355 roof questions

Hi new to both the chat room and the ferrari owner community. Finally decided to break down and buy a 355 gts (red/tan). Have wanted one for over 10 years and wife finally convinced me that there will never be a 'good time' to buy a ferrari--so took the plunge. Have really enjoyed reading the threads on ferrarichat.com and would like to tell everyone how much I appreciate all the valuable info that I have learned here. Anyway, I have a roof question. I have seen both unpainted and painted targa tops for 355 gts models. are people just painting their own roofs or were the color matching roofs a factory option? I suspect painting my own roof would be cheaper but don't want it to look bad either if it wasn't meant to be painted. Can anyone please share any info you have on this?

also, did ferrari ever offer a spare tire kit for the 355? If so, where can I get one. If not, does anyone now if any of the current technology run flat tires are compatible with 355 rims/performance?

Thanks in advance for your time and can't wait to get my 'baby'. Arrives first week of aug. (live in CA, car purchased in FL).

ahrddr

 

AFAIK, they weren't painted by the factory.

Congrats in advance. We have a very active FOC chapter in San Diego and up in LA/The OC.

 

painting it would be very difficult. If you search there is a thread on this page about a company that sells quality canvases for approximately 2k. Thats a great deal and will look much better than a redye or paint.

 

I have seen many for sale that list the roof as factory painted--Are you sure??

 

Can you really paint the canvas though, I think it would look terrible unless it was sprayed, but even then. soaking it in a dye would be much more sensible.

 

I thought the 355 GTS came with two tops? One black canvas and one body matched metal? Anyone else ever hear this. Not really sure on this as I have never owned a GTS but bid on one at the auction that had two tops- 1 red (body color) and the black canvas looking one. Anyone???

 

my 95 GTS came with a matching roof from the factory.... at least that is what i was told.

 

Thanks to everyone for the feedback. I'm afraid that I'm exactly back where I started at. I'll ask the local dealer when I get back to San Diego to receive the car from the shippers. I guess a logical follow up question is if anyone knows of anyone selling a red painted targa top or anyone that has had their roof painted (successfully) in so. cal. Thanks again for all the feedback.

 

I think painted roof always looks better, however, that is just me.
As long as I know, Ferrari offered painted roof as an option. Some GTS have painted roof from factory and some do not depending on previous owners preference.
I am not 100% sure, however I think it was offered as an option since 1998.
Even though you paint your roof, I do not think it will do any harm.

 

No, I'm not sure. The ones I've seen (and there aren't that many) have been unpainted.

I know Ferrari would do pretty much anything if you paid for it. My 328 came with a metallic black-painted front spoiler, to match the body color. After the owner kept losing points at concours, because judges assumed it was a modification, he put it back to the usual plain black.

Given how Ferrari owners are about aftermarket/modified cars, I could see some motivation for sellers calling the painted top a factory job when in fact they have no clue or know otherwise.

What we need is for one owner to post a window sticker showing that the buyer paid to have the top painted at the time of purchase.

If the roof is black now, however, it almost certainly came black from the factory, and I would recommend leaving it that way. There are some practical reasons for it - i.e., you're going to be removing it, sliding under a cover, and moving it around, which makes an inadvertent chip more likely. However, the old 'it's your car so make yourself happy' adage applies here.

FWIW, if I bought a targa car with an aftermarket painted top I'd replace the top with OEM and knock the price off the value of the car. (My personal perspective, although I doubt I'm alone on this.)

 

As op360 stated, painted GTS tops were a factory option from 1998 forward...it started about when the shields, drilled rotors and painted caliper options became available.

 

Yep, factory option. You can also look for aftermarket carbon roofs. Don't know if anyone makes one, but a friend bought one for his 328 GTS and it was lighter while offering better head room. He had it painted to match.

don't sweat it though. Put the roof behind the seats!!!!!

 

That would do it for sure--Anyone??

 

I have a 1999 GTS, and it came from the factory with the optional body-color roof.

 

I also have a 1999 GTS and this came with a factory painted roof. The spare tyre was also a cost extra option.

 

Thanks again everyone for your input. I don't dispute that it was an option for later cars but I see so many early models with them (95, 96, etc) with painted roofs. The carbon roof option is intriguing. I know that the response had to do with a 328 but who makes it and do they make a 355 roof? I dont need it but a little more headroom would be nice. I have since learned that the spare tire option was a euro thing. So it makes sense that the person responding that the spare tire kit was an option was from europe. I'll keep looking and ask people as I find them at get togethers. First order of business is to join foc san diego chapter. Sorry for the lag between responses to the thread. I travel alot and since my travel doesnt require it...I refuse to travel with a laptop. I can always find computers to use at my destinations. Years of travel have shown me the amount of luggage is inversely proportional to how enjoyable my travels will be .