355 So i just bought a F355GTS F1 *Pics*

This really happened out of no where..who knows how long i'll keep it, but i'm loving this car..sure i wish it was a Manual but i currently have a 550 to give me the gated shifter satisfaction (if i keep this will sell 550) I've owned a 458 and put 11k miles on it in a year so maybe thats why the paddles didn't bother me so much..of course no comparison in shifting but still similar idea.

It is a 1999 GTS Rosso Corsa over Tan with Race buckets, just had its major $16K in 2019 200 miles ago, paint is original and car looks spectacular with Red painted GTS Top (almost looks like a Berlinetta with Top on) and Red brake calipers & i think Mille Miglia exhaust.

Needs a new F1 Pump as the owner had told me so i'm sure i'll enjoy it more once that is done, its ok now till next week when i drop it off at shop. (slightly thinking about Manual Conversion but probably won't do)

I found some info online that this car belonged to Doug Hayashi which was a Ferrari & NSX blogger back in the day, so thats interesting, would love to located him and ask him some Q's about it.


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Damn I love those seats….

 

Oh wow I used to follow Doug’s blog!! Remember his comparison to the F355 like dating a psychotic supermodel. Hahaha LOL

 

Any idea of whereabouts? i tried google but nothing solid..

 

Woah that was many computers ago. I’ll try to find it. One good thing about this car is that it was driven properly.

 

Congrats! Nice find! Looks like a late production by the carbon weave of the seats. Probably 4th quarter 1998.

Mille Miglia exhaust all the way from Australia!

 

Congrats! Beauty spec.

 

Thanks, its a DEC 1998 production...any idea whats last date of production? this vin ends in 4882

 

congrats on the car. The blog posts on that car were hilarious.

Here is one blog post that the OG owner wrote:

http://www.nsxfiles.com/fcar.htm

 

Yup been reading them for the past hour lol, its so interesting to me that i get to read the history of how he ordered it and bought it...i just sent him an email hope he responds

Chapter 28 is what i'm on now- This is the one i've gotten to so far, about him ordering the car, and then his buddy ends up getting one too..

http://www.nsxfiles.com/stories.htm

 

December 1998 is the last month of all 355 production. Would be funny if Ferrari made the last 355 in Red/Tan combo .

 

WOW my car is just like yours, mine only blu pozzi

 

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The 99 Silver GTB with carbon sport seats labeled “Jeff’s 355 Berlinetta” was later converted to a manual. 4854. 28 cars before Tarek’s.

https://bringatrailer.com/2017/03/30/gated-manual-conversion-1999-ferrari-355-berlinetta-f1/

This car was later sold to Norcal to Mark Arcenal, owner of Illest clothing brand.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/fatlace.tumblr.com/post/186086524774/f355-meets-jdm-drift-style-enjoy-at/amp

It was later sold back to Socal to owner of Period Correct clothing brand. Would be cool to unite the cars with the new owners .

Don’t ask me how I know all this stuff. I just do .

 

Wow, I’ve met Bryan with the silver 355 and even took pics of his car before..small world

 

I wonder what last vin is

 

Here’s more F355 lore. Tarek’s car was used to dyno the first 5.2 GruppeM intake in the U.S.

@AVMotorsport (Alex) and Mr. O (Owner of GruppeM) who had a black 95 GTB at the time were present for the dyno. It’s not every day you get the owner of GruppeM from Japan down here .

http://www.nsxfiles.com/f355_update.htm


“We had an NSX Dyno day a couple of months ago. Wayne's F355 was in the shop, but Alex (lives locally) and Mr. O. (from Gruppe M in Japan) came down with a new hi tech, carbon fiber, dual K&N, super flow intake kit made exclusively for the F355. Now this thing is a piece of art. Since Wayne's car was broken at the time, we put the intake on my car. We dynoed before and after, and it showed a 10 hp increase at the rear wheel. Not too bad. Except that the retail price is $3000. But it looks good, you can seem to feel the response, and it does dyno well. Wayne snaps one up. Kinda like how you would buy jewelry for your supermodel to keep them happy and purring.”


Don’t ask me how I know all this stuff… I just do .

 

Here’s Mr. O’s (owner of GruppeM) Black
95 GTB I scanned and found in a Japanese magazine if anyone is curious. His car is now in Korea with it’s new owner. It’s nice to have pics to connect a story.


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Here’s the back story to your Mille Miglia exhaust:

“So now he is searching for some type of exhaust. Ferrari of Beverly Hills had a Mille Miglia exhaust in stock, that they said sounded real good. Cost is around $3000. So Wayne gets it installed, and he is ecstatic with it. I am not totally convinced, but I am starting to lean his way. His car is much louder than mine now, it is still a bit on the shrill side, which is good. Just about everyone that hears his exhaust vs. my stock exhaust agree that his sounds much better. But we are talking $6000 bucks here for that sound. Wayne says his exhaust now "burbles" on his manual downshifts, much the the F1 tranny burbles when you downshift at low speeds, which sounds really cool. He never got that before with the stock exhaust.”


There’s a guy on Instagram in Australia posting driving/sound vids in his pre-airbag manual 355. His vids are pretty popular and people seem to get wet over it . He is running a Mille Miglia exhaust (running bypass open), which I believe @MAD828 sold him.

Don’t ask me how I know .

 

I almost bought that car three different times and drove it a couple times as well. When it was at Blackhorse and Carl was driving it, then when it was on consignment at a place on Sunset. It was converted from F1 to manual, back to F1, then back to manual. Back then it needed some touching up and we couldn't come to terms on a price. When I called the place in Norcal to make another offer on it, they had just sold it to Mark. This car was also on the cover of Forza some years ago when the 360 came out. Special car.

 

Thats really cool, i'd love to know who did the manual conversion if its here in LA

 

Check the link. Black Horse as @Targatime mentions.

 

Car looks great Tarek. Congrats

 

Probably safe to assume the Speedline 2-piece wheels, which are quite rare, shown previously on your car, later ended up being re-barreled by Mark and on the silver car. Too aggressive for me. How Bryan has it now is more to my liking.




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Just got back from picking up a 355 from GTO Engineering in L.A. There’s a yellow F1 GTS in there converted by Black Horse about 5 years ago.
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Spoke to the guys at black horse that have done the conversion, i'm very tempted..hopefully can get some info from @Targatime and i may pull the trigger