Hi All, Just joined and I have a question: I'm considering purchasing a '94 348CH (Challenge) which is located on CL: http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/car/598673673.html. The car looks good, but instead of the horizontal tailights and slats, this one has what appears to be a 355 tail. My question is of the 32 GTB's brought in, in '94, were there any that might have had this taillight configuration, or could this be a "put together" or rebuilt car? I ran the VIN and the check number works and it comes up as an "R" code "348 Series" non specific. Before I enter into negotiations, it would be nice to have this input. Can anybody help identify this car? Thanks CBXSage 85 QV Mondial - Rosso "It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a halfa pack of cigarettes, a full tank of gas, it's midnight and we're wearin' sunglasses...HIT IT!" (Jake Blues)
I think that car has been discussed here before. No 348s were fitted with round taillights. That, along with many other things, were done to that car. I'm sure others here who might be more knowledgeable about 348s will chime in on that particular car.
http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=186456 VIN ZFFRG35A0R0098452 Year/Make/Model: 1994 FERRARI 348 TB Body Style: COUPE Engine Type: 3.4L V8 FI SOHC Manufactured In: ITALY
Here is a 94 Challenge car at Sport Auto http://www.sportauto.cc/inventory_ferrari/1994_348_Challenge/index.htm
Thats the CF tail light conversion kit that ''RayWheels" sells. It looks like a really nice car, and the price is definitely right! No service history is mentioned, i'd make a big issue about that, and certinly dont forget a PPI! If you buy it and want to restore the tail lights to original, let me know, i'll swap you straight-up.
Perhaps it is 1995 that I am thinking of... I get different facts, depending on where I look. Wikipedia shows the 348 ending in 1994, yet I've seen '95 Spiders on eBay.
There were 60 non-spiders imported to the US in '94. 45 (32 tb and 13 ts) challenge cars and 15 ts SS cars. Non of which came with round tale lights.
Why are people so opposed to the round tail light conversion? It looks great IMHO. Ah, I see. Thanks for cleaing this up!
thats a fantastic looking 348... the round tail light conversion looks good with the challenge style grill (black)
Thanks for that info. After finding the Challlenge Registry: http://www.redfcar.com/pages/Challenge/348challengeregistry.htm I found the car listed. I had already run the VIN. I suspected that the tailights were 355 and had been a necessary replacement due to collision. However, your post makes sense, considering the rest of the car. The registry gave me the cars first buyer and dealer and the fact that it had been raced in the Challenge Series as part of the Miller Motorcar team. After a jaunt, on the net connecting the dots, I was lead to the original owners website which actually has a pic of the old girl in action. Very Cool! I have dispatched a short laundry list for the dealer to address and then I think I'm going to be a happy "Yellow Streak". Now that I know about the RayWheels conversion, I'm good with the rest of the car. As for negotiating? Well, geez, it's been raced and probably rode pretty hard, but it appears that the subassembly is very clean, so my guess is that the drivetrain may be a warmed over. Can't tell yet, but I'll keep you all posted on my progress. I'm off to see the Wizard...
The 355 tail light conversion was not put on because of an accident. If you need more info PM me and I will put you in touch with my mechanic. He knows the car well. At least, what he did to it.
Well, as promised, I have news... This car is absolutely gorgioso! From about 20ft! The closer you get, the more you realize that the flashy 3 piece magnesium rims and yellow that could replace the sun, should it ever burn out, are both the attraction and yet the great distraction! Painted over chipped and erroded paint w/large chunks of paint missing underneath. I kinda got the impression that all that was done to prep, was just ruff up the old paint, and shoot. I even doubt if there was a primer under the new stuff. There was actually underspray and over spray in the lower vent of the driver's door. Pathetically ironic, there was no peel whatsoever, so on the good surfaces it looked great, even up close. Open the doors and the left door drooped about 4/32's and there was evidence that it had been hitting both above AND below the striker, even before and after the new paint. Most of the vertical pieces around the kick's, footwells, and firewall were either not attached and kinda just sitting there and/or edge frayed from severe abuse. The footrest in the drivers footwell was gone and that panel had several quarter sized holes along the lower edge which was not secured. The pedals were made of some kind of almost brittle aluminum stock that were still sharp-edged. There were drilled aluminum heel plates that appeared to be fastened THROUGH the floorpans by mix & match standard phillips sheet metal screws. The seats were barely articulated and not at all comfortable, and they had only about 2 inches of forward/back adjustability. My partner who fits into Maserati Boras, Meraks and our Mondial was almost in a knot in the driver's seat. The incredible sound system was a Circuit City Kenwood, probably to take advantage of the free install...yuk,yuk. The speakers consisted of 1 pair of "tinny" 4" in the door panels. OK, anything is workable, start the engine. Beautiful! Not even a slight miss in the raster, almost as smooth as a wankel...Hmmmm! Perfect idle, exhaust fairly cool and hardly any "ordoriferous eminations". Blip the throttle...VERY quick, tight and responsive. Valvetrain, spot on. Damn, the clutch was even quiet! Engine inspection was very easy, thanks to the missing rear bay cover. I have nothing but praise for Alex at Scuderia Sportiva of Scottsdale! Next was the ride. I was a little disappointed, at first, because I was sort of hoping the car would have that neck snapping acceleration I had been fantasizing about for the last few days(WELL...it does look quick!). Then I realized that I was doing 80 in 3rd, thinking "people on ludes should not drive!". What a delightfully smooth warp-ship! Absorbing CA 101, with extreme prejudice, at near triple digits! "Whatza behinda me es no importante!" This car woulda definately put a toothy grin on Franco! I let go of the wheel and the damn thing just kept going right where I had pointed it. The drivetrain might as well have been brand new and on 'roids to boot! The sensation of speed was almost non-existent, the gears were absolute and smooth as silk, the clutch was strong but generously friendly. I did a 2000 to 6000 accelerator chop and it accelerated with no perceivable peakiness and zero excess on the back-off. Now, the rest of the story... The PPI. We followed the dealer, in our own driver, to Valtellina Automobili, in Sausalito, and into the hands of "old world" Ferrari Master, Enrico Tenne, our version of "The Stig" for the PPI. Within seconds of arrival, he's all over this thing like "Unk and them Varmits". See, the world of Ferrari techs is pretty small and as he's looking the car over, Alex is on the cell and they are talking a mile a minute...in Italian, which of course was leaving the dealer to only scratch his head. Now comes "The Drive". My partner went with Rico to "sort it all out". And I mean "sort it All out!", somewhere out of ear shot of course. Sometimes I think he does his thing, just so he can "Sort things out"...LOL! The dealer and I talked about the few marvels that were around the shop, mostly to keep his mind off the old man that had just replaced his shoes with those slip on nomex racing slippers and took his Ferrari for a "ride". Anyway, to shorten this up, Rico says the drivetrain is great and Alex is sending the laundry list of all the goodies and neat things he did to it before the dealer got it. Unfortunately, the nose of the car has been racked to the left and twisted low left, so the left front wants to eat paint on only "5 click" manuevors. He noted the left fender had been replaced, as he inspected the tire, because it had bit the tire from poor alignment-at least. I pointed out that the left rear was also more negative cambered than the right. After that we found that all the body parts on the left and front of the car were mis-aligned, along with the rear valance and facia...too bad! If somebody wants to have an absolute rocket and has plenty of chassis and body skills to tweak this thing, more power to ya. We have consternated all day on to good and the bad just keeps on overshadowing the positives. If ANYONE goes to check this baby out, make sure to evaluate the whole visual picture first. Don't be swayed from the obvious 20ft. eye-candy appeal, and IMHO figure on a hefty price to rebuild the car around the sub-assembly! As for us, there will be others...
aww.. thats a damn shame. All things considered, ida offered him $30K, and let the project begin! Very articulate, interesting and well written writeup thought!
I suppoze I was asking a lot for the car to be more of a car, as there have been others that were, perhaps less presentable and showing more wear. I guess I'm guilty of falling for the the candy coating and just being a consumer. The trip was over 550 miles, mostly in California traffic. But the experience was... well, I'll just say it's not always the destination, but it's the journey that's the more worthier part. No matter what, it still doesn't change my intentions or zeal to find and own the right car. Besides, it was all very entertaining at the very least! Keep the rubber side down, Doc.
No, offense intended. I bought a used challenge car and I love it. Maybe different circumstance. Maybe better preserved? Still enjoying the journey.
Welcome to FerrariChat. You've lost my faith in your review, though, when you said the pedals were junk. From then on I took your flamboyant writing with a grain of salt. Both the pedals & foot rest appear to be the quality you get from Ferrari, UltimatePedals, and the like! Yes, UltimatePedals give you machine screws to fasten the aluminum to your vehicle. From the photo, it appears the screws match - unlike your review, where you made it seem hap hazard. I paid over $100 for the foot rest in my 348 (from UltimatePedals) and I can assure you it is over engineered. No cheap ricer APC products for sure. This, of course, assumes that the photos on Craigslist are of the actual car you inspected.
OPEN YOUR EYES!!! This car has been abused physically! There is not a single cosmetically "correct" square inch on this thing! Not only is it very clear from the pictures that the whole front of this vehicle is ajar, but the paint etc...well I think you guys can see. As for cheap ricer "APC products", have you not seen the interior?? Look this car may very well be in top mechanical condition, but with the obvious accident history its just not worth anything near what they are asking!! Please anyone who is considering this car do yourself a favor and buy the GTB from www.Ferrparts.com. You will save about twenty thousand dollars and walk away with a much much nicer Ferrari! And its accident free and comes with a real Ferrari interior. Lastly please read the many many other posts/threads on this car!!! It has been on the market for almost a year now.
Wingfeather specifically referenced the pedals and nothing else. I think his point was to say that the OP was very hard on the quality of the pedals when he should not have been. I didn't see any other reference in his post to any other parts of the car.
My mistake. I did not properly read Wingfeather's post. I know my previous post comes across as harsh, (with out a valid point) but to my defense I have been exhausted by this vehicle as this is the third thread regarding it. I am also firmly planted in my belief that it is not a cost effective investment. Yes as Wingfeather noted the pedals are NOT cheap, as well as all the carbon fiber interior bits and the carbon fiber rear 355 grill. These would all add up if one were to chose add them to a stock 348. That having been said in my eyes they do not overshadow the previously mentioned flaws of the vehicle.
Apologies for ruffling feathers. The photographs do not illustrate the cheap repaint, nor the bent frame. If this is the case, then the car is priced too high. But then again... how many '94 Challenges exist? Anyway, I digress. I am not here to defend this car... I will vouch for the quality of UltimatePedals, though. Amazing products & service - much like Ricambi America.
First of all, thanks for the "Welcome" to FerrariChat. It was definately "The" car listed on CL. However, I must support my original observation on the quality of the product in question. Although I may not be as well versed as you, or anyone else here for that matter, on Ferrari OR the aftermarket accessories available to owners, these parts were still ragged to the touch and almost rough sawn in places. While I'm no expert, I still don't think I want to pay up for raw materials or the appearance of such, eventhough they might actually appeal to some, that's not how I roll. As far as my "flamboyant" writing, it is what it is, like it or not. I have never been one to to be dry and deadpan about life or my descriptions thereof. If I can take a waste of 500 miles, 15 hours of my time and the price of the PPI and make lemonaid out of it, I will. Life's an adventure, while I'm not claiming to be God's gift to journalism, if I can bring a little levity to an otherwise dull occasion, I will. Make no mistake, do not let my sense of humor mislead the integrity of my accuracy, it went down just as I said it did, and further you weren't there, I was offering the benefit of what I found to group. So, for the humor impaired, I went and checked the car out and it's a POS! 'Nuff said... I apologize if I have offended anyone. I stand corrected.
