REAL F355 VALUES

They were buying gtbs. I bought mine 4 years ago for precisely that reason - lighter, stiffer and allowed on track. Gts is one of those 3, spider none.

For some, wind in the hair is an essential part of the sports car experience, for me it just means a heavier, less stiff car with worse aero. I can't believe people pay more for that in a car that is about bleeding edge performance, but they definitely do at times. Not to say I don't enjoy a convertible, but not in a serious go fast machine. Jeep, muscle car, luxury car sure, but not a super car (for me).

 

Hell will freeze over before I buy a convertible sports car.

In my opinion convertibles should be cruisers/land yachts like Bentleys/RR's....maybe the Mercedes SL.

 

I'd just like to point out that the majority of people buying these cars won't be putting them on a track to get the full performance advantages of a hardtop over a vert. sub 30k mile F355s aren't track rats which is really the only place to safely pilot a car to its limits where you'll be able to tell the difference between the two. Just my 2 cents worth

 

355 a Super Car?, LOL Thats a new one on me..380hp with low torque..Sorry it is by far not..That is why I bought a 94 Diablo SE30..The Ferrari 355 is a great sports car, but nothing more.It is not a Super car by any means shape or form!

 

So right!!..Yeah these guys think they are Michael with their Coupes..And like its a serious Super Car..LOL!!

 

I track mine and overall drive it like it's meant to be driven.

If anything, I don't like being seen in the car...a convertible exotic to me is a big "look at me" beacon IMO.

To each their own though. I recall pulling up to a light a few weeks back and a father/son started talking about my 355...and I overheard the father say "I don't even know why anyone would get one of those without a convertible top!"

Different strokes for different folks. Hard tops for me to the grave.

 

Like you cant drive any 355 like the way it was meant to be driven...

 

You're saying all 355s will require valve guides and its not true.
Please also tell me that 10k you spent how much was in labor or did you do the work yourself?

I buy parts all the time fix this and that, but just because you spent 10gs doesnt nean its worth 10k more.

 

Where did I say this?

Where did I say this?

The original discussion topic of this thread is the "going prices" of 355s, and all I'm pointing out is the variety of factors that can determine a price for a given car. Something like an air-cooled 911 doesn't have as many other variables as a 20 year old 355 does. You can't simply say a 199x 355 with xx,000 miles that looks good is worth $xx,000.

The example I used of my car was to give an example of how pricey getting a car that is fair or good up to another level can be costly. I spent the money on my car shortly after purchase to get it to where I wanted it- which increased the value of the car, not dollar for dollar, but by thousands. Sort of like re-doing bathrooms in a house and then selling it a couple of years later- you aren't going to get dollar for dollar back, but will get more than the same house with old bathrooms (and will have had nicer bathrooms while living there before selling)

As far as how the cost got to $10K, just in parts $6K+:
challenge grill- $1k
new Hyperflow cats ~$2K (a nice upgrade I eventually wanted in to do in 2016, but wound up doing immediately when we realized the stock cats were shot)
Used Tubi- ~$2K
Misc parts- ash tray, A/C vent, window buttons, shift knob, fender shields ~$1K

Big part of labor cost was rebuilding the steering rack- it is a very involved job, and misc other items to get everything up to snuff (fixed interior stickies, fluid change, install exhaust, etc).


For me, I wanted the piece of mind of documented valve guide update based on all the things I have read on f-chat over the past 12 years I've been on here. Some may not place much value in that, but was important for me. My overall point is there is a price difference between a sorted 355 and non-sorted one. Thus the pretty big range in price discussed prior-a rough range of $45K-$85K+ was mentioned in another post- that is a pretty big difference and just trying to help the original poster or readers understand why there is such a wide range. Regardless of where 355 values go in the future, I would expect there to remain a big range on fully sorted cars vs. not sorted.

 

You did not say it but you implied that a 355 without a valve guide job done is not sorted, which is not true. A used 355 without valve guides job done, and with good even compression and low leak down numbers does not need valve job, and is well sorted.

 

^^^^AGREE^^^^

 

Torque is pretty meaningless without rpm (which is HP).

Anything that could do over 180mph and 0-60 in under 5 in the '90's with a 1/4 time in the 12's was most definitely a super car.

Now? There still aren't many cars that can do over 180mph out there, but it probably doesn't classify as a super car in modern terms, but it certainly was when it was new.

 

Mine has seen the track a couple of times and 7 or 8 autocrosses, and that's precisely what I'd call an enthusiast. Buying one and not using the performance you paid so much for kind of defeats the purpose (for me at least).

 

I'll just say I totally disagree with that opinion. These are not track cars. They are high performance touring cars. A 355 challenge is a track car. And you can make any arbitrary definition of enthusiast you like. I totally enjoy touring New England in my Ferraris. I'm very enthusiastic about it too.

 

Try telling that to the fellow following me through the bus stop at Watkins Glen...

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I'm sure you are, point was that these cars are used on track (and they are very good there, if not exceptional). I bought a gtb because of the increased stiffness, decreased weight and ability to take it on track where it is at home. To me,a Ferrari is a race car for the road and the relatively few modifications the 355 needed to be race ready in challenge form speaks to that. I'm also a bit of a Ferrari romantic, so the whole 'convertibles are for playboys,hard tops are for serious drivers' mantra espoused by enzo rings true (along with my aversion to shields on non race cars). There was question as to why the gtb may be preferred by enthusiasts and I listed the 3 reasons I wanted a gtb over the others - specifically for its prowess on track where I fully intended to wring mine out and did not want what I considered a 'diluted' experience there. On the street it probably doesn't matter much and I am under no illusion that my opinion counts for more than anyone else, but I feel like in my case where I intended (and intend) to get the full experience of the limits of the car, the gtb was the choice.

Now if there's question whether a guy who does his own wrenching and tracks his car is more of an enthusiast than someone who does one or neither, that's probably a different thread - but for the record that may be an indicator of masochism, not enthusiasm.

 

Barry,

Driving a street car on a track regardless of how well it performs on the track, does not make it a track car any more than driving an SP 333 around the block a few times makes the SP 333 a street car. The 355 was design as and is a GT sports car. I would wager much that the majority of 355, and Ferraris in general, have never set a wheel on a track.

Pete,

I understand your, and others', passion for driving your car on the track. And I understand why you would prefer a GTB for track use. But the idea that that defines what an enthusiast is and that anyone who doesn't extract the maximum performance from these cars, on a track, is not an enthusiast is nonsense. Sure you are an enthusiast. One who enjoys your car is a specific way. But I would have a hard time denying that someone with a garage full of Ferraris who spends more time wiping them with diapers than driving them, or someone who doesn't own a single Ferrari but knows Ferrari history top to bottom is any less an enthusiast. By the way, if you want to think of me as a play boy because I have a spider, I can live with that. I was quite a ladies man in my younger days. Didn't seem to matter what type of car I drove though.

 

That was kind of my point, that there is no definition for what an enthusiast is. I just know my definition. The playboy quote was a bit tongue in cheek, but it's not my quote

As to how that plays out value wise, for the owner that wants to track the car (however infrequently), it rules out the spider altogether and I think there is a larger percentage than you think that do so. I thought about a gts (there was a very nice looking yellow f1 gts for sale when I got my car), but in the end the purist in me won out and I went for the gated gtb. I think the f1 gts cars may be a better value proposition due to the rarity and what I think will be a value driver in being the first having the f1 trans, but in the end I didn't buy the car for what it would be worth later. Maybe if I got a second one...

 

Just for kicks, I read this in an Ebay add and thought about our back and fourth:

The car in question was a 1998 GTS that was apparently declared a total due to minor electrical fire under the dash which was subsequently repaired. Sold off Ebay for $42.2k

 

I totally agree that there is no real definition of "enthusiast".
But browsing this section you'd be forgiven for thinking otherwise.

If one was naive and visiting here for the first time, or as a prospective owner, it would be easy to come to the conclusion that unless you buy a '95 manual berlinetta (not GTB) which you then regularly take on the track you will not be considered a genuine Ferrari enthusiast.

Which, of course, is utter rubbish.

It is interesting that when Ferrari wanted to make a special final edition of the 355 with all the cool go-fast bits from the Challenge they used the "softest" car as the basis for it:
The F1 Spider.

 

And the gated spider ^

 

This post is definitely off topic, but it seems to follow where the thread is going. If you have never driven a real race car, that was designed as a race car with NO thought of street use, you cannot know the compromises that had to be included to make ANY form of the car streetable.

 

Big difference between race car and steet car that can be tracked (HPDE, Time trials or otherwise). Ferraris road cars are generally the latter and many owners use them as such.

 

Come on Pete. You can track anything with wheel that passes tech inspection.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LWkep3-uAk

 

Sure, some are more fun than others. I have a 944 full on track car (gutted, caged etc),the f355 is a lot more even in bone stock form, though - and vastly faster.