The Ferrari F355

As the successor to the Ferrari 348, the F355 was presented at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1994. The main focus during development was on improving performance in order to keep up with the new competitors from Japan, such as the Honda NSX. This was also consistently reflected in the design studies by the Pininfarina design studio in Turin, which created one of the most iconic sports cars of the 1990s with the design of the F355. Numerous innovations such as the electrically adjustable chassis, the F1 gearbox and the five-valve technology were incorporated into a Ferrari for the first time. Even today, the 3.5-liter eight-cylinder engine is still considered one of the best-sounding engines Ferrari has ever built.

Our Ferrari F355 Berlinetta

Ausgeliefert durch den florenzer Ferrari-Vertragshändler “Auto Sport Maranello S.R.L.” im September 1994, handelt es sich bei Chassis #100112 um ein sehr frühes Exemplar mit der begrehrten “Bosch 2.7 Motronic” Motorsteuerung, erkennbar an den getrennt geführten Lufteinsaugkästen mit zwei Luftmengenmessern, und Handschaltung. Diese Motorsteuerung wurde lediglich die ersten beiden Modelljahre verbaut und gilt als leistungsfähigere Variante, mit welcher die angebene Leistung von 381 PS erreicht oder teilweise sogar überschritten wurde. Ab dem Modelljahr 1997 kam die “Bosch 5.2 Motronic” zum Einsatz um den strengeren Abgasvorschriften zu genügen, was jedoch zu Lasten der Leistung ging – damit erreichen spätere F355 nicht mehr die ursprüngliche Leistungsdaten.

Although the introduction of the sequential F1 gearbox was an innovation, the gear changes are slow compared to today's dual-clutch gearboxes and rob the F355 of its pure character. In contrast, the 6-speed manual gearbox installed in our example with its characteristic shift gate still reveals analog driving pleasure paired with classic Ferrari character.

Until the beginning of the 1995 model year, the F355 was also delivered with the classic 3-spoke sports steering wheel, which is considered one of the most beautiful Ferrari steering wheels of the 90s, without an airbag. In combination with the classic factory combination of Rosso Corsa and Pelle Nero, chassis #100112 is the rarest variant of the F355 which can hardly be found in this condition.