Ferrari 348: Where are they?
Discussion
bqf said:
I have a 1992 LHD 348 TB, with a Nouvalari exhaust and some interior mods.
I bought it almost a year ago, and haven't driven it much. It's got a rock solid service history, loads of invoices and is in A1 condition.
You can prise it out of my cold dead hands if you like, or i'll sell it for £30 Million.
Its one of the best and last proper Ferraris. No driver aids, no gimmicks, no nothing, except the best on-road connection of any car I've had.
HTH
Hmmm........ It does have ABS which is technically a drivers aid! I bought it almost a year ago, and haven't driven it much. It's got a rock solid service history, loads of invoices and is in A1 condition.
You can prise it out of my cold dead hands if you like, or i'll sell it for £30 Million.
Its one of the best and last proper Ferraris. No driver aids, no gimmicks, no nothing, except the best on-road connection of any car I've had.
HTH
(How well it actually works is another matter!)
LHD/RHD -who cares.....theyre amazing machines. Genuine classics, and i'm very pleased the world hasnt cottoned on.....
When we are all driving electric cars in 20 years these machines will be like gold.....
So connected, so analogue, so like a car 2.0........if you don't have one, buy one now
When we are all driving electric cars in 20 years these machines will be like gold.....
So connected, so analogue, so like a car 2.0........if you don't have one, buy one now
As a lucky owner of a 1987 328 GTS I completely agree with bqf that the 348 is a true Ferrari classic and it is great that they are now admired and becoming sought after. If I had the garage space and could find the right car, I would be very tempted. All post 348 Ferrari's are great cars, but I prefer the 'analogue' unassisted cars and I am sure that bqf, like me, would give up driving before owning an electric car!
I am no 348 expert, but rarely drive my 328GTs with the roof on as the 'experience' changes significantly as the cabin is well insulated with the roof on. As far as numbers are concerned, according to the Maranello booklet there were 261 RHD TS cars officially imported, compared to 130 TB's and 68 Spiders. The later GTB's numbered 14 & 15 GTS's. As far as "popularity" goes, I am sure one of the 348 owners on PH will be far better placed to comment than me, I'd be happy with any of them!
It comes down to personal choice on which one suits you. You'll get the same thrill with any of them. TS is a popular compromise between the TB and spider, downside like most targas they are prone to leak albeit very minor(a slit drop or two by the mirrors) TB and TS are prone to the 'A' pillar cracking at join(355's are the same) easy job to fix . Spider is not prone to this, but be mindful of the roof being in a good condition or it'll cost serious money to resolve.
I only wanted a TS on looking and was fortunate with more choice than now. Think I'd have to have been more open minded today.
I only wanted a TS on looking and was fortunate with more choice than now. Think I'd have to have been more open minded today.
I have owned all three variations and preferred the tb for the driving experience but the ts is a great compromise.
I recently jumped into a Spider after many years and was shocked at how wobbly and structurally weak the car was, I never remember feeling that way when I owned one, but technology has moved on a great deal in recent years.
A 650S Spider feels rock solid with the roof off, I think I am spoiled by modern machinery and I know it's wrong to make comparisons between different generations but it's something we inevitably do.
I recently jumped into a Spider after many years and was shocked at how wobbly and structurally weak the car was, I never remember feeling that way when I owned one, but technology has moved on a great deal in recent years.
A 650S Spider feels rock solid with the roof off, I think I am spoiled by modern machinery and I know it's wrong to make comparisons between different generations but it's something we inevitably do.
I have a 1994 RHD 348 Spider (Rosso/Crema), which I've owned for 17 years. I've had an Esprit, 2 x 911s (a 993 and a 993 Cab), and part-interest in a very old Noble, so it's not completely without foundation when I say the 348 delivers pound-for-pound enjoyment like nothing else I've had. Stuff does go wrong, of course it does (mine's 26-years old), but it's not nearly as costly as some nay-sayers would have people believe.
Or maybe they just go straight to Maranello and bend over. I used them a couple of times knowing no better, but only until they sent me photos of my aircon unit during a routine service, saying it was "...leaking water into the electrics...", and would cost me <<insert your guess here, and then double it>>, but "...luckily [for me] they had one in stock..." (very lucky, considering at the time it was already 10-years old. My best mate's a mechanic and said he'd have a look, jacked it up, and then sent me 2 photos...the 1st was Maranello's picture of "my car", and the 2nd was the real photo as taken from the underside at my mate's garage. Totally different. I told Maranello I was going to send the photos to the media, unless they gave me the full service FoC. They said it was "an administration error", but agreed to do the service, as long as I promised not to publicise their mistake. I honoured that (until now). F*** 'em.
Anyway, I'm no car guru, and I unashamedly admit I dip into forums and blogs like these to benfit from the superbly helpful tips I get from people like those who've posted above. But I wanted to share an epiphany I've had today with mine, and stumbled in here.
The 348 gets what some sites have called 'gooey plastic'. It's an 80's rubberised laquer that they painted over plastic parts (steering column cover, quarter light area etc.), to give them a dull black/charcoal effect. No idea why, but it's a 'known problem'. I've been through so many car blogs and forums trying to fix it, spoken to my detailer, to 2 Ferrari specialists (not Maranallo), and no-one seemed to have the ideal answer. I've been slowly trying to do part by part with turps, U-Pol...just about anything, but it's soul-destroying.
Today I found the fix.
Soap.
I'm not joking gents (and ladies) - a big bucket, about 1L of water, a kitchen sponge with the slightly abrasive scourer...and a bar of Dove soap. FFS I feel like an idiot even saying that was what fixed it, but then again seemingly not many people knew before me.
So if any of you guys have that problem: get yourself some Dove in your life!
PS. for the steering column, it's 5 Phillips screws and some Marigolds - and whatever you do, don't touch anything when it all comes loose because you'll already know, that sh*t gets everywhere!
Or maybe they just go straight to Maranello and bend over. I used them a couple of times knowing no better, but only until they sent me photos of my aircon unit during a routine service, saying it was "...leaking water into the electrics...", and would cost me <<insert your guess here, and then double it>>, but "...luckily [for me] they had one in stock..." (very lucky, considering at the time it was already 10-years old. My best mate's a mechanic and said he'd have a look, jacked it up, and then sent me 2 photos...the 1st was Maranello's picture of "my car", and the 2nd was the real photo as taken from the underside at my mate's garage. Totally different. I told Maranello I was going to send the photos to the media, unless they gave me the full service FoC. They said it was "an administration error", but agreed to do the service, as long as I promised not to publicise their mistake. I honoured that (until now). F*** 'em.
Anyway, I'm no car guru, and I unashamedly admit I dip into forums and blogs like these to benfit from the superbly helpful tips I get from people like those who've posted above. But I wanted to share an epiphany I've had today with mine, and stumbled in here.
The 348 gets what some sites have called 'gooey plastic'. It's an 80's rubberised laquer that they painted over plastic parts (steering column cover, quarter light area etc.), to give them a dull black/charcoal effect. No idea why, but it's a 'known problem'. I've been through so many car blogs and forums trying to fix it, spoken to my detailer, to 2 Ferrari specialists (not Maranallo), and no-one seemed to have the ideal answer. I've been slowly trying to do part by part with turps, U-Pol...just about anything, but it's soul-destroying.
Today I found the fix.
Soap.
I'm not joking gents (and ladies) - a big bucket, about 1L of water, a kitchen sponge with the slightly abrasive scourer...and a bar of Dove soap. FFS I feel like an idiot even saying that was what fixed it, but then again seemingly not many people knew before me.
So if any of you guys have that problem: get yourself some Dove in your life!
PS. for the steering column, it's 5 Phillips screws and some Marigolds - and whatever you do, don't touch anything when it all comes loose because you'll already know, that sh*t gets everywhere!
Edited by bunnyboileravoider on Sunday 24th May 10:55
Interesting! I dealt with mine (355) over the winter and ended up using brake/clutch cleaner to remove it and the resprayed everything. I got someone to match the colour. However I’m amazed that soap and water have any effect on the goo; it took time, patience and elbow grease with the cleaner, and that stuff was pretty potent!
Virosol off ebay and a nail brush will remove it.
I've done all the plastics on my 348 and repainted with Halfords black plastic bumper paint and it looks great even after a few years use :-)
https://www.clubscuderia.co.uk/forum/showthread.ph...
Gratuitous pic :-)
I've done all the plastics on my 348 and repainted with Halfords black plastic bumper paint and it looks great even after a few years use :-)
https://www.clubscuderia.co.uk/forum/showthread.ph...
Gratuitous pic :-)
Seems a bargain at £39500. If it were red I might have been tempted.
https://themarket.co.uk/listings/ferrari/348-ts/fe...
https://themarket.co.uk/listings/ferrari/348-ts/fe...
Newky Brown said:
Seems a bargain at £39500. If it were red I might have been tempted.
https://themarket.co.uk/listings/ferrari/348-ts/fe...
A good car, accurately described. (I owned it a few years ago)https://themarket.co.uk/listings/ferrari/348-ts/fe...
I think the price it achieved is about right, taking into account the colour and the current market.
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