Yes. It's a very clean US spec creampuff with rare as hens teeth tan carbon buckets. It's just hopelessly priced, particularly now that some of the 355 hype has simmered down.
Ferrari lowered the price on Classiche. I spent $3500 and a small labor fee for documentation. I felt it was worth it. Porsche guys have VW backing the dealers and a different franchise experience. They just are not the same. I did not need to do it. But it is special to have it. We can disagree on the value. Show me the cars with 5800 miles, like new, with Classiche on the market. None. One exist and it is highly original. As original as a 355 can be with the flaws that affect it as they age. I have addressed 97.3% of flaws. Two cars side by side, apples to apples, I am taking the Classiche. We can put this to bed, but I do appreciate the dialogue. I am my only champion Cheers.
$3500 isn’t the end of the world. $7000 is . For your car, it’s a small price to pay. At the min, it at least shows the owner thinks highly enough of the car that it is deserving of going through the process. I mentioned earlier, owners don’t usually go thru Classiche unless they think the car is in pretty good condition. It’s like dressing up for a family photo album and you want to look your best for the photoshoot. At this stage, my opinion is having a book could certainly increase the value of the car as the general market is still confused about what it means to have one. The majority assumes the car is all original as delivered or car has no modifications, but possibly installed with updated Ferrari parts. From the examples I’ve seen, this is not the case. I’ve seen 355’s pass with Tubi headers, complete exterior and interior color changes, wrong bumpers installed, visible sound system related modifications. The certification bar for originality doesn’t appear too high, but not many are aware of this. Either because the program is not enough of an expert on 355’s or they don’t care as much as long as key things are original (assembly #’s, wheels, brakes etc..). However, if someone was truly curious about how original a car is, the best bet is to put it here on Fchat and have the expert eyes here have a go at it. I have more faith in the eyes here. I’ve joked in the past, if Elliot and I were running Classiche for 355 certification and the actual goal of the program is to determine 99% originality, the program would go broke because only 2% of cars would make it thru. If I had your car, for $3500 I’d do it. Heck, I might even do it because as I mentioned, the general market is still foggy on what the book implies. Perhaps someone won’t pay more for the car, but maybe it’ll sell a lil faster. For $7k, I’d rather spend the money towards actually making the car nice and original if that is the goal. $7k buys alot of dry ice time and detailing .
My opinion is price and owner of dealer’s personal car hence he’s not budging on price unless someone gives him enough for it.
Rob Lay also mentioned having a Classiche’d 355 got his car in the door at car shows where he would’ve otherwise had to either pay or pay more and entry gave him access to certain events. Perhaps there is some unaccounted for value there if that is your thing.
Roughly a month ago I asked the chat here, what is a sub 1000 mi 355 Challenge, owned by a celebrity worth? Of course, differing opinions were shared. Not long ago, a 1997 RHD 355 Challenge sub 1000 mi was offered in HK. OMP challenge seats were missing (standard seats installed), but outside of that, it was all there. Original as can be. Preserved time capsule. 1-owner car. Owned and raced in period by Hong Kong celebrity/movie star Aaron Kwok and known car collector in that sphere. Raced in a few events. No racing provenance that I am aware of as I don’t believe it won any races. Someone in Australia purchased the car. According to Elliot, importing costs all said and done, I want to say $400-450k USD (or was it AUD?), but don’t quote me on that. Price was up there either way. Missing OMP seats, sure, but where else are you going to find a sub 1000 mi 355 challenge? If info of the purchaser surfaces, best believe I will present my seats to him. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I am thinking I need to invest in a dry ice machine, cause $7k is not going that far on the current project ….. granted the set up Johnathan has at Sub Zero is quite impressive. And would take a ton of money to duplicate. But Uno de Uno is using up all of that budget! Filthy pig . My 2024 budget on 355 restoration, service and detailing, plus parts procurement would buy my first car! Thankfully, I will have a 5 year reprieve
The standard seats most likely did not come delivered on this car being a 1997, hence the reason they do not look sub 1000 mi condition. The car would’ve came race ready with OMP seats (or seat) and I hope the new owner doesn’t install re-upholstered challenge look-alike Cobras for the sake of humanity. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Interesting. And RHD to boot! I’d think that drags somewhat on the value but I’m in the US so of course I would. My 355 evo has 4600 miles on it and some relatively minor modifications over the years. No celebrity history but it did win a bunch of challenge races as well as placing top at Mugello Finals in 2000 for the USA driven 355s.
Much bigger market for LHD cars no doubt, but in the same token, there are only 20 -ish RHD 355 Challenge cars ever made.
This car didn’t race with the rear wing. I believe the rear wing was introduced in the second half of 97.
Right, Ken. Here's how my car raced in 1995... Image Unavailable, Please Login Road Atlanta ...and in 1996... Image Unavailable, Please Login Circuit Gilles Villeneuve
Looking for a cheap manual GTS??? @Wsmatau https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1995-ferrari-f355-gts-16/ Concerned about the poor condition of the driver’s seat?? Need not worry… . https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/ferrari-355-standard-seats.699382/
400 to 450 USD versus AUD is a huge difference! PLUS THE quoted 400 to 450 included TAXES! So let's take the low 400 number and assume it was AUD -- that is the equivalent of 260k USD. Then factor in the taxes, which are huge for importing a car into Australia. I believe there are 3 separate taxes to pay when importing a car into Australia, GST which is 10% of the TOTAL price of the car when landed in Australia (note that includes cost of shipping to Australia, etc), IMPORT DUTY which is 5% of the cost of the car if the car is less than 30 years old, and LCT (Luxury Car Tax) which is 33% of the value that exceeds AUD 67,000. Applying all those taxes backs you into a purchase price of approx. 285k AUD or 185k USD!
The price when it was for sale in HK was roughly $200k USD. Not road registerable. Not a strong market for these in HK, hence the low asking price. That leaves 2 other markets … UK & AUS. My point was someone in AUS was willing to pay up all said and done to have the car in his country. Car is also a literal time capsule. No work has been done on the car since the 90’s. It surely needed servicing.
Correct, it was more like circa 350k AUD landed, especially if they were creative with the taxes on the way in.
I believe I was the one saying the car was a great deal and those in the RHD market should’ve gave the car more consideration when it was still in HK. I didn’t do the AUD calculations because I don’t know AUS fees. 350k AUD = $230k … for a sub 1000 mi RHD 355 challenge where only 28 exist. People have spent that amount on far less special Ferraris. If the selling price in HK is $200k and it’s only $230k landed in AUS, I’m failing to see the problem.
Thanks for the tag. I did see the car on BaT but didn't bother looking into it very deeply due to location. Does this referral imply a @ShineKen stamp of approval? The body gaps on the front end (headlights and hood) seemed slightly off. I think there was one (maybe a month prior) and in much better condition that sold for ~$150k? Did @MK355 buy it? I also noted one of the pictures from your discussion about Challenge road cars was at Katie's C&C. Are you in the DMV?
