Jumpin' in, hello & help

Well...here goes nothing...

My name is Steve, and I think I'm hooked on getting a Ferrari....about to pull the trigger on a '98 355 Spider in primo-condition.

I'm fairly active on another forum, a Hummer forum. Things are pretty tough over there..."newbies" often show up asking all sorts of annoying questions and we get lots of greenies letting us know how our "small-man complex" isn't serving the environmental. I've relentlessly been given the thumbs-down, my doors keyed, fake tickets, etc...and that's just from my wife!!!! ; ) Sometimes it's jealousy, other times it's some environmental freak taking a shot at you. I don't expect the F-car to be any less controversial???? Oh...and..."yes", I offroad the Hummer excessively and love it.

On another note, I want to thank many of you for being so helpful. I contacted a few of you local guys and am happy to say that ALL of you were very friendly. In particular would be Dave (Darth550) and Mike Sage. Both these guys have been like the older brothers I wish I had growing up..especially that last wmv. Dave sent over!!!

Mike invited me to his house to watch the race with his friends. Of course, he just had to take me for my first ride in a Ferrari by inncoently luring me over a bit early. LORD HAVE MERCY...I was counting on such trivial things as "speed limits, driving laws and common sense" to keep things inline and mellow....it's not like we're able to drive like mad on city streets...right???? WRONG!!!!!!!!!! You'd think the laws of nature would at least prevail...

After demonstrating the "launch mode" he proceeded to indent his passegner seat with a perfect impression of my body as I experienced several G's of force, then we hit the curves. Damn. We went into turn after turn where I figured we couldn't possibly brake enough nor hold traction through the turn. I can not express how much infinitely more secure I feel inside my Hummer then in a 355 Fiorano with the top down: where's the freakin' rollbar???? I screamed like a little f-in girl and begged him to slow down....yeah, like that was gonna do anything but make him laugh. That Ferrari sticks to the road like it's on tracks!!!!...hate to borrow a line from Hummer, but it's..like nothing else!

Mike even let me drive it...but only after listening to me decline for about 4 minutes. Yeah, that pretty much did it....time to blow some coin and put one of these bad-boys in my garage. The wife isn't entirely thrilled....but in time she'll realize it's the right choice, and..when ya think about it....isn't it time she becomes sensitive to my needs????? She's thinks we need a 4-seater, but if your gonna buy a toy for fun...shouldn't it excite ya? Or as Dave says...rational thought isn't something best applied when it comes to Ferrari's!

So besides my exceedingly long post, it comes down to this: 355...is this the best model for me to get into? I'm told it's significantly improved beyond the 348 (100 hp can't be bad!!!) and I'm stuck on a convertible and the 360's haven't come down just yet. I realize there's a lot of models out there and many of you guys (and gals) are into what YOU have...but whatever you can offer would be appreciated.

Also, the 355 I have my eye on is a '98 6-speed spider w/13k and the 30k service done already. Red/tan and no apparent damage. Yes, I'll have a ppi done when it comes time. I'm figuring somewhere in the mid 80's....ya think??????? (this is the prime question)