which will be more desireable long term? 355 or 360

I would say a good, well sorted 355 Berlinetta. Having owned both, two 355's I actually had one major problem with the 360, while I only had a few minor ones with the 355's, and I cannot say tyre issues were Ferrari's fault. Once those were sorted out, they were perfect. I still regret selling my last 355 today. The most beautiful shape of the two. Downsides, crummy interior quality compared to 360, less space for anyone over 6ft, ran very hot in traffic sometimes and that is about it. If I see a Rosso 355 for a decent price I will snap it up and personally that would be all I need out of a sports car. At this point in my life, I would rather invest money in real estate rather than have something newer and more expensive that would only provide marginally more thrills. Funny how you sometimes change for something you think is better and realise what you had before was worth keeping. The same rule applies to women too...

 

360

 

355. Last of the old style ferrari's that everyone instantly recognizes and admires. 206, 246, 308, 328, 348, 355 the end. I look at it a bit like the Porsche 993 which was the last of the air cooled models and is still and will always be highly sought after.

No doubt technically the 360 is a superior car especially the CS but Ferrari went a different direction with the design and I cant see it maintaining its appeal the way a 355 should in 20 years.

 

Moved to the appropriate sub-forum.

 

360. A better car in every respect: looks, power, ergonomics, reliability, you name it.

Gary

 

They only keep getting better IMO. It could boil down to which car is cheaper to maintain down the road. The electronics could prove very costly for repair especially for the 360.

 

I vote for the 360

 

Not sure i agree with you about 'looks' there .....IMO of course.

 

360 was a step beyond; All aluminum, F40 speed, and a radically beautiful body.
355 was the end of the steel body era. Performance was amazing and a huge jump from the 348.
In the end I vote 360.

 

355. It's body is timeless

 

I have never owned either or plan to own either, so my opinion is unbiased.
I have watched the reactions of young people to these cars, and the 360 is the one they really drool over. Add to that the expensive maintenance and other problems for the 355, and I think the 360, with it's advanced design and manufacturing, will always be much more desirable despite their higher numbers.

Dave

 

These cars appealed to two different crowds. The 355 could be had with a Targa top (GTS) and a manual gearbox. These will be collectible with the 'older-school' crowd, and if I had the cash this is the car I would search for. There's more performance available from the 355 than even today's 'good' drivers can master.

The 360, being all-aluminum, will probably have less bodywork issues if you plan to keep the car into other decades, but with more onboard electronics than previous models this could still be a maintenance nightmare. I don't care how much you like the drivetrain - electronics do NOT age well. The less circuit boards a car has, the better it will run over the long-haul.

F1 transmissions are for people who never learned to drive a manual (or track monsters). Thanks to F1, you have people who never bothered to figure out a clutch pedal as Ferrari customers. There's good and bad in that, I suppose...

 

The 355 in twenty years on looks alone. Sure the 360 is better in every way you measure a car, but I believe the 355 will become an icon.

I saw a 49 MGTC last year while on a golf outing and although I know they were horrible cars relative to the MGA, it brought a smile to my face. Another icon

 

The 355 on looks but I recognize that the 360 is technically a better car.

 

The 355 is a mess mechanically, electrically but the look is awesum forever. The F355 Spider is like the 1965 mustang convertible - Ford has tried over the years to capture that magic and has developed mechanically superior cars and even the new Mustang is bloated in appearance by comparison. The 360 is like the later versions of the Mustang - bloated with styling that isn't stunning.

If you get a F355 Spider with a Tubi - get prepared to spend $25-30K minimum to fix all its problems in a terminating fashion, but when you do, you will have the best looking, best sounding Ferrari that was ever built.

 

REM:
only 2048 build as 355 GTS 6-speed; let's say 80 % will survive worldwide. Try to find a good 355 targa in 10 years!

cinque

 

355 forever. Spider version will be an instant classic.
Blue/Beige is the best!

 

If I'm not mistaken, about 20% of 360 production was 6-spd cars, so they are out there if you want one. And that would be my choice, also.

Gary

 

i have owned both a 355 spider and 360 spider, both with tubis, and i can tell you that the 360 spider with a tubi sound much better than even the 355 with tubi....the ergonomics of the 355 stick, you sit sideways, the pedals are too close for anyone with larger than size 10 shoes and the lack of torque in the lower rpm ranges is glaring...when i first drove the 360, is was like day and night,with quicker reving, better torque down low, better steering feel, better brakes ,better handling, much better ergonomics, a much nicer and larger interior etc.....i loved the styling of each in its own way...

 

i forgot to mention the 360 also had a better clutch and shorter throws on the 6speed tranny...

 

I don't own either and never will, so no bias here either...

I think the people who want a 'classic' driver Ferrari are going to snap up the 206/246/308/328.

I love the looks of the 355, but the aluminum body, more robust timing chain replacing the infamous rubber belts, and widespread availability of the 360 will probably make it more desireable in the long term.

Neither car is rare. Both have lots of electronics that will fail. However the 355 is associated with some very costly fixes, and as the price settles those costs are going to hurt it in the same way the 348 and TR have settled down to 328 price levels. People shopping in the $45K-$50K range just aren't going to stomach $8K repair bills the way those of you writing checks for F430's can.

Wish I felt otherwise, because I'm a huge fan of the F355 design. It's the last Ferrari that looked Italian and exotic, IMO.

 

The 360 still has belts, no chains until the F430. At least the 360 belt change is not engine-out, unlike the 355 and earlier.

Gary

 

They'll all fall to the same $50k-$55k range that historically seems to be the bottom for the V8 cars.

Hard to see them going below that level, and even that will take years to get to as the 355 is proving. Only just now are '95 355Bs going below $65k for a well-serviced car with medium miles (15-25k).

 

'95 355 berlinetta for me please.