This holiday season, be sure to treat yourself while taking care of your kids, spouse, and loved ones. May I present a possible candidate for under your tree? It’s red, which is seasonally appropriate, and while it isn’t one size fits all – well, who care? This 1997 Ferrari F355 GTS listed here on craigslist is considered by many to be a perfect “starter” Ferrari, the one to start your collection with. While $225,000 is a lot of coin for considering a dalliance with an exotic car, the market has continued to appreciate this special 90s-era Ferrari, and this one has under 40,000 original miles.
To me, this is one of the best looking Ferraris made in the modern era. The rear end evokes the best of the 1980s designs, while the front end – a gentle evolution from the 348 – screams 1990s. Pop-up headlights will always be associated with a certain era, and that’s not a bad thing, in my opinion. The car benefits from extensive maintenance and excellent cosmetics, with the seller detailing efforts made in both preserving its mechanical integrity and protecting the paint. The F355 benefits from a recent “major” service, paint correction, refinished wheels, fresh tires, and more.
Another reason for the high asking price is because this is a traditional, manual transmission Ferrari with the classic gated shifter. As Ferrari has moved on from the conventional manual transmission, values of its manual cars have gone up. Like the air-cooled Porsche 911, some features will forever preserve the values of certain cars, and the manual gearbox means more for Ferraris than most modern-era supercars. The transmission is connected to a mid-mounted 3.5-liter V8 pushing out just under 400 horsepower, and charging to an 8,500 RPM redline. Making it easier to hear all that fury is a removable targa top, unique to the GTS-trim models.
When it comes to mid-engine Ferraris, the challenge most of us mere mortals will find with owning one (besides the purchase price) is the fact that the engine has to be pulled for major services. When the seller refers to a “major” service in his description, this word is being used more like a noun than an adjective, as those services tend to involve timing belt changes and servicing anything else that’s not convenient to address with the engine still installed. All told, this F355 GTS checks all the boxes, from its coupe configuration to the gate shifter, and clearly an obsessive caretaker. Thanks to Barn Finds reader Rocco B. for the find.
Do Ferrari’s come with a 6-digit odometer? They could save some money by going to a 5-digit as none of their cars seem to come close to needing that 6th place.
A nearly 30-year old car with 35K?!
Not sure about the asking price but I always thought this design was one of the best looking of the road cars.
I completely agree.
I think Toyota also agreed.
The F355 is a great series, having power steering over the F348. That may seem laughable, but it’s a nice feature if a person is going to drive it in traffic, not just on the track. A good friend of mine bought a 1995 F355 GTS four years ago for 1/4 of this asking price with similar miles, in yellow, and also with a gated six-speed manual. He may have gotten in at the absolute rock bottom of the market, it’s hard to get any Ferrari for $50,000ish now. He does his own maintenance, figuring out that he could do a full belt service by dropping both gas tanks rather than removing the engine.
We took it out on a photo shoot a few years ago, it’s a fun car and a nice size, easy and fun to drive fast or slow.
That wouldn’t be Howard A.’s Ferrari, Scotty? I thought that he preferred automatics nowadays. Just pulling your legs boys. Merry Christmas 🎄 to all the staff and readers of BarnFinds!!!
Scotty what’s it like rowing through a gated shifter ?
Hey Stan, way back in the early 80’s, I volunteered to pick up my then boss’s 308 Ferrari from the detailing shop. I got to drive it around 5 miles back to the office. Gated shifter is very similar to any regular short throw shifter. After a few weeks, you probably wouldn’t even know it was there.
A 50k Ferrari will end up being a 150k Ferrari very quickly.
There’s only one gas tank on the 355.
It was 1981 and my mechanic in England suggested i exchanged my blue LHD X1-9 Fiat-Bertone for his RHD yellow Ferrari 308. I rejected his offer thinking of maintenance cost. Both cars were equally beautiful, with few updates the Fiat-Bertone went up from 85hp to 120hp about half of Ferrari’s 250hp but with no worry about maintenance costs, yet i still have a doubt for the decision!
For $225,000 you could buy a lot of “Jeff” or “Scotty”
cars,& probably have a lot more fun & money left over.
Lets ask $225k for our 355, where should we list it? I know lets put it on Craig’s List.
very well presented good luck should sell close to asking barry
Nope. No one is stupid enough to pay twice market …. Oh wait, never mind. I’m sure there’s someone out there who would pay 458 Italia money for a 355.