To fender badge or not?

That's OK, David. I'll still talk to you, even if I'm on my high horse. ;>)

 

Lol

 

It's a personal thing.

I think the cars look naked and unfinished without them, and couldn't care less about "correctness".

 

But it is "correct" to have them- they were an option from 1998 for the 355.

 

"Correct".

 

+1. I would only do it, if it was done like a factory car, and if it was an option for that year.

 

I actually knew a guy who had the fenders on his car "fixed" prior to adding badges.

Personally, I'd only have them if it was from the factory, as the stick on ones just don't look right to me.

Badges were not an option on my Dino, and I didn't add them to my 360.

So, I guess I'm just not a badges guy. "That's right, we don't need no stinkin' badges."

D

 

Several years ago there was a guy on here that had great shields (Yoshi Shields)- I purchased them for my 360 based on his reputation and they were very very nice. One day I was able to park literally right next to the same car (red 360 coupe) that had the factory fender shields at our local cars & coffee meet. I was able to stand between our two cars and look at mine than his several times- there was virtually no difference in the shield in either size, color, paint type etc. The only difference was the slight indentation in the fender from the factory and it was not something that someone seeing my car would notice missing- I doubt most ferrari owners would even notice. I think I took pictures of the two cars that day, but I'd have to check.

All that said, Yoshi is no longer in business, but there is a guy on f-chat that sells shields with the same quality as Yoshi-his user name is "i-velocita". Both Yoshi and i-velocita sell shields with specific sizes for proper placement on the cars- the 360 shield I had was perfectly slightly curved to fit properly on the fender, the 355 shield fits the 355 fender perfectly, etc...

Ferrari Scuderia Fender Shields Badges 308 328 Mond TR 348 355 360 430 456 550 | eBay

I'm like Gobble in that I want everything stock (even the radio, or in the case of my 355 it's a period correct alpine unit) except the exhaust (my 360 had a tubi and I just bought a tubi to put on the 355). BUT the shields were a factory option and I love the look with them, so it was the first thing I put on my 360 when I got it and same with the 355- it was 20 degrees outside and I had my wife helping me install the shields the first day I had the car to make it "right" (in the garage though but it was still cold- ha)

The other thing with these shields is they are removable if for some reason you or the next owner prefer to not have them. I remember people saying you can use dentil floss to safely remove them, but to be quite honest, I think you would be better off using a hair drier to heat up the badge a little and carefully apply pressure- they should pop right off. I have been using the hairdrier technique for decades to remove the dealer badges on all the cars in my family- once I pointed out to people how bad dealer badges look (often cheezy plastic things) they asked me to pop them off. Only takes a few mins...

It's definitely a personal preference thing, but once the factory offered these later in the 355 run there were a lot of takers by the time the 360/430/458 came around as many think it's a nice look!

-Andrew

 

If your car came without shields, and for personal preference you would like them, there is really no financially sensible alternative to god aftermarket units. I got some carbon shields from Jim (i-velocita) and his product is awesome. Yes, as people point out correctly, you need recessed fenders to do a factory job, but really only the cognoscenti would know.

I have no affiliation to Jim- just an appreciative customer -he is a genuine guy and the product is second to none (and removal using 3M adhesive).

http://stores.ebay.com/ivelocita?_trksid=p2047675.l2568

 

Add me to the "no" list for shields. Ferrari put enough badges on the car already. No need to add more.

 

Agreed. I had Jim's for awhile as well (no-affiliation) and just sold them to another non-purist as a pair of Yoshi's landed in my lap from someone else who decided he was going the purist route.

I know I've seen a lot of cars who shouldn't have them on the events I've attended in the mid-atlantic. shrug. Thank goodness we live in 'Murica where we can still do what we want. But then again.. these cars are a religion......

 

Amen.

 

Just curious- the i-velocita badges I bought (is that the Jim you refer to above?) seem to be of the same very high quality that the Yoshi badges I had on my 360 were. While I didn't have both cars/shields at the same time to do a direct comparision, to my eye there is no difference- do you find there to be?

note: even if you do find a difference, the fact that both the Yoshi and I-velocita badges look great is good enough for me. Like I said most Ferrari owners wouldn't notice the difference (unless they are bending over to look closely for a difference in badges and know of the specific slight recess of the OEM badges), let alone general car buffs or the general public....not that I care about what any of those others think because I like them Most people look at the overall car and see the badge as part of the artwork that Ferrari's are!

 

Both are really high quality. Yoshi's are a tad more thin. I think Jim's better match the new wheel center cap colours. Since the Yoshi's are pretty un-obtanium Jim's are a great alternative to the crap on Ebay.

I've seen a few OEM on Ebay with missing studs on the back.. and Trutlands might even have one of them left. but at $500 ea to put on my incorrect car ( chuckle ) I'd rather dump some of that towards the major every 3 years... again (chuckle)

 

I shopped around a lot and Jim's are the best of the lot. And he's a nice guy to do business with. Says a lot in this day and age. He's got some other nice carbon bits too

 

Hi All,

We do supply these badges, if anyone needs them email me or call my cell.

honestly I think without them is better, not a great salesman obivously.

Thanks
Erik

 

Not looking at my car I can count 17 prancing horses throughout my F355. Used to be 19 but I took the shields off, enough is enough!!

None for me but I do like seeing a 355 with factory shields, feels like a special occasion.

 

I agree Cuneo.........factory yes, aftermarket no.

 

Mine has shields. Makes it look less like a Fiero. I think I may add more.

 

Good one! Don't forget to have at least two on each rear quarter panel.

 

Badge it.

 

I remember a while back someone looking into making a stamp for the 355 fender to emboss the shields like the originals. There is a body shop up here in Toronto that does them but they only do it for the dealer. Just wondering if anyone has attempted to make a stamp.

 

right on .even before I really considered a Ferrari as a purchase , I thought the placement and proportion of the shields looked awkward , just my worthless opinion tho .

 

zman, here is some placement info courtesy of another F-Chatter.
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Can't say much or I'll get spanked for self promotion but thank you to andrew911, houtie123 and dahveedem for the kind words. Best...Jim