It's time, 348ers: let the 355 bashing begin!

Yeah.....!!!

You ain't seen what I'm gonna do to them first.

< cue evil laugh: "heh heh heh" >

 

I've never driven a 348 but the main thing that puts me off them is the interior. Like all the Dino family until the 355 the interior looks quite cheap, with shiny vinyl everywhere. Worst of all is the orange on black dials - they're just ghastly - what were the designers thinking of? I was never keen on the fake grille either. At least the one on the 355 acts as an air duct for the brakes. And cleaning all those slats must be a nightmare.

Having said that, the 348 is a great looking car - better than the 308/328. In photos the overall shape of the Spider seems slightly more rakish than the 355 Spider to me, but I've no idea why.

I do think the 348 looks quite dated now though. That's not meant as a criticism, it's just that it seems to come from a different era - maybe that's part of the appeal to a lot of buyers.

The 348 was not widely loved when it was new - magazines often said it wasn't any better than the NSX/Esprit/911. In contrast the 355 had superlatives heaped on it throughout its life. Autocar(?) said the 355 was nearly as good as the McLaren F1. In 2001 Top Gear named it the No. 1 car of all time. In Road & Track Phil Hill named it one of the ten best Ferraris ever - the Daytona wasn't on the list.

The 355's styling has aged very well. When I see one I can't believe the design is 11 years old. The DB7 came out at the same time and seemed just as beautiful then, but looks a bit tired now.

Rightly or wrongly, the 355 is regarded as one of the most desirable cars ever made. The 348 isn't. But that doesn't mean it's not a great car to own.

 

couldnt agree more. the 348 is, i think, the last of the distinctive ferraris. granted the 355 looks very ferrari to me, but once you own a ferrari and become involved with them you tend to identify them very easily. on the other hand, jo public, or john doe, sometimes has a hard time unless the car is distinctive - and red. i think its a pity the 355 didnt retain the side strakes and instead went for oblique holes. looks like an mr2 or one of a dozen other cars that went for that rear engine ferrari feel. i think if it had it would be more recognizable as a ferrari.

and i come up against that same comment about the 348. people think it is a current model, where as the newer 550s, 456, all have a bit of that family car lines and look to them and look a bit like everything else on the road. having said that, when the price of 360s comes down a bit im the first to abmit ill probably buy one, but only because ive already got the 348 in my garage. i think the 348 is probably the best of all modern ferraris. it lets you get into ferrari ownership and see how much these cars cost, and cost to keep on the road, servicing costs etc, but it doesnt bankrupt you either on purchase or maintenace (unless you buy a bad one). best bang for your buck is an expression i have heard used here a lot, and i think its true.

 

Spoken from someone who's obviously never owned either.

 

But to be fair, he makes a fairly reasonable subjective argument, which let's face it, the reason us 348 buyers prefer the looks is based on.

 

sure, and I didn't have a particular problem with his views either

I'd just say that the 355 WAS regarded as one of the most desirable cars ever made and would no longer agree that it IS

my perceptions changed when I did the research. before that I would have wanted a 355; I now know I'll never own one and my next Ferrari is likely to be much older or much newer. I suspect more people will come to that conclusion, but that's just my attempt at reading the future

at the moment I'm happy, because my 348 delivers everything I wanted from it

 

I like my 348 its 15years old now and getting tatty
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Dale,you really need to pull you finger and start looking after your car,I'm sure I can see a cobweb in the wheelarch.

 

Hi steve cobweb gggggggggrrrrrrrrr where m8 need to clean it off ,
how's the 348 going m8.

 

Hi Dale,

You need to drive it not clean it, I will let you clean mine on Thursday night, it will be there even if it`s raining!!!!

Regards,
Phil.

 

You guys are vicious!

So, I thought I would pour some gas on the fire.

In the long run, I think both the 348 and 355 series will fair poorly in the marketplace. The 348's performance is not anywhere near what it should have been, it's expensive to maintain, has poor fit and finish, and all those strakes and louvers are ridiculous. (I used to own one of the 32 1994 US factory challenge TB's). Let's turn to the 355. It's a 348 without louvers and with power steering. The body panels interchange. Both look like turtles to me. And the mechanical issues! Oh my god! Valves, mainfolds, shocks, catalytic converters, exhaust opening valves and on and on! Not to mention the incredible shrinking dash leather! And the expensive maintenance. You guys are fighting over who is the worst of the worst!

Go ahead and flame me!

DAve

 

I just had my Red/Tan 348 Spider out at the Barber Track for the Porsche 250. Record attendance at the race today. There were a large number of Lotus models parked next to large numbers of Porsches parked next to half a dozen Ferraris.

Oh yeah, there was a big $400,000 Mercedes under a tent there today, too.

Guess where the crowds went?

To the Ferraris.

And in the Ferraris, there was 1 red 512Bbi, 1 black 308, 1 silver 360 Spider, 1 yellow 550 Spider, and 1 red 348 Spider.

Of this group, until the yellow 550 Spider put up its hood to show off its V12, the red 348 Spider was the main draw.

I had people opening up the doors, snapping picture after picture, and asking question after question about the car.

Dated? Not a chance. The 348 side strakes are as much a "timeless" part of Ferrari as the prancing horse and scuderia shields. They just don't get "old" to the on-lookers.

Now granted, what the Ferrari, Porsche, Lotus, and Mercedes guys were looking at varied from the crowd at large.

Two different audiences, though.

But put them on display side by side, as I did today, and the girls with the tight pants and half-cropped shirts flock to the red 348 Spider...even with a modern V12 yellow Spider 4 feet away.

I've seen it. I've been there.

The 348 look *is* the Ferrari ideal to Ms. America.

 

I have to agree with this. A couple of years ago a friend of mine bought a, then, brand new C5. We went out for a Saturday drive, and then lunch. When we parked the cars, guess what car the people were looking at? My fifteen year old 348.

Then just last week I was at a neighbors house. This guy has a brand new '05 Viper. He asked what year the 348 was. When I told him is was a '90 he had no idea, and that it still looked good.

The 348 will always turn heads.

 

Well, that settles that.

So what should I look for when buying a 348...

 

1. How much mechanical experience do you have?

2. How much money you got?

Reason for question #1: If you are reasonably educated in mechanics, you can find a car that has some minor mech. issues and resolve them yourself. If you find a car that hasn't had the 30K service yet (even if it has less than 30K miles, the age of the car warrants it), and can do it yourself, you can save mucho dinero (a tall order for a novice mechanic). Then you can haggle the price of the car telling the seller it's going to cost 3-6K to service it

 

Only thing I hate about the side strakes is that they ae hard to clean.

 

yep. i agree. takes a whole extra minute per side per month and buggered if i want to spend that kind of time to own a classic peice of history.

 

see you thursday phil for FOC meeting m8 at the best ferrari dealers

 

When I *finally* get to collect my red 348 Spider, will it come with a girl in tight pants and half-cropped shirt?


PS. I can see even Chaa ordering some side strakes now

 

348 is going well,I'm really enjoying it,done about 700 miles so far and took it through the 10k barrier.308 went last week,gotta admit It was hard watching it go.
Ordered some zymol today,looking forward to doing that later this week.

 

My goodness, Dale....can you stop posting that underbelly picture of yours? Looks so surreal to me. Think you ought to take it to Goodwood for a concourse & make 348 owners proud.

Dave~Hardtop, you're right. My gear shift stick even broke off when I hit 1st gear once! This baby's got such a temper you've got to love hating it. But hey, what's a mistress for right & she's still so sexy & mine's 15yrs young.

 

Actually, I was being facetious in response to the 'tight pants' comment.

But your advice is well taken anyway.

 

24 minutes a year...............it all adds up..........plus the rear grills.

 

and it still doesnt look like dales underbelly. oh......my.......god. you could eat off that thing. dale, has that thing ever been driven? its absolutely perfect. or is that the photo you originally took when it was new and you've been showing the same photo for the last 15 years?

 

Huh? I did say that I've never driven a 348. I was just making a few observations about the design and what was written about them in the press. Owning a 348 wouldn't make any difference to what I think other people said about it or to what I think of the way it looks.

I actually own a 355 F1 Spider...

Talking of which, has anyone put an F1 gearbox in a 348? I understand that it is possible, although it seems like 348 owners tend to prefer their cars 'unplugged'.