Yep. Always lusted after them until I spent some time with them. They *might* be okay on the track *if* they fit you perfectly. My hips are actually too narrow so the standard seats fit me better and no doubt much of modern day 'murica is too wide to even fit. Not much padding, so more akin to an old school race chair than the comfortable modern racing shells. And those aren't even my biggest gripes-- IMO the worst part about them is that they preclude you from sitting half in/half out of the car or sitting on the sill and leaning into the interior to work on it or clean it. So not only are they uncomfortable, they're impractical as well. On top of that, they are prone to cracking. All of this is coming from a track guy who doesn't mind racing shells in a dual purpose car. But even as much I like the looks and the concept I'm actually glad to have the standard chairs. Of course, if I could take that knowledge back to 1993-94 I'd order an SS with standard seats, with the intention of fitting better aftermarket race seats for track use. And hence I'd give up all the appreciation the composite SS chairs have experienced. At this point anyone who has them is lucky and they're worth enough that it makes ponying up for a set of comfortable seats easier since you know mothballing the SS chairs is money in the bank. So they're kinda like having a supermodel girlfriend-- great for other people to look at but not so great to put up with on an everyday basis. Those of us with the standard seats can be grateful for the fact that we have some of the better chairs put into sports cars in that era (as long as you fit into them).
Cool car, interesting discussion. In Essen here in Europe (biggest car show) last week two 348 CH are sold in the 140.000 Euros.
I think it's funny to consider these cars in context. The SS was a play to move the remaining 348s so the 355s could take center stage. Cynically they are lightly tarted up obsolete models sold with an air of exclusivity by numbering them. I can only imagine that floor sales of the 348 at the time were flagging at best. I don't know how successful this move was at the time for Ferrari, but we on the consumer side sure put a lot of value in exclusively regardless of how superficial it may be. If I took a normal 348 and modified it to be exactly like an SS, it would lose value over stock imo. My point is that perception is reality and folks put a lot of value in factory provided exclusivity, particularly in this community. Ferrari knows this and exploits it well imo. Value is in the eyes of the beholder and more importantly the buyer. Whatever this sells for is whatever one person is willing to pay. However, given the extremely narrow market for these cars, it's also very difficult to generalize one purchase to determine the value of all of them. Asking prices for even normal 348s seem to have a very wide range. I can only assume sale prices are similarly varied.
interesting to see what it will sell for. I agree that those carbon fiber seats are not comfortable for long drives, but they sure keep you from moving around. I love my black on black TS Serie Speciale #64 Image Unavailable, Please Login
From everything I've read, the targa tops were not painted by the factory but rather an owner's aftermarket mod.
That has been my understanding as well. I've read everything I can find on the cars but don't recall ever seeing a list of SS features/differences which included body color tops.
Correct, I've only seen that on the late 355 GTS option lists. Lowers and engine cover though were body color on SS (and Euro GTS/GTB) cars. The thing about the SS that is rather disappointing for me is that while those carbon seats are absolutely the money, and the better offset rear wheels are nice (although easily corrected on all 348s), the SS otherwise did not get what made the Euro GTB/GTS so special--that of the F119H engine..... and like I've mentioned before, I really don't like the SS taillight change--although I will argue and do agree that is part of what makes the SS really special--it is a visual cue to what makes the SS special over no other 348--even the Euro GTS/GTB or Competizione, etc. For F119D and F119G cars, I personally would prefer rarity of color combination over whether one was an SS or not (again, other than the seats). The F119H cars are another matter completely.
Is this not what Ferrari does at the end of a model's given life cycle? 355 Fiorano, 512 M, 575M GTC, 360 CS, 430 Scud, 458 SS. This is what car manufacturers do. They do it because people are willing to pay more for exclusivity. It has very little to do with moving old inventory.
True in a lot of cases, but in the 348 scenario, it has been well documented and commonly discussed that the SS was in response to FNA's relative lack of sales success with the 348 up until that time. That's not to say the SS is crap though....just a statement of historical record. Remember the Porsche 356 Speedster was a sales flop by all accounts and look at it now. it happens.
I hope the sellers gets all of it. Personally, I find the ss a very engaging and fun car to drive. Mine is the only blue car of the 100 and the blu sera is a gorgeous color, imo. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
