46k miles with most of them on track according to a previous owner and a full repaint. Looks so good now. Great driver. Seems about right.
I doubt any 355 challenges even have that many track miles. That car is drop dead gorgeous, I'm not a big red 355 fan but in that color, I am. Even the ride height is spot on.
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1997-ferrari-f355-challenge-2/ This is a rare and odd one. 1997 Euro Challenge B car, clearly driven heavily on the street (32K mi), restored, has A/C, an OEM stereo, carbon road seats, roll cage removed. California registration is going to be a near insurmountable challenge but I imagine it would be easy enough for a Montana title elsewhere. And here's a reference from 2018 to the cars history. Image Unavailable, Please Login
^ Would love to see a dyno of that car. The muffler is odd. Looks factory but I've never seen one like that with the additional chamber on the bottom.
This car has been discussed before. It’s missing quite a bit of valuable challenge parts. Those do look to be F40 brakes, but not the F40LM brakes Ferrari would’ve fitted on the car. The F40LM brakes a very valuable. These, not so much. Challenge brake ducts are also missing front and rear so no “special cooling.” Just a standard muffler. Some later mufflers have the extra bulge on the bottom.
Pfft now they claim it's a 1 of 5 Challenge car for street use Oh and they said "I feel your comment about lots of original parts missing is out of line."
I warned them weeks back when they posted on social and voiced many concerns and never got one response
One of would think. Seems to me like they've gone defensive by implying that 355 aficionado(s) are disparaging them and the car by calling them out on their story.
Also, are all Euro cars supposed to have a door jamb sticker with tire and inflations specs? I thought that was just an NA thing.
I know the car. The car has some unclear history, unfortunately I can't recall by heart. With some reservation about absolutely factual correctness, I recall the car being delivered to Germany but subsequently going to Italy, where it was barely driven with very little mileage over a long period (10+ years). Then there is talk of a restoration in Germany, but without documentation of what and why this was done. I can see this is referenced in the old advert posted here. The car was sold to Norway from the 2018 auction and then Poland last year. When I went through the limited documentation for the car, there is absolutely no information anywhere about where the original Challenge parts are. You are correct in it having the F40 brakes and not LM brakes, this was done to make it roadworthy. I am not an expert in F355, but I was also told by a friend who looked at the car that the front bumper is not the correct Challenge bumper. The car does not have race history and I barely found any documentation following it to make the history of the car clear-cut. I am very wary of throwing out assumptions, but the combination of everything regarding the car leaves more questions than answers.
The front bumper is definitely not a challenge bumper snd most likely not the rear either. No tow hook hole. Considering there is no history of the car competing in a challenge series, the original owner probably never really installed the kit. Had he actually competed in the series, they would ask, “where are the parts?? You need these to compete.” One has to understand the challenge “kit” parts are very valuable. Particularly the F40LM brakes. I could see an F40LM owner paying $30k for a brand new set of those. So if the owner chose not to install the stuff, good chance he sold it off. Standard F40 brakes are about $6k and yes they are more streetable. I just feel the owner didn’t feel the need for the “kit” and sold it for extra cash. However, I do think the car was tracked in limited fashion, just not raced in the challenge series.
Yes, I am aware of the brakes as I know one of the owners at some point was ready to order LM brakes for the car for originality. This wasn't done due to cost and it making the car un-roadworthy with the missing handbrake function. I also glimpsed some talk about the cars dampers, if I recall correctly the dampers as a whole where not replaced, but parts of them were.
Fwiw, I’m not advising lookers to stay away. It’s more like, “don’t overpay for this car.” Especially, with the “1 out of 5 factory road legal challenge” rhetoric. There’s no facts to support. They are confused about the matter.
Now my comments are getting flagged and none of my posts are going thru . The ad mentions the rear dampers were replaced with new ones. I expressed in the comments the shop most likely ordered standard ones, not challenge ones. 911R just posted a pic of the dampers. Guess what?? They’re the standard ones … exactly as I said it would be #183634 are standard dampers The correct part # for challenge dampers is #167107 Image Unavailable, Please Login
I’m going to post Robb’s post again as it is important to understand how these arrived. I thought I was done posting challenge stuff, but looks like I’m being pulled back in again . From Robb (Fchat): There were no F355 challenge cars delivered from the factory at 100% ready for the track. In ’95 thru ’97 – If you ordered a car “arranged” at the factory (TYPE A) (there were only 15 in ’95 for example) – it still arrived with a kit to install and: A. 8 operatons to be completed adding on to the car by the team dealer. – Assembly of roll-bar and eyebolts for towing – Assembly of seat – driver’s side with relevant brackets and safety seat belts – Replacement of battery and assembly of the battery detacher – Extinguisher assembly – Assembly of fuel intake valve and relevant lines – Replacement of suspension springs – Silencer assembly – Assembly of braking system If you converted a car without “pre-arrangement” at the factory (TYPE B), your dealer ordered the same kit as above with additional kit items, and had to complete: A. The same 8 operations above and B. 10 additional operations – Assembly of roll-bar fastening plates – Assembly of plates for driver’s side seat belt fastening – Modification to the engine oil cooling system – Assembly of air intakes for front and rear brakes – Assembly of engine air intake lines – Shock absorber replacement – Thermostat valve elimination – Engine sealing – Injection ECU sealing – Bilstein ECU sealing Later in the series – ’98 and ’99 year cars only had kits for “pre-arrangement” at the factory.
If the BaT car still has standard springs on the car, that could help explain alot. However, I do not know if ordered “arranged” if they would’ve arrived with challenge dampers + standard springs w/ challenge springs on the side waiting to be installed OR the car arrived with challenge dampers + challenge springs w/ a set of different challenge springs set aside. Remember, there were 2 different set of challenge spring rates an owner could choose from. If the car still has standard springs + challenge shocks (before the rears were swapped in 2022) I’d imagine the car driving awkwardly.
To install challenge roll bar fastening plates, you have to shorten the back section of the E-Brake for clearance. If ordered “arranged” I presume the factory shortens it and re-trims it neatly to maintain an “OE” look. Whereas a “converted” 95 car, the plates were installed by the dealer and the E-Brake upholstery simply removed as it got in the way. Here are pics from the BaT car and pics from a 95 converted car. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Robb’s post still leaves a few tasks unassigned. Who installed challenge clutch and engine mounts? Who drilled ventilation holes in the clutch housing? Who installed the clutch cooler? Who installed challenge suspension bushings? Drop links? Front forks? Who installed the wheel well coverings? Who installed the switches?
My 1995 F355 was converted to a Challenge car by Miller Motorcars. The Challenge brakes had no provision for an E-Brake rendering the hand lever without functionality. In my car's case, the rear rear portion of the E-Brake's upholstery was simply cut away to provide room for the roll cage plate installation... Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
