Copy of a post I put on PH: Went for a drive in the tiv after work on Saturday night, was driving out of Tadcaster towards the A64 near York and heard a strange noise......looked in my mirror and saw a red 355 rapidly closing in on me, nice I thought. Then I hear a high pitched bellow, look in my mirror and see the massive wing of a red F40 behind the 355. We head onto the A64 (in roadworks - 50 limit), the two razzers pass me when the roadworks cease...I give the thumbs up and the F40 driver returns the gesture, nice! I followed them for a few miles, they turned off towards York, I followed them off and went back on the A64 in the opposite direction (as had gone too far on by following them!). They both were changing down the gears as they slowed up, sounded awesome, especially the F40 as it was banging and cracking on the over run. The plate on the F40 was ** IOU, I am sure I've seen the plate before.....maybe in a magazine test or something? The 355 may have been a Challenge version I think....it had white mag wheels, the front end looked a little different than standard too, and it was very loud! Are there any road going Challenge cars? I was on cloud 9 all Saturday night. Best Regards Martyn.
Martyn, you can deffo mod the 355 to look/sound like a Challenge car, but i'm not sure a proper Challenge is road legal. I had the pleasure of being behind an F40 couple of months ago on return from an Fchat meet. As you say, the machine is awesome. This one had Tubi fitted and was literally scaring other traffic out of the way, with me bringing up the rear ! The noise and flames on the overun was top .... ;-)
Bet the flames were something else! The size of the F40 really struck me, it is sooooooo wide. Experiences such as following an F40 should be available free on the NHS for the good of all!!
You haven't known fear until you've had a Hummer closing on you at 90, as I did a few weekends ago. Not normally one to be intimidated out of the way, but must confess I scuttled into the middle lane like a frightened terrier.
355 Challenge cars are road legal in France ( with road tires ) so i imagine that they are too in the UK seing how anything with 4 wheels is
It has to be checked by the Department of Transport so it's not quite anything - we do have laws (too bloody many for most motorists) but I'd be surprised if you couldn't make the track car road legal.
I know the car you are talking about - 44 IOU. I went to Silverstone last month for the FOC track day and managed to get 5 laps as a passenger in that car! The owner is a totally top bloke. We lapped 20 seconds faster than the 355 I was in earlier, and we were being held up. It was totally awesome.
Hi guys you can get the 355 Challenge cars road registered. I had one done, it was a rare, right hand drive one, it was built by Ferrari for the Challenge Series, and like a lot of them, was modified by Ferrari UK. It was not easy to get it road registered as they don't come with a handbrake, so you have to modify the bells to fit the bigger wheels. Dick Lovett, at Swindon, have got it for sale, have a look at their website. It is up for £59,000 (I think they may be being a bit ambitious), it has only done around 5,000 miles, it is absolutely mint, but to be fair, it is not an easy car to drive on the road, especially if you have lose fillings!! And if you haven't any when you get in it, you will have when you get out!! There were more and more coming on the market, so I decided to part ex it for my 360M, this proved to be the right choice, as Dick Lovett still have it for sale! See pictures attached.......... RAY360M Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Ray, the Challenge looks a stunner...did you originally buy it for the track or road ? What suspension set up and exhaust does it run? Regards
I brought the car from Specialised Cars, Knutsford, who used to run it for a guy who raced in the Maranello, did a couple of races in it at the end of the season, then in the following season raced an F50, pretty successfully! I brought it to race, but it was such a nice car, and there was so much 'carnage' going on in the 355 Series, that I just did a few track days in it. I hardly used it last year, due to pressure of work, building houses and things, and I must admit I got used to not having the bills, you know what they are like, racing, I am sure! I honestly cannot remember what set up we were using suspension wise, but the car has all the 1997 upgrades, bigger anti-roll bar, extra gearbox cooling, rear wing, quick rack. It is a really lovely car. It has a sports exhaust on it at the moment, but I have still got the SPA Challenge exhaust, here in my garage! And boy, does that sound brilliant! I think it is called the SPA Exhaust, as that is probably the only place you would be able to use it in Europe! I did a track day at Le Mans and Montiery (near Paris) we were allowed to use the exhaust there, does sound fantastic! A bit intrusive, and I must say gets on your t*ts on the road! There are a lot of left hand drive ones around for sale, most of them have been bashed! You can pick them up for around £35,000, but this one has never been hit, had a slight scuff on one cill, but apart from that is mint! Go on......... Spoil yourself!!! I am sure they would have a deal with you as they have had it so long! Kind regards RAY360M ps.... For a bit of fun, being a polisher aswell, I put it in a round of the Autoglym Concours Championship. There were 6 cars in our class and we managed to win it! See picture. Image Unavailable, Please Login
We have road legal four poster beds,arm chairs,tents, on the road in the uk, a 355 challenge car would be no problem at all, cheers Dale.
Hi RAY360M That 355 challenge looks great! I once saw your car at Spa Francorchamps i think! It was a track day from the Club Ferrari Belgio. It was a day after the Ferrari Days! It was in april or may 2001 i think!! Must have a picture of it somewhere because i thought it was a fab car and i honestly thought that the owner must be someone pretty special to bring a challenge car all the way from the UK to Spa!! The ride must have been pretty hard! But of course all worth it! Driving at Spa is something special! And i can confirm....that car was LOUD!!! CIAO... BTW: or you doing some more track days at Spa in the near future? Guy
Wow, bet that was a memory to cherish. I think my best passenger rides to date were riding in three 911 TT's at Brunters last time, over 200 mph in the RUF R turbo.....awesome. Though the most exciting of them was a 500 bhp 993 TT. Is the F40 chap from up here? As have never seen the car around Yorkshire before. Best Regards Martyn.
44 iou was in the evo ferrari test magazine when they put the 288, f40, f50 and enzo up against each other
I am pleased you enjoyed my F40 but you made a mistake about the car in front. It was a 348 GT Competizione which was the last racing verson of the 348, the equivalent of the 355 challenge and is fully road legal. It has a customised exhaust which is the envy of everyone. We had both been to the Harewood Hill Climb as part of the Ferrari Hill Climb Championship. The 348 you saw was the fastest Ferrari on the day driven by last years championship winner. I usually compete in a 328GTS but I sold it recently after 13 years this left only the F40 which is not realy suitable for speed hill climbs as it is too powerful to drive fast on narrow twisty roads. The F40 is much better at speeds over 80mph. We had a great day (20+ Ferraris) and as you can imagine lots of pictures were taken of the cars. For more details and probably some pictures see www.ferrariownersclub.co.uk
44iou, (Though I suspect you are not a number, but a free man) Hello, and welcome to Fchat. Could I be cheeky, and please beg a ride in yer F40 at the next FOC trackday? I know it's a nerve to ask as it is on the back of yer very first post onj Ferrarichat, but you get nothing on this rock without asking!
Hi and a very warm welcome to our 1st registered UK F40 owner- yes, i know Karl Verdi has one too . ;-) It would be nice if you could fill out a bit of the profile so we can "know" who we're talking to. And a few pics would be welcome too ! regards Image Unavailable, Please Login
Ray, I saw this car advertised at Dick Lovets about 2 days after I bought my 355 in early October. It was advertised for £64k back then ! I actually considered going there for a test drive and offering a straight swap. i suggested we do this to my girlfrined who is also quite a petrolhead and it was one of only times she did not understand and thoughI was bonkers. I let it go then but I always do think about it, especially now that I feel that the 355 is just a little too refined. Cheers philip
44 IOU, Welcome, we're glad to have you. I'm sure you find this little community good fun. I have seen your car in a few FOC trackdays that I have attended and she looks beautiful. Cheers Philip
Hi 44iou Welcome to Ferrarichat Nice to hear your still enjoying that MAGIC F40 Len Come on post some pics of that lovely car for us Regards RAY360m (Regards to M----l to see you at the Concours
