1990 348 Straman Spider (348 TS)

IMO... With due appreciation to the history of Straman intertwined with Ferrari, the dynamic of sports cars for the well heeled and volume production and coachbuilding had changed by 1990 models. I could see value in the car from a collector standpoint, but only as a complementary pairing to earlier Straman work. For the car itself, and within the realm of 80s/90s Ferraris, I see the value as less than the factory-standard 348s, for a couple of reasons. 1st, and the most obvious, is that Ferrari made Spiders themselves as a factory model. 2nd, as far as Spiders are concerned, this car misses all of the factory improvements in build, design, and performance that the factory cars have. 3rd, the aesthetic execution of the Straman does not have quite the finished form and elegance of the factory soft top. It has harder edges and angles that, in my opinion, betray the top for exactly what it is... an aftermarket modification. Simply put, the factory did it better, making the factory Spider the more desirable option on a number of levels. See comparison photos below.

So, I suppose the value is set by what your focus is as an enthusiast/collector. For the seller to get a high price, he will need to pair the car to someone deeply invested into earlier work, as a way to complete or complement an existing collection. That, I imagine, is an incredibly small pool of potential buyers. I don't believe it stands well on its own, compared to the standard and other 'special' factory 348 variants. If a prime example of a factory Spider is averaging $45-50k, I couldn't see paying more than $35k, and IMO, the exceedingly low mileage does not overcome the previous points.

Are you considering the car?
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Too bad Straman did not know Ferrari was going to build a Spider... In fact, since there is an original Spider, this should be worth much less than the newer and better reformed spiders. Not to mention how funky it looks compared to an original.

 

I agree with everything you said. The value though can be tricky. Everything you mentioned is what an educated buyer would research and know. Unfortunately many don't. I looked at this cat at in person in scottsdale when it went up at Barrett jackson. It sold for $66,000! Thats nearly twice what we all feel it might be worth.

1990 FERRARI 348 TS SPIDER - 190294

Heres why. (IMO)

Now I'm by no means a Ferrari expert but the car actually fooled me for about the first 5 min of walking around it for a couple reasons. 1) it's in great shape 2) with out a factory spider next it, its very hard to immediately notice the top shape is different and 3) until this car I didn't even know Straman bothered making a 348 spider. The idea that the car was a conversion never even crossed my mind when I first saw it.

It can be a scary thing for someone looking to get a red Ferrari convertible with low miles that has no idea what they actually bought. To be fair to BJ and the seller they did disclose it was a conversion but again someone folks just see the car on the block and go for it.

I wouldn't be surprised if you see this car up at an Auction again..

 

Reminds me of the old Toyota Sunchaser conversion that drove us nuts with issues. We stopped selling then fast.

That was an era of experimenting with cars and drugs. Combine both and thats what you got


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