Where are the gtb's why so many convertibles??

I'm looking for a nice 355 gtb. Must be red!!! With black or black/red interior.
Where are all the gtb's in the US market? The market seems to fluttered with convertibles.
I had a 355 years ago and am ready for ownership of an other 355. I put 18000 miles within 2 years of ownership and miss it dearly. Since the 355 I owned many high end cars but the 355 was the car I loved more than any other.
I also am looking in Europe and see many coupes. Bringing one from Europe would be an option but I do not have a single clue on the cost or the complication. I am thinking to bring the car from Europe to US would cost a minimum $5000-$6000 before taxes.
I heard the car must 25 years old for it to be allowed in to US??
I feel if I don't hurry and buy one within a year the prices will go nuts and miss on my dream car. My wife tells me this just an excuse(maybe so.
Any info would be greatly appreciated.

The 355 will be stable mates to my highly moded 2001 BMW M Roadster(silver/red-black), nicely moded Porsche 928gts(black/black), and bone stock 1989 Mecedes Benz 560sl(red/tan). I have 3 kids and the 4th one on the way. I would love to leave each kid one car.

 

I had mine listed at 62500 with 30k complete, all stickies fixed, tubi, and new headers. It was an absurd figure but couldn't even part with it at that number. Get one soon they are on the rise. And if not, who cares it's one of the most intoxicating cars one can own.

 

Similar situation here. I used to own a GTS and after missing it for several years just bought a red/black berlinetta and am importing it from Canada. (just waiting on the shipping company!)

From Canada not such a big deal as it's North American spec, just needed to get a letter from FNA stating it met our DOT/EPA standards.

European car would be a bit more work/money to get in I would guess.

I'm not sure why there are so many spyders available compared to berlinetta/gts.

They made the most berlinettas but others have suggested that production numbers are one thing and the distribution another. (there may just be more spyder than gts/berlinetta in the US).

They are out there but finding a nice one requires patience. I didn't actually think it would help but I found my car by placing a wanted ad in the classifieds here so you may consider giving that a try.

 

Wow, I didn't know that there are other crazy people like me out there! I'm also looking for a GTB and also thinking of importing one from Europe (I was checking the european sites just an hour ago!).
Quick list of pros and cons
Pros
->They have cars with the Fiorano pack there - which they never made it in the US
->You also see more often cars with Ferrari Bucket seats
->It seems that they got all of the 6 speed Berlinettas there (while the US market got flooded with F1 spiders) so you can actually find many berlinettas for sale
->The 25 year exception Law is not needed in the F355 case, since this car has been homologated for sale in the US, so chances are that you just need to do some minor changes (like change the speedo to mph and turn signals from white to amber).

Cons
->From what I know there is no carfax, so you can't check the history of the car
->People in Europe like to drive their cars in dry rain and snow, so typically are not as pristine as the cars you find in the US.
->Importing could actually be a bit of a pain in the ass
->Euro is a strong currency so it could be expensive

Fun fact
Containers typically fit two cars, so let's find two red F355s (one with black interior for you and one with tan for me) and save money in shipping

 

Good info except for your point about the euro being a strong currency (???). The euro has been hammered this year vs the dollar and many other major currencies. At least from a foreign exchange perspective it's a good time to buy.

 

True on that, it's in a two year low right now but still these cars are more expensive in most cases than the US equivalents. Maybe because when these cars were purchased and all the way to 2003 USD used to be stronger.


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I would not mind sharing a container. Have you checked to see what the coat would be??

 

In the last little bit, all of the GTBs are disappearing up here in Toronto. Ive heard that they are getting harder to find and many are buying a second one. The Ferrari dealer up here is quietly trying to buy whatever 95 GTBs he can find. Ive always said that this is the most fun car to drive and they are getting scarce. There were 5 for sale up here at the shop I go to and the only one left is a titanium spider and a nice one at that and the funny thing is that they are all selling in the fall. Its usually in the spring.

 

The 355 is something else for sure. Since the 355 I owned numerous BMW m series cars(m3's, m6, m5), numerous Porsches(911c4, 993, 997), Aston Martin, Maserati, Ferrari(360,430). Enjoyed all, were nice cars BUT the 355 is the one that I would like to own forever. I think I'm done sampling.
That is why I own the M Roadster(the most fun little monster), Porsche 928gts(perhaps what 007 should have driven, one of my childhood favorite), the Benz is so feminine for my daughter. BUT 355 is what motoring is all about.

All I need is one 355 and I'll be done.
If I could find that perfect 355 GTB.

 

Btw a container from Italy (Genova) to Los Angeles is €5000


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Ferrari Other Coupe | eBay
Have you seen this one? Looks OK to me

 

I flew all the way to texas to see this car, but it has issues with the engine


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It may be getting to the point that it is worth buying one of these with that factored into the price and having it repaired. Look at testarossa prices and you'll see where our cars are rapidly heading. I thought we still had another couple of years before prices on 355's started rising but I already see it happening. It may be a bubble forming but if not, these cars won't get cheaper and you'll be left on the sidelines. I'm very glad I bought when I did. 456's with a 6 speed are next on my list.

 

Believe me I thought about that too, but the car is far from pristine, interior door panel needs replacement, dash pod, bolster. Exterior rear c pillars are bubbling and will need to be painted and blend in with surrounding or whole car to be painted. The fender has glue which I don't think it can be removed, and of course there are some chips here and there.
On top of that you have to do the valve guides (~$15k).
There also other small things like having only one key ($2k for replacement) and having a blank service book.

You fix all these in a quick and dirty fashion and you are still $20k in the hole, you fix these properly and you probably need to spend $35-40k.

If you check last 6-12 months and you can see super clean 15k-20k miles cars going for less than what you need to pay to fix this car.
Example:
http://m.ebay.com/itm/261476130465?_mwBanner=1

I'm with you thinking that f355 will appreciate in the future but I still think we have some time to look for the right car.

I'll only get a euro car if I find something extremely rare, like a 95' with fiorano handling pack and sport cf factory seats, or a challenge car that was registered for the street.


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A red gtb with black interior is very hard to find. I probably saw one and it wasnt even a 95. I looked for maybe 2-3 years and finally "settled" for a black on black 95. If you are loloking for a 95 red with black interior in the US, forget about it. You wont see one for another 10 years.

Euro cars or even ones from Japan have a higher chance of being equipped with a black interior.

 

With more information available, the good cars will eventually land in the right hands and probably into the hands of a reluctant seller eventually driving the prices up for those who dont have one and want to get a hold of one.

 

You can easily find a Red/Black GTB in Europe and in Japan.

They range from 42,500 EUR to 70,000.

 

The ones in Japan are LHD too. Contact RSD Japan if you are looking for one. They had 2 red ones with black interiors when i was there 2 years ago. They rarely get tan interiors.

 

Here is a website I use to check out Detomaso's. It looks to have some nice F355's on it.

Ferrari F355 Angebote bei mobile.de

 

Regardless of availability, I think it is important to remember that there were about 1000 more GTB produced that spiders, so they are somewhere. I can recall Ferrari saying, years ago, that the USA Ferrari market always leaned toward the spider while Europe leaned toward the coupes.

 

Out there somewhere yes. Just checked UK ebay and mostly spiders as well, followed by GTS then berlinetta.

 

Auto trader UK has 10 Spiders 9 GTB and 1 GTS. The rest of Europe is similar. about 50/50 between spiders and GTB/GTS.

 

I don't think the prices will go up for another year or two. It seems people still will buy 360 over the 355 for the same price. You can easily find a 360 for $60-70K range.

 

I respectfully disagree. Most that love the 355 could care less about the 360. IMO, they have no bearing on each other and I feel the 355 will out value the 360 in the very near future.

 

Yeah, in searching for a 355 I didn't even look at/consider 360's.