The search is over....

Hey Guys,

After 13 years of wanting a 355, the dream came true today (Well, actually, I made the deal on Thursday and provided a deposit then).

I made the decision around Thanksgiving that this year I was going to get a car - after all, I'm not getting any younger (I'll be 43 on Tuesday).

As many of you know, I set out to land a Rosso Corsa / Tan, late model, low mileage, GTB or GTS, pristine car with recent major service and at the start of my search I wanted a 6-speed. After getting the opportunity to drive John's (Speedyman) 430 F1 in mid-December while in Atlanta, the F1 became an option for me and I actually began to want it more. I read all the threads here about the differences and spoke to some members here and decided that the F1 would fit my needs well and I was not concerned about the negative press I've heard.

Last week I had made a deal on a 96 Rosso Corsa / Cream, 20,xxx miles, 6-speed and that deal fell thru (I'll omit the details).

So, after the deal fell thru I contacted a seller that is local to me (90 miles away). I had met with him on December 1st to see his car and while it was a terrific car, it's Nero (Black) and that was my second choice.

Considering that these cars are not growing on trees, I decided to consider all the pros and cons. The only con was the color, and that was not too much of a con at all. The pros: late model, F1, GTS, 9800 miles, Major done (including 4 new tires) 152 miles ago and it's a pristine car. The pros won, by far!

On Thursday I did a 3 hour inspection of the car. I checked all the details possible from the Ferrari 101 check list and my own list. The seller is the second owner - he bought it from Scottsdale Ferrari in 2000 and it's really been a garage queen. (Flame suit on: I can hear all the comments how I will need to "sort" the car).

The car has been serviced by Algar since 2000 and I am now the third owner, purchased with 9870 miles + 90 to get it home. I spoke with Algar regarding a PPI and since they knew the car well and had serviced it recently, we all agreed it was not necessary.

Since the other deal had fallen thru, I was reluctant to post until this one was totally done - which happened today - the car is in my garage right now!

The 90 mile ride home was awesome and the car shifts perfectly! When I test drove the car on Thursday, I was not shifting right - too low of PRM's and not in sport mode. The car is smooth as silk!

It only needs a few things: The passenger air bag cover needs to be recovered. The stickys were done by Sticky-no-more via Algar, so that's all good. One LED segment in the F1 display is blown (maybe I'll replace that part) and the car needs a good detail and a buff to remove the small micro swirl scratches. I plan to do all the work myself.

Summary:

1998 F1 GTS, Nero / Beige, 98xx miles - pristine, major service done 152 miles ago, tools, covers included and I paid exactly what I expected to pay all along - a fair price.

Pics to come later - I'm off to the garage to admire and play

 

Here are a couple photos:

I had to take advantage of a 60 degree day in WNY today (rare in mid January), so I drove thru a couple of puddles (could not avoid them). So pardon any slop.

When I looked thru the paperwork I found the window sticker (awesome, coz the seller did not think he had it). Found the original sales slip too and the car sold for full list at $146k....

The interior has a more orange glow than how the photo looks.
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Interior
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Shields, yes

Grill, no (only like the contrast on non-black bodies)

 

Thanks. To be honest, seeing the photos of your car by the water was what pushed me over to Nero!

 

I got luckey with the weather again today so I washed the car and threw the cover in the washing machine too. Here are a few more photos:
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