F355 Market

Is it really, other than cost, that much different than buying a car on the east (west) coast and shipping it to the west (east) coast?

 

Yes. Overland is MUCH safer and shipping cars is at least competitive with companies that know what they are doing. Sea shipping is much more generalized and there are a ton of variables (especially weather) that dramatically affect the security of cargo. Obviously, it can be successfully done, but if you are asking me to bet a paycheck on a shipping method, I would choose ground 100% of the time.

 

Not what I was aiming at. More the "lack of trust" comment. I've personally bought several cars, including my 355, sight unseen based on pictures, emails and phone calls. Shipped across country by complete unknowns and arrived at my door better than expected. Not that I don't do back ground checks on the sellers, but how is this difference than buying a car on BAT? Or Europe (other than shipping)? I don't know about today, but during the gray market days the shipping part was wasn't much of an issue

 

In 2020, I bought a 15k mi 2019 Jeep Wrangler from reputable Ford dealership in TX and transacted everything over the phone/email and handled shipping. It’s a relatively new car, it’s a Jeep, seller is large and reputable, the amount wasn’t that significant, and it’s just loading a car in an open trailer.

For the 355, I flew into NC to inspect the car inside out to make sure it’s a car I want and in a condition I can handle. I know 355’s well enough to know pictures/videos don’t reveal everything. It’s a 25 year old car. I need to be able to gauge how much work is needed to get the car to a standard I’m comfortable with. I’m buying a car to keep forever. If I’m selling, I know I’m selling a good car preserving value.

With the CNC Motors fiasco, I trust non-Ferrari dealers less and less. Add in a car from Europe, you can see how much more complicated it gets for me .

 

its not much different. For me, key is using a quality logistics and shipping company. Lots of cheaper options. go with an end to end shipping company that documents everything and keeps you apprised. Beyond that, its just like buying a car remotely. see it yourself, or by someone you trust, or take a calculated risk.

 

Agreed. I also bought my F355 sight unseen from another state on an online auction platform better suited for more common used cars for dealers to find cheap flips rather than collector cars. That probably helped in getting a good price on the car but it was very much a calculated risk as I did all necessary research in the background before diving in.

Transport was within range for my preferred carrier and they loaded the car up door to door from the auction house to my house. Would I do it again? Absolutely. As long as info and work on the car is documented and if gray market, is all the paperwork in order.

 

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1998-ferrari-f355-berlinetta-5/

Recently sold on BaT, and now being sold again. It will be fun to watch.

 

$96k last time.

 

$96k last time.

 

Already $100k. It's great to see the non-rosso corsa love.

 

$125k…..


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

This auction and the TDF GTS auction prove that bidders aren't concerned with Carfax dings on Berlinettas and GTSes. These cars are just too rare that you can't be picky or else you'll be waiting on the sidelines. Buy the nicest car you can afford and improve on it as you enjoy it.

 

Well Stated

 

One of my biggest regrets regarding the selling the 3 355s that I owned for a long period, is not driving them more as I was concerned about diminishing the value upon selling. What a mistake that was.

The value of a 355 is driving them. That’s it.

If I was in it to make money I would have invested more In real estate.

Yes, the values of these 355s have gone up on average of about 35% over the last 3 years. So has just about everything else.

 

This one shld be cheap

https://instagram.com/stories/tarek_307/2931507430896609162?utm_source=ig_story_item_share&igshid=YzA2ZDJiZGQ=

 

You hate to see it. One less pre-airbag 355 Berlinetta and one fewer pair of carbon fiber sport seats. Glad everyone is safe.

 

Nooooooo

 

how is there not a fix for this?

 

Do we have a rough sense of the percentage of F355 cars that have caught fire?

Watching that makes you wonder if installing a full fire suppression system in the engine bay would be worthwhile...

 

Need some kind of heat shielding around the fuel rollover valve/fuel fill neck. Any leak there drips directly on to the driver manifold and then the car is toast.

 

There are a handful of known potential failure points in the fuel plumbing... that in my opinion at this age need a "redo" at a minimum... and in reality should be redone with Ethanol fuels in mind. I plan do it to mine this winter. If someone doesn't offer an alternative FPR solution soon, I may end up redoing the whole thing tank to rail with custom modern AN hose. It may not be for the purest, but I hopefully won't be on instagram after a sunday drive either.

 

Is this the same one?
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No, but it's not a good day for Argento 355s. The one you posted is in Japan. The one that Tarek was riding in was in France.

 

Yes! Drive your 355s, Folks. A driving experience sweet spot in automobile history IMO. I’ve been tempted to cosmetically restore mine; but keeping race patina wins because I likely won’t drive it if too nice.

As an aside, I just had the original “loud” Challenge exhaust installed as part of prep for October race event. Wow @ 7800-9000 rpm.

 

Just for your notes. The owner of the car is the same person who had advertised his carbon sport seats on Ebay for $20k. I guess he decided to keep them. The seats were black. His interior was actually a dark blue. Seats were not original to the car, but a damn shame nonetheless. Glad him and Tarek are safe. What an experience. Let's make sure it never happens again.