Does anyone make 355 carpets that are the exact correct color? I'd like them to have the horse as well.
Floor mats are much easier. Some are still available I believe for spiders but that is all. You would need others to be custom made.
In the past Ricambi supplied a nice selection of floor mats. I have been very pleased with mine. Give them a call. Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati Parts - Ricambi America, Inc. (336) 499-2500
I tried finding a perfect match to my 1996 Spider's black carpets from carpets all over the US, Germany and England. From the dye lots available at the time (a year ago), a perfect match didn't exist and I doubt one does today either. I settled for a very fine German velour that was very close in both texture and color, made my own patterns and cut out the carpet mats myself. I had 2 pieces of black dyed to match leather embroidered to say "F355" in matching body color yellow thread and wrapped them around pieces of 1" x 4" .032 aluminum plates with rounded corners. I shaved matching recesses into each mat with a beard trimmer (!!!) and some upholstery scissors down to the backing parallel with the door jambs half way between the seat fronts and the wheel well taper about 2" away from the sill and glued them in place with upholstery cement. Finally, I took the 2 mats to my upholsterer to have them edged in more dyed to match leather with concealed stitching about 1/2" wide. They came out great and are an absolute "glove" perfect fit. I even made the passenger's mat to extend up over the rubber fuse cover. IMHO this looks much better than leaving the rubber exposed. Although they are not an absolutely perfect color match, they look nearly so unless you look close in broad daylight. This is helped by the dyed to match leather edging separating the 2 carpets and the near perfect texture match. I'm very pleased with them.
I feel like Ferrari is missing out on a ton of money on random wear and tear items like floor mats. Surprised they don't have a classics division that's dedicated to providing parts for their cars that are not even 20 years old.
I completely agree! About a year back, Ferrari did release floor mats for the 355 again, however these are a next generation and not the original style. I had a black set made by Coachtrim and while the color was not perfect, it was very close. And the fit was very good.
Here are pictures of what I had made from Coach Trim Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
This stuff is an almost exact match for bordeaux: Classic Car Carpets I'm on holiday at the moment, but will take some comparison pics when I get home.
If we wait for Ferrari to produce the first generation ones, which we know are the ones everyone wants, we'll be waiting for a very very long time. I was lucky enough to come across a near brand new set in black after years of searching. I was delighted the moment I received them, but was immediately hesistant to even use them simply because I was afraid to destroy such a near mint set. I would be much more comfortable using replicas/reproductions as long as it had the same look. I asked a friend awhile back who owns a plastics manufacturing company and he says the tooling costs for the two key rubber pieces, which give the first generation floor mats' their unique look, is about $5k. I guess the next challenge is to find a close matching carpet. I haven't even put the mats in my car to check if the color is even the same, but I will check soon. The outertrim just looks like a standard cheap vinyl, which can easily crack or tear overtime. I'd probably opt for a black leather or alcantara if I were to do custom reproductions for my own car. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Same here. I'll use them one day but so far the ones in my car remain perfect. Could the rubber sections for the mats be 3D printed?
The tooling for those inserts can be done for far less than $5K but I'm not violating trade marks Rubber can be 3D printed but the resolution is still not great.
I personally wouldn't mind if they didnt have the cavalino. What do you guestimate the tooling costs to be around? I would say there's a solid market for good 355 floor mats at anywhere between $300-350. The ones on ebay selling for $300 look like ass. At $300-350, tooling cost would amortize quickly considering the strong demand for them. I'd say they were a must for every 355 owner. I have a spare set of those rubber inserts if you're interested in taking on the project.
Hey Ken, I could get them quoted but I think without the horse would be lame. Let me chat with my patent and trademark attorney. Perhaps it not an issue. Afterall, they don't say Ferrari. Also, restorations are covered under a different section of the law.
I'll send you my purple floor mats with the inserts for free. I just need a set in return for the favor . I had bought the purple mats thinking I was just going to remove the rubber inserts to place on some custom ones I had planned in the future. I like your coach trim ones, but I think we can do better on the color match . Who knows... I might still do a custom one, but if you want them, it's all yours Dave. Just let me know.
Coachtrim will take inserts from OEM mats and install on new. I did not do that on the black but plan to do on the tan (Castro)
