348 vs 355

348 for reliability, 355 for the better driving experience.

Read the new forza magazine 355 buyers guide.

 

Yes, in forza magazine as well. But it's a back issue. I threw all of mine out years ago, else I would have mailed it to you..

 

355 is a money pit. Read the article, and the tech article.

 

The 355 can be a money pit, but well sorted ones should not be, it takes a lot of money to get to the point of being well sorted for these cars. In the case of a 355, you should have someone who is really an expert advise you on the many things to look for (that are also expensive to rectify) on the 355.

If you stumble across a 3 pedal 355 with aftermarket exhaust headers and exhaust, recent major maintenance, good leak down and compression numbers, and verified iron valve guides, then it is worth considering a 355. Otherwise, you are looking at some potential serious financial pain.

Additionally, if you are very mechanically inclined, the 355 can be rewarding as well. I like the 355 better for many reasons, but cost of sorting one out is not one of those reasons. The 348 has it's own issues. I would suggest that the 355 isn't inherently more unreliable due to anything directly related to electronic or the engine control unit, but rather due to the amount of heat generated in the engine bay and some parts that were not up to the demands being placed on them.

Mark

 

Your cars are left hand drive not worth jack **** in oz

 

Forza magazine. Should be available at your local magazine shop of book store.

 

Should be worth more just for the novelty. Specialty RHD cars trade here at a premium. A friend of mine restores and sells old Rolls and the RHD is always in more demand.

 

Nope.

In my state you can't even register a LHD car unless it's pre 1979, so a LHD 348 / 355 etc. is, literally, worthless.

The most expensive 355 for sale in Oz right now is at my local Ferrari Dealer.
'99 Spider, manual, less than 3000 miles on the clock, asking equivalent of US$180,000

 

.....sorry buddy better read my txt again, that was for a 348 competizione here in Oz which are very rare not a 355. Infact 355 pricing is much the same as a good 348 or average/early 360.

 

....I got quite a good one from 'Ferrari Forum' - www.ferrariforum.com

 

With respect, that is not quite true.

Analysing all the 348s, 355s, and 360s currently for sale in Oz shows:

348: Asking $80k to $115k. Average $95,000 (that is discounting the very rare and valuable GTC)

355: Asking $105k to $152.5k. Average $135,000 (that is discounting the ultra low mileage car in Adelaide I mentioned earlier)

360: Asking $95k to $150k. Average $120,000

This shows that the average asking price for a 355 is more than 40% greater than a 348, and 12% greater than a 360.

I would venture that there is a similar pattern in the UK and other RHD markets.

A reasonable conclusion may be that the 348 and 360 represent very good value for money!

 

I went through a similar thought process a few months ago, as I was in the market for a V8 berlinetta. My objectives could have been summarised as above:
a) buy a car that won't depreciate and could potentially appreciate
b) have enough performance to really enjoy the car, do the odd track day
c) have a pure, well accomplished old style chassis. no electronic, no F1
d) Budget in the GBP 50K range

Before looks considerations, the usual shortlist was: 308, 328, 348 and 355.
I rule out 360 and later as they have lost the original 'berlinetta' spirit as the cars are much larger and also computers simply play too large a part

I discounted 308 on the basis that performance was not enough.Also ergonomics are an issue for a 6'2'' frame. However, they are desirable if yu can fit and collectable especially the vetroresina ones.
328 was discounted because performance was still not sufficient. Although the cockpit is better designed for a tall guy, I am not a fan of ferrari 80's dashboard. A step backward compared to the 308 I think.
That left 348 and 355. They share quite a lot of similarities. Both cars use about the same of electronics (at least when it comes to 355 2.7 motronic). The early 348 hadn't a very good chassis. Later GTB versions where a big step forward. Obviously this comment is from someone who pushes a bit, but I totally accept that most will not see the difference.

I wanted to have something a bit special so I turned to "challenge" versions. In case of a 355 this also solves the manifold issue (at lest in my case as it has a custom 4 into 1 manifold).
In a market where there is small / no premium for challenge cars, and given the volume produced, I think this is the best from a collect ability perspective (I am NOT suggesting it will be worth the same as a 250GTO... just looking at value preservation).

This was my rational self doing the thinking. Now frankly I think 355s look much better than 348s but I accept some don't agree.

I have found my dream car: a low mileage (30 000km) 355 challenge with 98 kit which is currently being lightly restored for road use. The car performance in terms of agility and breaking is awesome and it has that classic racer attributes you don't get today with say a 458 Speciale. Cambelt service is a pain every 5 years but it's also an opportunity to really look over the car and change a lot of stuff that may get un-noticed until failure.

The only thing I regret with the 355 CH over a 348 CH is that with the 348 you can go to Michelotto and source various racing bits from their LM program to make the car even more special. At the time of the 355, Michelotto was focused on 333SP so no special bits to add on.

Just my perspective

 

The one thing you fail to mention here is that I was comparing average to good which I mentioned in my earlier post.

Using the figures you have kindly supplied, assuming an average car would sell at the average price or below and a good car would sell at the average price or above then an average F355 would sell in the range of $105 - 135k and a good 348 at $95 to 115k and accordingly an average 360 would sell at $95 - 120k.

Based on this I would suggest that my conclusions on the current Australian market for 348, F355 and 360's are, in fact, pretty much spot on and supported by you own numbers. It also shows that the much maligned little 348 which is really punching above its weight category here is doing pretty dam well all in all !?!?

Of course the other issue here is no Ferrari ever sells for the asking price. One may want $152k for his/her 355 but will they get it. It would be very interesting to compare actual sale prices as opposed to asking prices !?!?

 

The 348 has never been "much maligned" by me. I love them. In fact the 348 and Testarossa are the cars which ignited my love for Ferrari.

I simply posted the numbers as they are.

The impression that I took from your initial post was that you were saying there is virtually nothing between the prices of 348 / 355 / 360 in Oz. If you compare a crap 355 to a great 348 or an average 360 you are right.

But if you want a genuinely good example of any of those (and who doesn't?), you are going to be paying the least for a 348, and probably the most for a 355.

Just like in other RHD markets.

 

not true....the 360s here are still around 30% more expensive than the 355s......the 355s are around 25% more than the 348s..... the only problem is we have around 10 or so of the 360s for sale, 7-8 355s for sale and only one known of 348 for sale in the whole country.....

 

I would say yes. Plus, a few tweaks will go a long way toward helping the performance.

Just make sure you get a car with a solid gearbox!

 

Spider is the best of the bunch. Closest thing to a 355 without having to buy and put up with a 355.