As of this post, 24 355's on eBay, ALL SPIDERS

+1, it seems that in England, a good 355 and a good 360 bring about the same money, it will be interesting to watch the trend in the future.

 

There are three thinks that need to happen for a car to be collectable.
1) Rarity
2) Styling
3) performance.

Rarity is the main one, once any car builder builds more than 500 of any model it is just another used exotic, period. The Dino may be an exception I don't know how many they built.

 

In the UK, a 355 in good condition will will sell for more money than a comparable 360...

 

Perhaps the point is, as Ferrari has become more of a mass produced car in larger numbers, fairly large numbers of most models will be readily available. With that said, good cars will always bring good money. The newer models, with their much more complex operating systems, as they get older, a lot of them will probably have a lot of deferred maintenance, equating to huge expenditures to bring them back to top condition. The electronics, F-1 trans, very expensive shocks & ccb (brakes), could turn them into awful money pits, with no end.

 

Robotization and computerization began with the 348. That would be the logical cutoff (end of 328 era).

Don't tell that to F40 owners (1200 of them, IIRC).

 

Let's not forget the seasonality aspect here. Winter is upon us and -- unless you live in a handful of southern and/or western states -- convertible Ferraris don't see much action in the winter. Hence, now that summer days are in the rearview mirror (so to speak) if that owner was contemplating selling the Spider anyway, might as well unload it now than have it sit for another 6 months costing more $$ in terms of insurance and possible upkeep and maintenance.

I think one typically sees convertibles of all stripes hit the market in the fall and then again in the spring. Pretty common. Not sure there are any trends to infer here.

ketel

 

Correct F40's were built in near "production" numbers. In this car's case, the performance was so unique and raw that this aspect made it an instant collectable. Usually when Ferrari builds it's "Super Cars", think Enzo, F50, Laferrari, etc. they are in small batches. The F40 was a relatively large production run for an 80's super car.

 

Agree that some consider the cutoff at early 90s, late 80s. Also because that's when Enzo died.

Some consider it's the 348 cause it's the last one Enzo was alive for during its development.

348/355 had modern production methods but it's still an "old-school" Ferrari and a lot of it was made by hand.

360's numbers and production methods really dramatically changed.

i think most will agree the old-school era ended sometime between 89 & 99.

 

In Europe and Oz 355s are already more valuable than 360s.

In fact in the UK there is now virtually nothing between the asking prices of a good 355 and an average 430.

 

Steve, I'm curious to hear your thoughts as to why that is the case. I don't doubt you at all (as I am a huge 355 fan); just interested to hear why the commonwealth values the car while the US owners trip over themselves in trying to be the most negative poster about the car.

 

I think you've partly answered your own question with your final sentence.

I have no experience with the US market, but I'll put forward one possible theory.
You guys seem far more likely to do your own maintenance on your cars than we do here.
I suspect that's partly to do with the cheap initial purchase price, as well as the apparently obscene service costs you have.
ie. If you've paid $150k for your car most owners would probably rather send it to an independent expert (or even a dealer) to maintain than break out the spanners themselves.

We also get ripped off by the main dealers but there is a good number of independent Ferrari shops around who do very good work at reasonable prices. A car which has been worked on by the owner would probably not fetch a high price here or in the UK, regardless of how good the car and the work done.
Buyers expect to see a full service history with stamps in the logbook etc.
They also expect to see that the belts have been done every three - four years, regardless.

Finally, although this website is full of useful information, the constant "ticking time-bomb" type of threads / posts can't help.

All just my opinion, of course.

 

They're all important as values are related directly to supply and demand, and one could argue that the rarity aspect is the least important. Without the styling and performance, there's no demand, and without demand, the supply side (rarity) doesn't matter. As to the rarity aspect, none of the variations of the 355 are rare, though the number of GTB and GTS available in the US would seem counter to that.

The Dino would seem to prove out that styling is most important, as they're neither rare nor particularly high performance.

 

Just FYI, anything in Seattle priced higher, should come sell your F cars in Seattle.

 

Hum, I live in Seattle and couldn't give away a mint, 95 355 spider with only 15K miles.
I have a friend that recently sold the best 355 I've ever seen, 98 yellow F1 spider with 6K miles and a recent major service and only got $55,000. This car was "as new". From what you see on Ebay one would have thought this was a $70,000+ car. Not so.

 

Did I say I am Sancho?

 

Did your 355 go to Roy? I never saw that car advertised prior to Roy getting it. Where were you listing it?

 

Mike, are you still giving it away? I'll take it!

 

Yes Roy Cats had it for July and Aug. In hindsight we were asking way too much for it at $62k. Needing the belt service we should have been asking $52k. I traded it to MB of Lynnwood and they traded/sold it to Doug's Cadillac in Shoreline. They currently are asking $63,992 and it still needs the belt service. Either they are clueless or plan on holding it for 1-2 years before they lower the price to where it should be? I netted just over $49K so no complaints.