The shops name is Specialty Car Craft located in Los Angeles on La Cienega Blvd., works on Ferrari's, Lambos, RR, Bentley's etc. etc. The place is absolutely stunning inside - you could eat off the shop floor (not that I would) When we decided to get into it, we deleted the side running lights on both front and rear bumper, added the additional air slot to the front air dam as well and of course had the fenders "punched". Oddly enough sourcing the OEM shields was not that easy, one came from Ferrari of Seattle and the other from a Ferrari dealer on the East Coast. They originally did the Challenge grill many years ago, I came to them with a new Challenge Grill, 355 rear lights and told them what I wanted and they did it perfectly. Steve the owner and Henry his brother are great guy's with a passion of all cars. A long time ago I decided this 348 is a keeper, not selling so need to let me know that its no longer original. It is the way I envisioned my car to be. FYI am still searching for it's stable mate a perfect 550.
The challenge grille looks great on your car. I have had many silver (for lack of better word) cars in my life and thought I'm over silver ... but ... 355s look fantastic in that color. Your car looks great all around.
I did not want to hijack the thread from the original OP but the rear of the 348 IMHO needs a OEM Challenge Grill. It works. Thought I would share some of the photos I took, pretty excited about it. I only got the car back just last month. I will do this in a few post has the files are large. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Sorry for so many posts, the photos are large files but at least you all get the "picture". Image Unavailable, Please Login
This time the front air dam with the additional scoop for the break cooling. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Forgot to add that they also did my Break Calipers in Rosa Corsa Red! Image Unavailable, Please Login
Side lights deleted. I plan on keeping this one! Mechanically I have added a Capristo Stage 3 Exhaust after having tried a Tubi and a Quicksilver I finally found the sound I wanted. I had originally ordered Hyperflow cats but since I live in the great State of Kalifornia I decided against them and truly the Capristo sounds amazing. The ECU's have been remapped and also chipped. Image Unavailable, Please Login
I was the inventor/designer of the LeMans Grill. There is a website where you can see it, but if I post it it will be deleted. Just do a google search for Ferrari LeMans Grill. The black spider IS a LeMans. As for retrofitting a 355 challenge grill to a 348...I spent $1200 and tried. Ruined the grill in the process, and then went to work finding a better solution, the Lemans Grill. It can be done - see Albert's set-up, but the expense for the modification, and the risk that it doesn't look good, are both quite high. One of the "challenges" (pun intended) is that the 355 challenge grill isn't wide enough. So you are already starting with a significant challenge - how do you widen a mesh grill? Answer: If you can do it where it looks like anything but a homemade bar of soap, its a minor miracle, and it's a LOT of labor. Last note: I did NOT design the LeMans to make the 348 appear to be a 355. I designed it to make the 348 look like a FERRARI.
But the 348 does look like a Ferrari! - A classic Ferrari designed in the 80's! To Me, 355 tail lights on a 348 make it look like it's trying to be something it's not, and in a lot of cases, make the car look more like a kit car than a real Ferrari. Ferrari had similar ideas about round tail lights on the 512M, and to Me at least, they look bloody awful! Both the 348 and the Testarossa series suit the rectangular tail lights fine as far as I'm concerned. I've only had My 348 for 6 months now but I'm yet to hear anyone say it's not a Ferrari because the tail lights are not round. My brother and his wife followed Me home in the dark one night and the next time I saw them she told Me that she loved the look of the tail lights, saying: "They just look very exotic! - Very Miami Vice!" As I've posted in a previous thread on this subject, what's not to like?: Image Unavailable, Please Login
Its not about whats not to like on the stock rear of the 348, IMHO its about making it better. Read my posts, its not about resell, its certainly not about you or my neighbor, or my brother and his wife's opinion - its about me and how I wanted my car to look and if you can tell me my car (or Brent's car) looks bad or kit car like then maybe an eye exam is needed. FYI, I still like the rear of a stock 348, but I just like mine a whole lot better and even when I have had it at BH Ferrari to pick up an item or two the service advisor and manager are always stating how "factory" this looks. I will reiterate that it can all be changed back in an hour to stock rear lights and panel - not that I want to but have done just to see how easy it was. In regard to the photo of the rear of the 348 the stock skinny tires on the rear do not do it justice either does that mean we should not upgrade? Regarding Husker's post, he and I went back and forth for sometime before he created his Le Mans grill ( I had already done my conversion), he is correct in stating that the cost to retrofit a Challenge grill is high in order to make it fit perfectly but I had to do it right IMHO and went with a High End shop, not cheap by any means but perfect. I also did not want Shields that stuck out and tried the infamous Yoshi Shields (great by the way) but I personally was not happy and needed that done correctly too. I am just a type A person, I have to have things done perfectly or to OEM standards. Husker did a great thing for the 348 Brotherhood, invested lots of time and money and I still don't know if he is financially even with the Le Mans Grill endeavor, if it had been around before I did mine who knows I may have gone that route.
Try reading the post that I was referring to (Especially the highlighted part!), rather than trying to make this thread all about yourself and your car!: The implication being made in that post (albeit possibly tongue in cheek to a degree), is that the 348 in standard spec does not look like a Ferrari because it does not have round tail-lights. My argument is that the 348 does look like a Ferrari - A Ferrari of it's time! - The late 1980's. Your comments about the wheel track holds little water with Me! Adding wheel spacers to widen the track is a genuine performance enhancement to the car rather that just an aesthetic alteration that putting 355 style lights on the car is (the standard tail-lights on My 348 seem to work perfectly well at all speeds that I drive the car at. Of course, if you can show that the the 355 style lights give a performance advantage over the standard lights then I'll be more than happy to consider performing the "upgrade") As for My kit-car comment, as you yourself have noted, most of these conversions end up with the lights pointing upwards, which doesn't look right at all. (But there again, if you're not trying to replicate the 355 then why should that really matter?). You obviously like the rear of your car to look like a 355 rather than a 348 - good for you! For Me personally, I prefer the standard rear end - Such is life! However, I'm not some sort of stickler for originality on the 348 as you seem to think! (call the 348 Police!: My 1990 348 TS has colour coded bumpers, lower panels and engine cover! - And I bought it in part because they were colour coded! ). At the end of the day, the standard 348 is no less a Ferrari because it doesn't have round tail-lights! - As was suggested in the post that I was referring to!
It's a beautiful car without modifications. However, many (most?) Ferrari owners seem to have an itch to customize their car in some way(s) - different exhausts, wheels, shields, steering wheels, grills, and so on. Beauty is always in the eye of the beholder.
Quote: Try reading the post that I was referring to (Especially the highlighted part!), rather than trying to make this thread all about yourself and your car!: To make it easy for you I will simplify it for you - I am discussing my car IMHO, so yes its about me and my car - that most if not all seem love the look and this is where Ferrari's tend to be a dime a dozen in West Los Angeles. You may not be the 348 police BUT you sure come off that way, why post a photo if "it does not hold water with you". FYI adding spacers is not always the best or safest way to widen your track, best to invest in some quality after market wheels with a wider track. The rear lights have nothing to do with performance, again read the posts, Carpisto Exhaust, remapped ICU'c Chips make the car go a bit faster not the lights. Or are you just being Tongue & Cheek again? I have to say it sounds more like you are mostly mentally challenged That was said in good fun, hope you can take it that way! Read some more or better yet have your eye's examined and you will see my lights point perfectly well and not up in the air…Love my car, its not for sale, its for me to enjoy and others to do so too has I drive by. The OP had a question, a few of us answered it like most 348 owners do without drama, the OP now has a few options to consider and many pictures to evaluate from, this is how information is exchanged. You seem new to 348 ownership, I truly hope you enjoy the experience and the drive and why don't you post a picture of your car! I am sure we would all love to see it. (thats not tongue & check)
As for the lights pointing "upwards", if they are installed that way with the LeMans, they are installed incorrectly. That said, they are not completely 45 degree angle to the ground. The Grill was designed so that they had a VERY SLIGHT upward angle in order to match the rear lines of the deck lid. It would have been most hideous looking to have the lamps setting at an angle that conflicted with the shape of the car. The black one earlier in this thread appears to have them installed INCORRECTLY. The red one (post # 18) has them installed CORRECTLY. Whether you like the LeMans Grill is purely subjective, but I can assure you that it's design and function were not a haphazard event.
Thanks guys for chiming in. I so far have learned more about grilles from this simple post than I thought I ever would - which is a great complement to the 348/355 bunch here for trying to help out with thoughts and experience. ;-) FWIW ... Albert328gts - I really dug you posting the photos of your 348 here ... thanks.
Hope all the photos from each of the posters will help you make your decision. Whatever you decide will be right for you. Enjoy your car!
The way I look at it is.......The Grill conversion husker developed....or any "355" conversion offered, for that matter, exists for a reason.....Demand.
I agree. I look at it no different than any other mods we do to our cars - steering wheels, shifter knobs, wheels, shields, custom leather, Tubi exhaust, etc. Variety is the spice of life!
Husker's Grill in motion....best mod I did to the car! [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5PHuifUCB0]Ferrari 348ts with Nouvalari exhaust. - YouTube[/ame]
Lots of opinions, but for me, it was the look I liked. I never liked the rear lights on the 348 so this did it for me, just like the 360 rims and tubi. Husker did a great job on his Lemans Grill - perfect fit and great quality ! The best thing is that, tomorrow, I can bring it all back to stock if I get sick of it or if the market suddenly changes and these cars become worth something in original condition. In the meantime, I love everything about the car and have a blast driving it....or happy just staring at it on those winter days. I wish I could park it in my living room. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
