355 Spider at Mecum Auction

I was at the Mecum Auction in Houston yesterday. I saw a 1999 355 F1 Spider , titanium with bourduex interior, 15000 miles, no accidents by carfax. Being an auction, thats all the info that was available. The car looked great but thats about all I can say. I did not bid, since I did not know enough about its history. The car hammered at $44,000. I thought that was an incredible deal and probably below market. Any thoughts?

 

A blue spider (97) and a 95 Rosso Barchetta couple went for 46 and 45. weak auction market. These are pretty low for 355s.

 

The Barchetta car was once mine. It was a no sale @ 45k. The owner confirmed this with me.

 

Sounds like you should buy it back, Luke.

 

Negative.

 

I love rossa Barchetta on the 355. Luke, got some pics of your old car?

Robb

 

Check my garage thread in the owners section. Lots there.

https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/garage/190921-355dreamer-1995-355-gtb.html

 

Man I love that car. Great photos.

Robb

 

I'm not trying to start a flame war here but my guess is that the F1 configuration had something to do with the low price. I don't know about the other Spiders, however. Gated shifters are getting the better prices, especially when we are talking about first iteration F1 cars. Look at where 575 gated models are trading versus the more common F1 models. 20-25% premiums. Paddle shifters have come a long way in the last 15 years but people still want those iconic chrome shifters on older Ferraris. They are all but extinct on new Ferraris.

This seems to be a trend in favor of the 90s exotics and sports cars. Look at what's happening with the 993 and 964 platform 911s from 1989-1998. Holy Stromboli. Prices have doubled in the last 2 years. I expect to continue seeing strong -- but gradual - upward trend in 355 prices.

ketel

 

Agreed, good deal for the buyer, bad deal for current owners

 

the original, iconic Ferrari shifters I think were the round black ones.....last seen on the 348s....they changed them to the chrome shiny ones from the 355 onwards...... those black one's are the one's which got extinct first!

 

Summary of the Ferraris at Houston.

A 95 spider, yellow with 5300 miles was a no sale at $60k. The blue 97 spider with 18k miles sold at $46k. If it needed a major, about right. Luke's 95 B was a no sale at $45k. Engine bay looked some what un kept. No rain shields on either side. Challenge wheels. Claimed "belt service" in Jan 2014. Luke, do you know more about the condition of the car. The 99 F1 spider sold at $45k but no info on that car listed. 94 348 spider 50k miles sold for $36k. A 91 348TS was a no sale at $35k. A 2008 430 spider, no sale at $148k. A 2008 430 Scud sold at $170k. And last, a 1986 Mondial sold at $17k.

 

True. I guess I should have been more specific about the shift gate being chrome versus the shift knob which, as you correctly point out, was black until the 90s.

ketel

 

One thing that made the 99 spider attractive was it was the last year and no "valve guide issues". Supposedly, Ferrari had corrected the valve guide concern by MY 1999. It would be even harder to take a 95 at an auction without having cylinder compression info or at least the status of the valve guides.

 

Annnnndddd this is why I hate the internet...

 

But you would not be able to post that w/o the net.

P.S. I have similar feelings. See my new location and full name. I'm no longer grumpy.

 

The top on the 99 F1 spider was inoperable.

The owners/handlers were trying to put it down on Wednesday with both doors open and handbrake off.

I offered to help, got the doors shut and handbrake off, and it would get stuck soon after the start point. Motors were running but no movement. Plus, seats were not moving back and forth.

May be a simple fix (seat position sensor), may be hydraulic fluid low, may be something bigger.

 

Now listed on cars.com for $56550.00

 

Let me be clear: this is NOT listed by my dealership, even though we share a similar name.

 

Love the pictures with that listing. The garage junk, trash cans, the dog, cooler, the kid cutting the lawn, the old Olds under the shed. Talk about a back yard dealership.