355 Thought experiment for obtaining Unobtanium 355.

Hypothetical. I’m genuinely curious what Fchatters think is the most ideal route.

There are probably only 3 Ferrari F355’s in the world spec’d in manual, equipped with Fiorano Handling Pack (FHP), Carbon Seats, and Roll Bar from the factory. This car is unobtanium from a practical standpoint, but you REALLY want to put one together. Even if it’s a Frankenstein because there’s really no other way.




You find a typical Rosso Corsa/Nero F1 355 with 25k miles spec’d with carbon seats, roll bar, and FHP from the factory. The price is $150k.

You also find a standard manual Rosso Corsa/Nero F355. Also 25k miles. The price is $150k.

You also find a high mileaged standard manual Rosso Corsa/Nero for $100k.

You also find a wrecked (from the front) manual Rosso Corsa/Nero 355 for $50k.


What route would you take to frankenstein this unobtanium spec 355?

* The conversion must look like it came exactly from the factory … as in no expert can tell it was frankensteined together unless they checked VIN at the factory.



1. Purchase both non-wrecked F1 and manual 355’s. Swap carbon seats, FHP, and roll bar into manual F355. Stock suspension, brakes, steering rack etc, standard seats go into the F1 car. F1 car is sold on the market as a standard F1 355 for a hefty discount. Perhaps $60-80k range.



2. Purchase both F1 355 and high-mileage manual 355. Perform a transmission swap. Manual goes into F1 car and vice versa. Exterior badges swapped. Subframes swapped. Interior carpet swapped. Whatever it takes to remove all signs/hints the car was ever an F1 car. Sell former manual 355 (now F1 car) for $40-50k ???


3. Purchase F1 355 and wrecked manual 355 donor. Swap all signs of manual conversion into F1 car. Transmission, badges, interior carpeting, subframe etc. quality of parts are somewhat questionable since car has been rotting in a junkyard. Bin the wrecked 355 when you’re done with it.




Thoughts?

 

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“I would just swap this car to gated and then drive it to work.”


Sounds like you are for option #3?

 

“Money that you can never recover.”


As long as the parts market is willing to pay for these parts, I would have to disagree with this statement. If the market isn’t willing to pay higher for a car with the parts, you simply remove the parts from the car and sell them. There’s your money recovery.

 

I knew that was coming .


Weren’t you hunting for a manual Serie Fiorano at one point ?

 

https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/1999-ferrari-355-fiorano-factory-gated-manual-only.652930/

 

Good point. Only thing I’d changed a lil is I’d consider keeping my stock seats if they were in very good condition.

Original steering rack, sway bars, sway bar bushings, springs, brake pads, brake rotors, forks, and suspension ECU aren’t all that valuable used, so I’d have no qualms just swapping those into the F1 car.

 

Which one is more difficult labor/technical wise?

1. Swapping seats, roll bar, suspension, rotors/pads, suspension ecu, steering pump/racks.

or…

2. Transmission conversion. Changing subframe, badges, ecus, gauges etc??

I recall someone saying “sport” mode suspension light lights up on an F1 car, but does not on a manual or something along those lines. Little differences here and there between F1 and manual I am not sure I’m fully aware of.

 

Regardless of price, at one point, you felt the manual Serie Fiorano was the one to have over the F1 Serie Fiorano no?

 

Just to be clear. You’re ok with stripping the car, but converting the car to manual is a no-go.