockford amp & two speakers from my car when I purchased it. They're dead weight if you can't hear em too well with the top down flat out The poor PO included a reciept showing he paid $3k for the setup...

 

This was my original intent. The boxes are fixed in place though.....not sure what damage would be done by removing?

 

...................... the "color" is everything...... let there be "nero"..................

My cars/bikes ARE my family..................

 

True. I cant argue that!

 

Sorry Guys,

But while it may be a challenge car there is nothing challenge about it IMO. No cage, no omp challenge seats etc...what are you going to challenge? If you want a streetcar just by a generic 348 or an SS. Unles it has all the challenge stuff there is absolutely no reason to own this car unless you want to pay a premium for the 348 challenge script on the rear decklid! It is sad to me. If you want a race car buy a 348 racecar not a "poser-mobile."

 

Whats poseurish of a factory 348 challenge street car..? Everybody is entitled to their own opinion......

There are other modifications that are not on a regular street car....and other reasons for buying a car like this.
You are not just buying a 348 TB with a "challenge" script on the back.

http://redfcar.com/pages/Challenge/348challengeFAQ.htm

 

You are totally missing the point dude. This is one of the rarest of the 348's - it's a factory Challenge car that has never been challenged. Sure it doesn't have all the requisite racing stuff and it doesn't need it. But it does come prepped by the factory and packed to the gills with race-ready mods. And there are less than 20 of these babies left - unraced 348 Challenges. If this car came up last year at this time, I would have bought it over the SS hands down and gladly paid the premium over my car. It's not for you, you maniac, but you should appreciate it for what it is and that is one of the most collectible 348's out there (assuming they ever become true collectibles!).

BTW, the only 348 I value over this one is the GTB Competiziones we never got in the US. Even then, I am trying to figure out what it takes to get one here legally.

 

I knew I would stir the pot! My recolletion is (and I could be wrong) that all 348s came in us trim and the factory dumpped in challenge parts at the dealers. Even some 355s were like this unitl 1996 when the faxctory actually sent 355s to gestione sportiva to have the challenge gear installed and shipped to the USA with a bill of sale and no title.

So you got a challenge car that does not say it is a challegen car on the door plate. It has no roll cage, no fire system, no omp challenge race seats, no A/C delete, how about challenge tube exhaust, small battery, cutoff switch, waterpump plug, weld in cage footings, harness anchors etc... This may be technically a challenge car but there is nothing challenge about it visually from the pictures. As to value I don't think a 348 even a mic will have much value compared to a 246 dino, 250 cal spider etc... I don't think we will ever see a 250k 348 which is just about entry level in the collectable ferrari market.

 

I think there is a little miss info here. The 348 "factory" challenge was in fact a street car sold at the dealer as such. Other than the fact they were #'d and more limited than the 360CS, they were street cars. They were different than an early 355 CH in that the 355 started with a basic street car. Earlier 348 were the same as well.

The 348 factory cahllenge did come from the factory with a few challenge goodies already installed. That uncluded different suspension geometry to allow for more camber, hard bushings, stiffer springs, lighter front and rear bumpers(you can see the pre-drilled hole in the rear bumper for the challenge hook). They also had the footings for the roll cage pre-welded at the factory as you can see on this car there is cut out on the floor and a cap on the rear ledge. The eye hooks were pre-installed. On this car they may have been removed to put the speakers in, or are covered up by the speaker. I've heard maybe slightly hotter ECU's.

There was no a/c delete on the 348 challenge cars. They had to run with the a/c compressor in place, the belt could be removed though. As for the exhaust the original '94 challenge parts catalogue only lists the single can spider exhaust. In later years they had the challenge exhaust/pipes, but still had to run with stock cats. As for the challenge wheels, those were not available in the in the original series. They ran on stock aluminum wheels.

I would agree the 348 is not collectable like the 250's or even the Fiat 246 Dino (not really a Ferrari), but the 348 factory challenge would be more like a 360 CS. Only 45 were made, so anytime one comes up that was not raced it is worth looking at. For us non-racers it's worth a slight premium especially one not raced with a clean history.

 

OK, I'll buy the slight premium. Very slight.... I'm also skeptical of different suspension geometry as the series limited camber to like -3 and that is doable easily on a stock 348 as I have done it well past there.

So there were:
1) 348 streetcars converted with the challenge package and raced
2) 348 challenge cars titled as such, with part of the challenge conversion and fully converted to race
3) 348 challenge cars titled as such, with part of the challenge conversion and never converted

Did the #3 cars come without the box of stuff to complete the conversion like the seats/cage/harness/battery disconects etcc?

 

I think you're getting it, oh wide one. The #3 group were essentially race prep ready and needed only the final items for the track - cutoffs, cage and fire system. The seats issue has me flummoxed though, as in which cars got them and when? Challenge seats are fabric covered shells, but this car has stock seats.

As for the premuim associated with non-raced challenge ars, I'd say it is something more than a slight increase, likely on the order of 10-15%. In my case, I paid $42K for a SS car needing help, but I would have bought this challenge for $55K+ all day long. I might have stretched further if necessary.

 

I would have bought this car while it was at RTGT if I would have been in a possision to do so at the time. As was said, the 348 Competizione would be "the bomb", there was a LHD 348 comp in Germany for sail a while back and looked beautiful! If you can do it, this is one to have! IMHO.

Cheers!

 

http://nwrfca.org/faq/348versions.html

 

Yes, a slight premium. I did not pay a premium for mine though! It had also been converted and raced in '96. You are absolutely right on the 348 challenge cars. All of the above happened. Only about 1/2 of the factory challenge cars were ever raced. There were about 50 total 348 race challenge cars of various years converted.

And yes, #3 came with the challenge kit included. It was something like a $14,000 delete option (credit if you did not take it), but my understanding is the challenge cars all came with all the stuff in a big crate. The dealer was in charge of installing it. IIRC it was 110 hrs to install all the race stuff on the challenge vs 160 on a regular street car.

 

All '94 challenge cars came from the factory with street interior including the stock leather seats. The racing seats (yes there were 2 of them in the kit and I cannot find a one for sale) came as a package in the challenge kit and had to be installed by the dealer.