Tuesday 5th April 2016

Ferrari 360 Manual: Spotted

A secondhand Ferrari to drive, rather than put into a plastic bag in an airtight garage

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Desirability becomes a distilled essence at the top end of the supercar market, one that gives a disproportionate importance to relatively small changes and attaches values to match. Hence we live in a world where, as we reported in January, a low mileage Ferrari 360 Challenge Stradale can be advertised for £335,000, but where it's also possible to buy a fundamentally very similar 360 Modena for £53,000 without even negotiating.

Which is the car that brings us here, one that looks like a relative bargain by the increasingly surreal standards of used Ferrari prices. From a value point of view this Modena certainly isn't helped by its seller's admission that it's covered 63,000 miles and carries a corresponding dose of patina - in Ferrari terms that makes it the equivalent of a half million mile minicab. But for people who still live in the real world it's also proof the car has been both driven and enjoyed as its maker intended, with reassurance delivered by a comprehensive service history that includes a recent timing belt change.

But more interesting is the fact this Modena also has a manual gearbox, with the 360's open-gated change being one of the car's dynamic highlights, vastly more fun than the lurch-prone and clutch-eating F1 automated shift of the same period. As such, as its vendor suggests, it's likely to become more desirable as time goes on and nostalgia for stick-operated Ferraris grows.

Not that we're suggesting potential buyers should view the 360 as an investment beyond being a (relatively) affordable Ferrari, one that can probably be driven for many more thousands of miles without any appreciable loss in value as prices continue to climb. The 360 is far more everyday usable than most of its predecessors and, although time has deflated the shock-and-awe power and performance numbers, the 3.6-litre V8 is still one of the world's finest-sounding powerplants when pushed to its redline. This car has been fitted with an MS Racing exhaust, but the original system can be included if desired.

The 360's soap smooth lines didn't just help its aerodynamics of course, they also seemed to deflect much emotional connection to what was, at the time it was new, the most technically advanced road car Ferrari had ever built. While the Challenge Stradale is now acknowledged as one of Maranello's greats, the standard car is still commands no real price premium over the earlier 355 - while F430 values continue to head back upwards. But if you're looking for a Ferrari to drive rather than treat as an appreciating asset, this is an excellent candidate.

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FERRARI 360 MODENA
Engine: 3,586cc, V8
Transmission: six-speed manual, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 400@8,500rpm
Torque (lb ft): 275@4,750rpm
MPG: 14mpg
CO2: 440g/km
First registered: 2000
Recorded mileage: 63,000 miles
Price new: £101,243 (2000)
Price now: £53,000

See the original advert here

[Juber]

One of the best Ferrari's made. I prefer the 360 over the F430.

[anonymous-user]

Lovely.

I think they are aging nicely.

Can't help but feel it would be great to live in a world where we all went back to owning cars simply for the enjoyment as opposed to how much they are climbing in value....

[Limpet]

I bet that drives beautifully as well.

Give me a well used, scrupulously maintained car over a low mileage garage queen any day of the week. Cars are machines with moving parts. They are designed to be used, not looked at and (to paraphrase Cameron in Ferris Bueller's Day Off) "wiped occasionally with a diaper"

[Cactussed]

I've always liked these, feels a lot more modern than the 355. If more twitchy.
Its also a lot bigger and hence more practical (relatively speaking). And fairly well built also.

[Soov535]

Now THAT is how to write an advertisement.

[anonymous-user]

I'd buy it, and drive it.

Stradale prices and Ferrari prices in general really are ridiculous though.

[Krikkit]

Soov535 said:

Now THAT is how to write an advertisement.

Quite, sounds like a fantastically well cared-for example as well.

[kambites]

Lovely thing and looks curiously cheap compared to the others for sale. Does mileage really hit values that hard?

[patch5674]

That really is a very nice colour combo indeed, that midnight blue leather probably looks better with a bit of wear "(but no tear)"

[Darran-95030]

Looks a nice enough car but couldn't pay 53k for a car that was worth 35k a few years back.. It will come back around again. F40's have went from 150k to a million a few times back and forth from the late 80's.

[NDNDNDND]

Interesting that F430s are worth more. Is it simply that they are newer? I always considered the F360 a much prettier shape.

Ah, the gated shifter. *sheds a tear*

[stephen300o]

They get lots of abuse here for some reason, I find them to be a very attractive car, and one of the best sounding Ferraris ever made.

[tomtom]

Nice advert, nice car.

Shame they've got so expensive recently, that'd have been almost half that price a few years ago.

[Davey S2]

Darran-95030 said:

Looks a nice enough car but couldn't pay 53k for a car that was worth 35k a few years back.. It will come back around again.

I'm not convinced they will. £35K was arguably too cheap for a 'modern' Ferrari with that level of performance. They seem to have found their realistic value and I can only see them rising in future as the manual cars become more sought after.

I agree about the mileage. 60K odd is nothing if it has been well maintained.

[steveb8189]

Lovely car and great advert. Not sure I could cope with the 0.1 mpg though - 1.5 miles between fill ups!

[dlockhart]

The 360 is perhaps the most underrated - the 355 and 430 are both rated much higher. was there some talk about the rear end going light in the press meaning 355 owners didn't upgrade?

[Cactussed]

348,355 and 360 are all very different to drive, so its not quite a case of just upgrading to a newer car.

[MikeGalos]

The thing to remember with "out of fashion" Ferraris is that the maintenance costs aren't any cheaper than on one that's more in fashion.

So while this may be a 53K V8 Ferrari the cost to maintain it are not what you'd expect on a 53K car regardless of brand, they're what you'd expect on a V8 Ferrari regardless of purchase price.

[PistonBroker]

My preference has always been for the 355 - simply going by looks as I haven't been lucky enough to drive any Ferrari - but it strikes me that they're appreciating in value and the 360s seem to provide better value.

Would have to be manual for me, not red, and I couldn't spend that amount of money and not use it as intended so this one seems perfect.

[Axionknight]

gimme