355 1999 355 Spider 6-Speed - new to me

1999 355 Spider
Rossa Corsa/Tan
6-Speed
ZFFXR48A2X0114490
13,592 Miles

Not a secret anymore, but working with FerrariChat.com sponsor Curated (http://wearecurated.com) they had a client with this show queen that wanted a 355 Challenge. The deal worked out perfect! A 355 wasn't on my top 5, especially a Spider, but certainly in my top 10 and growing on me now. I just had the major done, Classiche submitted, and I'll drive her the next year making sure everything 100%. At that point I'll decide if a keeper or move into something higher on my list (mostly 12's).

So prior owner she was part of a large collection not driven much, but extensive interior work targeting a Cavallino Platinum in 2020 before the cancelation. I haven't had to do much cosmetically, but last major was 7 years ago and tires 10 years old.

2016 the car was rear ended that shows up on Carfax and I have all the repair receipts. I had James at Norwood Auto Italia go through the rear closely when engine out and there was no noticeable damage.

I'll use this thread to document the above history, the work I have done, and my driving experiences.

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I'm good at that, it has been under driven the last 10 years. I'll be driving weekly and signed up for the Cavallino Corsa rally in September. After what I spent on the major, the Classiche wasn't that much more.

 

hard to compare as never drove the Challenge on street much, it had a Ferrari of Houston "tune", and the racing clutch. the Spider clutch was replaced less than 1k miles ago, but I'm having a hard time getting use to how soft. I don't necessarily want a race clutch feel, but prefer something like the 328 feel. I hate the sensation of any slipping! that's my only complaint so far, the top is the most convoluted engineering I've ever seen in my life, but it is working 100% as of now.

 

all came down to the numbers. had several tire kickers on the Challenge, but nothing solid and mostly low ballers. John came in with a buyer who REALLY wanted it and a trade I could tolerate. I will end up far better than any other deals even putting $20k in the major plus Classiche.

 

ha! better yet 'Dave is the Best' did all the sticky parts. maybe next I'll have Intercity ship it to EAG for conversion to F1.

 

Ha, I'm finally getting use to it, but several calls to James at Norwoods. I had mine stuck in the middle not going down or up, it is like doing a computer reboot because Windows 95 locks up.

 

mine is operating 100% right now, but the alarm system will lock it out, just had to lock and unlock again, not sure turning the car off and on had anything to do with it. I think many owners around here remove the alarm lock out so it is manual.

 

I don't know the details, but I've heard several 355 Spiders go 100% manual, which my guess is no electric motor or alarm lock outs. Maybe someone has done it here. Long as mine works 100%, I believe I can tolerate it. Having owned two California with perfect and quick hard top operation all I can say is they've come a long ways in 15 years.

 

I forgot my exact situation, but because of windows or something there was an electric "freeze" of the operation which required rebooting the alarm (off and on).