This must be not only one of the prettiest but also rarest of all the F355 Ferraris ever produced.  This is the only Ferrari 355 Spider known to have ever been produced in this color combination. It is one of one according to the Ferrari 355 Registry.  (Details below)  Something to consider given how Ferraris can be great investments as well as great driving machines.  (Classic cars have outperformed collectibles such as gold, wine, art, stamps and coins over the last 10 years.  The value of classic cars jumped 39% in 2013, according to the Historic Automobile Group Index (HAGI), which tracks the financial performance of 50 rare and exotic classic cars.)

 

This Ferrari has just 20k miles on the clock. 

 

Jeremy Clarkson - host of the world famous "Top Gear" television show recently cited the Ferrari 355 as one of the best sports cars of the last 50 years. 

 

Clarkson drove one for Top Gear and stated, “This is the nicest car I have ever, ever driven.” He went out and bought one and then said, months later “it can still electrocute every nerve ending in my body.” (You can watch this on Youtube.)  That’s high praise from one of the most recognized automotive journalists in the world.  What did he have to say about one of the finest sportscars Ferrari had ever made some fifteen years later? "It’s still the best car I’ve ever driven."

 

F1 champion Phil Hill, to this date the United States’ only American born F1 champ, named it as one of the 10 best Ferraris ever.

 

Richard Hammond, another famous automobile journalist, calls the F355 a “landmark car” in the history of Ferrari and a future classic, saying, “my God, the 355 is pretty. It shared almost every dimension with the 348, but the body was all-new and its sculpting had involved a rumored 1,800 hours of wind-tunnel testing. But there's little sense of form following function here; it's too pretty for that. If anything, the 355 has somehow got more attractive in the 19 years since it arrived.”  (Full article below.)

 

And this is one of the best.  Ferrari of Atlanta did a major service and fit new valve guides at 15k miles and then they replaced the belts in 2011 with just 17.5k miles and rebuilt the water pump as well. (Receipts included of course.)  A Challenge Grill is fitted with a factory painted Hyperion blue panel as well. New Fabspeed headers, high-flow cats and a Fabspeed Stainless muffler has been fitted as well, ensuring long-term durability and adding 15-20 horsepower according o the manufacturer. (The 355 has a known weak header and valve guide issue which this car has remedied.)  The Purchaser has option of the Fabspeed muffler or a Tubi muffler with the Tubi being the quieter of the two. 

The paint is in spectacular condition as is the interior.  Inside the leather remains supple, there are no sticky switches and none of the typical dash shrinkage issues. 

 

Included in the purchase price will be a fresh belt service.

A tastefully upgraded stereo is also featured.

 

This is the only Ferrari 355 Spider known to have ever been produced in this color combination. It is one of one according to the Ferrari 355 Registry. 

 

According to the registry it is:

 

1. The only Hyperion (sky blue) metallic 355 convertible with a blue interior. 

 

2. It is the only Hyperion blue Ferari 355 with a blue top.

 

3. It is the only Hyperion Ferrari convertible with the advanced (96-99) 5.2 Injection.

 

4. It is one of just two convertibles to feature this optional exterior color. (The other one is an earlier 1995 model with a black top and cream interior).

 

By comparison, more than 2,300 red 355s were produced (coupes and convertibles) as well hundreds of black and yellow ones. 

 

This car is stunning in person.  Its funny but it gets a different reaction from people than the identical car in red.  They are much more complimentary and friendly, as if the blue is inviting while the red deemed too flashy or showy and ostentatious perhaps? 

 

The paint on this Ferrari is nothing short of stunning. People think it is a new car because the paint looks that good. 

 

The car is fast with zero to sixty in the mid 4 second range and a top speed of 180 mph plus.  Stopping is handled by four piston Brembo brake calipers at every corner.

 

The power top works as it should

 

The 355 is an up and coming classic. Ferrari produced just 2,076 355 Spiders.  By comparison, Ferrari produced 7,565 360 Spiders.  In other words, for every one 355 Spider Ferrari produced nearly four 360 spiders as well as similar numbers for the 430 and the current 458. Ferrari even made more 550 Maranellos (3,600) than 355 Spiders.  Scarcity helps determine value. 

 

The 355 marks the end of an era when Ferraris were built largely by hand and in relatively small numbers.

 

The 355 also marks the end of an era as it was the last raw sports car Ferrari built.  Not only is it smaller than the current breed of vehicles (which have grown to Corvette proportions) but it features a true manual transmission with a direct shift linkage (the 430 uses less satisfying cables) and it is the last of the Ferraris to have an actual accelerator cable running from the gas pedal to the throttle bodies giving a real and direct feel.  The 360 onward uses drive by wire and the 458 can’t even be had with a manual transmission! Nor can any other Ferrari!  Hail the end of the famous Ferrari shift gate L

 

The talk about overpriced Ferrari 355 maintenance is really not founded. If you drive the cars they need little more than any other car  Timing belts can be replaced every 5-7 years if you start the car regularly.  (The big issue with the timing belts is not that they fail early…they are the same belts used by other manufacturers who go 60-80k miles on them.)  The problem is sitting for extended periods of time as this puts strain on just a few cam teeth, the ones that are in tension on the cam sprockets.  Move the belt regularly and your belts will last as long as an NSX, BMW, etc.  And unlike a regular car that depreciates, the 355 is only going to increase in value.  (See the Story below.)

 

The F355 are starting to move up in value now with two recent sales at the $70k range.  The unique exclusivity, low miles and exceptional condition make this Ferrari a worthy addition to any collection.  About ten years ago I sold my 330GT Ferrari for $26,000. Today it’s worth ten times that. Perhaps ten years from now I shall say the same of this rare 355.

The Legend Series (by Richard Hammond)

All the legend, the myth, the history and mystery in the world cannot distract from one single fact when it comes to Ferraris: they have to be pretty. Stat sheets can go on about power-to-weight ratios, structural stiffness, torsional rigidity and exotic materials all day long, but if the car looks like a moose, then it's a moose - an offence made all the worse if it's supposed to be a prancing horse.

The 348 that preceded the 355 was not an especially ugly car, but it also wasn't especially pretty. The slats down the side echoed the Testarossa - not a good thing - so it looked dated even when it was brand new. And it certainly wasn't a hit, performance-wise. In fact, much was made of the news that Honda launched the NSX at the same time, and it appeared to be, in every single way, better than the Ferrari.

The 355 was Ferrari's answer. Beauty and power came together and are still very much in evidence today. I'm not one for getting all gooey about Ferraris in general, but there is undeniably something that happens deep inside when you see that yellow badge on a V8 or a steering-wheel boss.

Ferrari: the name carries so much weight, even to those who, like me, have never had - nor wanted - a hat with the brand on it. And, my God, the 355 is pretty. It shared almost every dimension with the 348, but the body was all-new and its sculpting had involved a rumoured 1,800 hours of wind-tunnel testing. But there's little sense of form following function here; it's too pretty for that. If anything, the 355 has somehow got more attractive in the 19 years since it arrived.

Inside, I get a reminder that all Ferraris go through a phase when they are not classic - they're just old Fezzers. I'd say that the 355 is coming through that and entering the classic stage of its life. In true Ferrari form, the interior has dated well, but perhaps not aged so well. Scruffy leather and the patina of age works well in a classic luxury car - an old Bentley, say, or a Jag - but less so in a Ferrari. But the layout, the design and the feel of it all scream of their own time and, while not fooling anyone that they were drawn yesterday, still have something to say about their period in car design... almost the definition of a classic, in fact.

The mid-mounted 380bhp V8 revs to 8,250rpm and sounds satisfyingly guttural and raucous when it does so. It's a Ferrari, so while it has to be pretty, it can't afford to be slow either. And it's quick, it really is. The headlines, 0-62mph in 4.7 seconds and a top speed of 183mph, are both perfectly acceptable, thank you. The way it delivers those is what it's all about. The bark and fizz of the V8, the click-clack through that iconic, shiny H-gate - it's all there. It's a Ferrari and feels it.

The engine and suspension all received major updates to produce the 355, and the gearbox too, with a six-speed manual operated, of course, through that sculptural gear selector. It feels all those things a Ferrari needs to feel; it's a taut thoroughbred, and you get the sense too that, once you've overcome the inevitable nerves that can flutter at any encounter with any Ferrari, the thing is biddable and usable, with perhaps just a touch of fragility to keep things special.

There's a huge amount of love for the F355, with some claiming it pretty much saved the company from the doldrums in the early Nineties, others that it was the car that finally shifted the old-fashioned and faintly stuffy conviction amongst the Ferraristi that the only ‘proper' Ferraris were the V12s.

A landmark car, then, in the story of a legendary carmaker.