Why so many spiders for sale? Where's the GTB's / GTS's?

This is not a new phenomenon, about two years I was at the local Ferrari dealer with my 355 Berlinetta, the sales manager saw it and said “Wow, nice car, we never see any Berlinettas any more, all we ever see is Spiders”, he even went out and walked around it admiringly.

I was a bit surprised to hear that, I had thought my car, a Red/tan 99 F1, was fairly common.

 

Ouch! Got any more rude judgements for us Spider owners?

I researched for some time... then bought a Spider because the convertible top makes the vehicle a tad more exotic IMHO.

 

Not sure how you did that - "Ferrari affubabul....affortism.....affobbabbuh...." Nope, can't even say those two words close together.

Shoot, even the replicars are going Spider (don't really want to think about what that says, though):
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Ferrari-F355-Replica-Pontiac-Fiero-GT_W0QQitemZ250206529154QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item250206529154

 

+1 on the C pillar. I love the lines of the GTB.

Steve

 

f355 is just cool, like Steve Mcqueen

 

Sorry, was not meant to be a blanket quote or rude to Spider owners. I know there are many Spider owners just as passionate about there car and Ferrari ownership as anyone else. However, like other brands there are people that want to get into Ferrari ownership. And a convertible it does carry more sex appeal than say a GTB or GTS. In fact I even looked at spiders for a bit. After spending some time playing with the power top contols and not feeling comfortable about tracking the car, I passed on a spider for a GTS.

Regarding looking affordable. This is price relative to other potential brands/models, not looks....In the case of the 355 Spider people see they can buy an exotic convertible (cars.com, average $75-$80) versus a new Porsche Cab, Mercedes SL, etc. I think it is great you can get into a modern day Ferrari for well under 100K. It would also be interesting to see if 355 Spiders become more desirable over time vs. GTS/GTB. This could very well happen.

Thus with availability and sex appeal of the Spider I think it brings in a larger pool of buyers than say the similarly priced GTB or GTS. Some might think I just slammed the GTB, GTS owners now, oh well . Unlike yourself, with this larger pool of prospective buyers not everyone would take the time to really understand what owning a 355 is all about (ownership, maintenance, etc.). Those that do the research and understand what ownership is about either keep their cars or upgrade. Those that don't might lead to wanting to sell their car and get out.

Now with the number of builds for each sub-model being relatively close, why there is such a disparate number of Spiders is odd.

I am sure I dug a deeper hole than planned.

 

As hard as it was for me to find my nero/nero GTB, it would be even harder to part with it. I have found this to be common among GTB/GTS owners. Once we have 'em, we drive 'em, then we keep 'em.

 

I'm a spider owner, you nailed it. There aren't more of them - they just trade w/ more frequency. After I got mine - I realized I'd relly love to have a GTB so I could enjoy year round.

 

+1 - I did th GTS thing with my 328, have never had any desire over the years to own a soft top car..just not my thing... I think the lines on a GTB car flow much better than the Spider...

 

I have to agree. I am sure there are several spider owners out there that are educated enthusiasts about everything Ferrari. I am equally as sure that there are a larger number of spider owners vs GTB owners that bought the car because it was a convertible Ferrari and "it looked cool!!" These people soon realized that looking cool came with some maintanence costs...OOPS... You also have to look at the Exotic rental fleets, they all bought spiders and are now trading their poor overabused spiders in for 360 spiders. This will create even more in the market.

 

There is one on ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Ferrari-GTB-SPECTACULAR-98-F355-GTB-F1-BLACK-TAN-14kmi-BUY-899-M_W0QQitemZ150205952740QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item150205952740

 

maybe.....but nothing compares to top down, on a street or road that allows that full ensemble to resonate next to your acoustical funnels! ...and I've had zero problems w/ top.

 

Now were talking.... !!!!

+1000 on the senses Gershwin and zero problems with my top too...... I only had to top off the fluid so far....

 

Come to Europe and you'll see more GTS/GTB's for sale. Americans prefer spiders and Europeans prefer coupes? Could be the weather...

In Holland, 3 out of 12 F355's are spiders.

 

It's been said here before....top down 6k rpms,tubi singing that chilling song...It's the closest thing to riding a motorcycle for me. Love my 355 spider.....

 

and that's the principal benefit of the gts, top off, windows down you can revel in the world's best sounding production motor v8 and keep the beautiful c pillar "flying buttresses".....

 

I'm sure this will ruffle some feathers but others have been outspoken enough to give their opinions even if they stepped on the toes of others. Here is why I purchased a spider instead of a GTB or GTS. The pictures speak for themselves so I won't say anymore (which in my opinion says it all!!!).
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My perspective, at least as far as Europe is concerned, is that there are lots of 355 Spiders available for sale, but 348 Spiders are very rare. Especially RHD ones.

Perhaps is it because the power hood of the 355 Spider hood is problematic and expensive to maintain? Also lots of 355 Spiders were built.

 

Not sure the pictures are speaking to me, other than to say that Toyota doesn't know how to design a good-looking sports car.

 

I got rid of my spider because I was tired of fixing the top mechanism and I have a friend that did the same.

I will hunt for a GTS sometime soon since I know its going to take a while to find.

 

spider is good..........

+1............ 'toy yodas' are not very good looking .............

 

X2) To me the pictures are saying that the 355 looks awesome, although not as hot as a 348, and the Toyota doesn't look anything like a Ferrari. They are not even close. IMO the Spider, GTS, or GTB is just personal preference.