348 vs 355 Article

Hi Bikz, didn't see your thread or maybe would have posted. Tend to go through phases of looking in on FChat.

Regarding the sills, true to say you're in the majority. You've hopefully seen them in the flesh, but if not they do tend to blend with the shadows more than in photos. This tends to make the car look a bit wider and perhaps a bit sleeker as the coloured area is narrower and your eyes don't pick up the sills so well. Doesn't show that in pics as the camera tends to pick out the sills more. Still, each to their own.

Re your thread, not yet read the whole lot but I think the 348 is a bit the same as you describe the 355 in some ways in that it falls a bit between the classic and modern. It drives more like a classic Ferrari but looks relatively modern. Even more so with the colour coded sills. Some see this classic driving experience as a positive, some a negative. I see it as a big plus as I find it engaging, fun and a real occasion everytime I drive her. I may banter that the 'Sisterhood' just can't cope with a real sports car but that's not it. They're just looking for something slightly different to me. When I got mine I had her resprayed, engine and bay totally detailed, interior redone (seats trim plastic etc), wheels stripped/blasted and redone, wheel arches, underneath, etc etc etc. People have said 'you got a 348 coz you can't afford a 355'. Really?!? For me if it wasn't a 348 it would have been an earlier car. Most 355 owners who I speak to say they'd get a later car if they were to change.

The 348/355 marked the crossover from a more classic drive to a more modern one. We all like something different. Some of us like a real raw sports car, others can't drive...... Just kidding, honest. Love the 355 myself just wasn't what I was after. Truth is more people are starting to appreciate the 348 for what it is rather than just comparing it to newer models on performance etc.

Both the 348 and 355 are great cars in my book. More than happy with my choice but totally see why some go for a 355.

 

Thanks Bob. The wheel on mine is a Momo Race. Not expensive to buy and I think will fit a 355 fine, seen standard Momos on 355s over here. Take it you want an airbag though?

 

Nice, mate! Think they all look good but a red TS with black sills is my favourite. When I was younger that was the Ferrari I used to have a poster of and say "one day....." so it had to be the one I got. "Living the dream", quite literally as it turns out.

 

BTW if you're wondering about the roof, the poster had a TB on too, love the lines so got the roof colour coded. TB lines with the roof on, TS option without.

 

Huh?

 

I think this really is the crux of it. May sound strange coming from someone who posted an article comparing the two, but I can explain. In the past lots of people have talked the 348 down, often comparing it to it's faster and more technical siblings, or in some cases contemporaries, and using that as proof of the short comings of the 348. This is totally missing the point of the car. The 348 was designed to be a very raw car in a similar way to many Ferraris that came before it. Enzo was not big on things like driver aids or making life easy for the driver and his cars were built with this in mind. An example is that it's said that it took a great deal of effort for his technical team to convince him to put ABS on a 328, he was totally against the idea and only eventually agreed to have it as an option.

Over in the UK the general talk on the threads is starting to say thing like, 'pure performance isn't important now the 348 is becoming more of a classic' or 'like the idea of an older, less technical car like the 348 because they are just so fun to drive'. These comments are coming from guys with 430s, 485s or the newer V12s. I think many had 348s when they were new and are looking back at them fondly, remebering just how entertaining they are to drive.

Price wise over in the UK the general consensus is that the price has levelled out and pickup up a fraction but is going nowhere fast for a bit. The market will dictate this and while there are more and more tidy examples out there as owners pick them up and have significant work done to improve them, there are still a lot of fairly tatty 348s out there and this does effect the way in which they are seen - if the only 348 you've seen was a wreck, that's what you'll think of them. On the 348's side though is the fact that less than 500 RHD cars were built, that includes all variants, and obviously they're not all still about. At any given time throughout the UK there are generally only about 10 on the market. Given that interest is picking up a bit this may have a small effect on the price, time will tell.

What is slowly happening though is the 348 is being seen more alongside the older cars, not the newer ones. I guess for me that's one of the reasons the sills have stayed black. Like it or hate it, it's classically Italian, Pininfarina had it on many of their designs, and it does sort of position the car more with it's 80s contemporaries. I guess you can always make cars look more modern if you want to. While this car looks fairly stunning should it have been modded? Marks for saying what it was. Not too hard to figure out, really.
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Mate, thought mine was the only TS with red roof, black sills. Take my hat off to you, you clearly have impeccable taste. Also considering getting a black hardtop at some stage, putting my shiny red one behind the seats isn't going to happen so only take it off in 'zero risk' conditions and leave it at home.