1996 Ferrari

In its original Rosso Corsa paint with the much-coveted Black and Red Carbon race seats, this highly collectible, low mileage manual F355 Berlinetta also comes with incredibly rare factory order Gold wheels offered to match the Scuderia’s F1 cars of the period.

- 3 owners from new (the last for over 20 years)

- 19,987 miles

- Rosso Corsa (original paint)

- Carbon seats (Nero/Red)

- Red carpets

- Black calipers

- Factory fit gold wheels (as per the F1 team at the time)

The F355 Berlinetta is one of those cars that makes you realise how handcrafted excitement felt before computers got involved. Drop into the cabin of this 1996 manual example — the one fitted with rare carbon race seats and factory-order gold wheels — and everything is immediately analogue and un-sanitised in the best possible way. The steering wheel is small, the pedals are close, and the gated 6-speed shifter sits where you can’t help but use it. It’s not a car that wants you to be passive.

Under the rear lid is a high-strung, naturally aspirated 3.5-litre V8 that rewards you for revving. There’s no lazy torque band; you have to work it, and when you do the engine sings — a rasp that builds into a howl as the tacho climbs. That sound is the emotional currency here: the more you lean into it, the richer the pay-off. The gearbox is tactile, mechanical and utterly satisfying when you catch the gates right. Heel-and-toe is not a technique in this car, it’s a joy.

The chassis balance on an F355 is startling. It’s nimble, with a tautness that makes direction changes addictive. The car pivots with a precision but doesn’t punish.

If you want analogue engagement — the smell of warm brakes, the bite of a mechanical gearbox, the intimacy of a car that tells you everything that’s happening — it’s intoxicating. This particular spec, with carbon seats and gold wheels, feels like an F355 that’s been optimised for the purest use: hard, honest, and improbably alive. It’s not polite. It’s not efficient. It is brilliant.