hello, i thought i was very familiar with the ferrari 348 model range. but this one on e-bay perplexes me; http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/348-TB-CHALLENGE-COUPE-9-of-32-LOW-MILES- i was under the impression that the 348 challenge cars were equipped with a roll bar cage and racing seats. this car looks identical to a '92 348 tb with lower rocker pannels painted body color. so my question is, what differentiates this 348 from other 348's? (besides model year) thanks.
There are several un-prepared Challenge cars still around. One that comes to mine immediately is in the Bachman collection in Tennesee --a stunning yellow CH car that was listed in the Otto supplement of Cavallino about a year ago. All the race stuff was user-installed (actually, team or dealer-installed) after factory production.
I once owned one of these myself. They all came like normal street cars except for a few upgrades like challenge exhaust, lighter weight and a hotter ecu. Most importantly, they had mounting pads for a roll cage. The challenge "kit" was sold separately which included cage, seats, brake cooling ducts, ignition kill, fire extingusiher, etc. These were installed after the fact. There were 32 TB's and about half actually ended up racing. There were 13 TS's and fewer than half ended up racing. Dave
Do a search. The 348 challenge topic has been beaten to death. Quite a bit different than regular 348 and quite rare. As above only 45 were imported to US in '94. In '94 32 tb and 13 ts 348's were imported. Technically they were 348's, but they had some upgrades from the factory as above. Lighter bumpers, stiffer suspensions, and hotter ECU's. They will have mount points for roll cage and harness installed. They also came with a challenge kit that was a $14K delete option. They also had a #'d plate indicating serie challenge. They came with speciale paint (rocker panels and rear deck were color coded).
Where is the #'d plate located at on the car? Thanks! I couldn't locate it on the one I looked at a few days ago.
It would be on the right front door jam. Some cars had them and some did not. Although the one listed on e-bay is #9 of 32, so I would expect it to have a plate.
For some reason, not all came with the ID plates. Some theorize they were added later. My former car (#18) had it on the console instead of the door jamb. Dave
I have heard that too. I think the dealers put them on. However if it is listed with # of ##, then at one time it would have had a plate. The Serie #'s do not follow the vin chronologically. Chronologically my car is 18th, but the plate says #4 of 32. The car in ? is #9 of 32, but the vin chronolgy is 5th (97965 vs. mine 98399)
I noticed the car #'s did not follow the vin#'s. There are many mysteries surrounding the series. Some of the original owners that used them as street cars didn't even know they were special. I have heard from a couple of good sources that since the ecu's and bumpers were different, Ferrari kept quiet about the car because they didn't want to have to get it certified by EPA and DOT for such a limited number of cars. Dave
