sletti
New member
Miles in month = 1,000
Insurance cost = £ 465 ( annual 5,000 limit )
Running costs = 0.75 litres of oil ( call it a fiver )
I hate buying “previously enjoyed” cars.
There is always that period at the beginning of your relationship when neither of you are quite sure if you can entirely trust each other or not. Ferrari launched the F355 four years after myself and a friend took the plunge of quitting our regular jobs and starting up our own business. I remember the F355 was my desktop wallpaper for probably seven or eight years ..... I never tired of its gorgeous lines over all that time. 360, 430 and now 458 have since superseded it but none of them have had the same pull of that 355 resident on my computer screen for so long during my “formative” years.
It was the “credit crunch” and the ( negative ) effect it had on business followed more recently by a firming up of the order book and a return to “normality” that prompted me to decide that life was too unpredictable and it was therefore time to treat myself with something more exciting than a bank statement. It had to be a 355. A 360 or a 430 could both equally have been targets but I knew that I had to fulfil the 355 dream ..... to overlook the car I had desired for so long would never have felt right; a box un-ticked if you like.
I guess I looked at about a dozen cars in total, but the one I landed on was a 1997 Rosso Crema manual with 45k miles from Kent High Performance Cars ( KHPC ) a.k.a. The Ferrari Centre ( TFC ). My first visit to KHPC saw me completely miss the showroom turning on the left instead ending up outside the service garages. This was a good thing as I spent an hour talking to Alistair about all things Ferrari and 355 and gained a great appreciation and confidence in the company that I would later place my business with.
Deal done I picked the car up at the end of September the day after my wedding anniversary. I combined the collection with a night out in London with the missus followed by a train to Maidstone the following morning.
My wife had been completely uninterested about the car, she knew how badly I wanted one but couldn’t begin to understand why ...... then she saw it. Her spontaneous burst of full blown hysterics wasn’t entirely the desired reaction, but at least it was a reaction, albeit one I hoped not too many friends / family would copy.
The drive back home to Suffolk was fabulous. My wife was asleep before we reached the M25 which I guess says something about my driving as well as being a big thumbs up for the comfort of the car when you opt for a sensible relaxed cruising state of mind.
Back home parked up on the driveway I was shocked at how spectacular the car looked. I guess you get so used to seeing them in the showroom sat amongst many other Ferrari’s that the visual impact is dimmed. Sat on the stone drive bordered by trees the car was simply drop dead beautiful.
All of my amateur research led to the conclusion that a good condition, well documented but regularly used 355 was the best bet ( the minimum my car has covered per 12 month period since its birth is 2,000 miles with a maximum of 6,000 ).
Well, so far this appears to be the case. In my first month of ownership ( October ) I notched up just over 1,000 miles without any drama ( of the unwanted variety ) whatsoever. Only small niggle was the appearance of a “fluttering” speedometer needle on random occasions. A quick call to Alistair diagnosed a dodgy road speed sensor which, no question, was covered by the warranty. A pleasant drive down to KHPC saw a new sensor fitted and the niggle resolved.
It was on the journey back from KHPC that the car and myself were forced to endure the most testing conditions in the form of an 8 mile 90 minute walking pace queue leading into the Dartford tunnels. I watched the gauges like a hawk but am delighted to report that they all stayed dead solid at the “12 o’clock” position ........ my eventual arrival at and drive through the tunnel banished that 90 minute period to history as the car sounded awesome bordering on painfully loud !
I am still finding it very difficult to leave the car in the garage whenever the forecast is favourable. However, I am sure the gritters will be out on the road shortly and that will be my signal to tuck the car away for the worst of winter.
This “tucking away” will be a pampered affair! I have bought an air-chamber ( the plastic tent with framework and built in fans ) into which I have sited a de-humidifier on a permanent drain to the outside of the chamber. The de-humidifier runs 24/7 switching on and off via the humidistat. I have set the fans on the chamber to come on for 15 minutes every 6 hours ( ie 4 times per 24 hours ) just to move some air around inside the chamber and give the de-humidifier something to do so as to warm the chamber up a bit. This setup collects about a pint of water per 24 hour period.
In summary, after one month of ownership and 1,000 miles I am loving the car. It is certainly quick and exciting enough for the public road whilst also comfortable, reliable and reasonably practical for use as a “normal” car.
I will update at the end of my 2nd month.
Insurance cost = £ 465 ( annual 5,000 limit )
Running costs = 0.75 litres of oil ( call it a fiver )
I hate buying “previously enjoyed” cars.
There is always that period at the beginning of your relationship when neither of you are quite sure if you can entirely trust each other or not. Ferrari launched the F355 four years after myself and a friend took the plunge of quitting our regular jobs and starting up our own business. I remember the F355 was my desktop wallpaper for probably seven or eight years ..... I never tired of its gorgeous lines over all that time. 360, 430 and now 458 have since superseded it but none of them have had the same pull of that 355 resident on my computer screen for so long during my “formative” years.
It was the “credit crunch” and the ( negative ) effect it had on business followed more recently by a firming up of the order book and a return to “normality” that prompted me to decide that life was too unpredictable and it was therefore time to treat myself with something more exciting than a bank statement. It had to be a 355. A 360 or a 430 could both equally have been targets but I knew that I had to fulfil the 355 dream ..... to overlook the car I had desired for so long would never have felt right; a box un-ticked if you like.
I guess I looked at about a dozen cars in total, but the one I landed on was a 1997 Rosso Crema manual with 45k miles from Kent High Performance Cars ( KHPC ) a.k.a. The Ferrari Centre ( TFC ). My first visit to KHPC saw me completely miss the showroom turning on the left instead ending up outside the service garages. This was a good thing as I spent an hour talking to Alistair about all things Ferrari and 355 and gained a great appreciation and confidence in the company that I would later place my business with.
Deal done I picked the car up at the end of September the day after my wedding anniversary. I combined the collection with a night out in London with the missus followed by a train to Maidstone the following morning.
My wife had been completely uninterested about the car, she knew how badly I wanted one but couldn’t begin to understand why ...... then she saw it. Her spontaneous burst of full blown hysterics wasn’t entirely the desired reaction, but at least it was a reaction, albeit one I hoped not too many friends / family would copy.
The drive back home to Suffolk was fabulous. My wife was asleep before we reached the M25 which I guess says something about my driving as well as being a big thumbs up for the comfort of the car when you opt for a sensible relaxed cruising state of mind.
Back home parked up on the driveway I was shocked at how spectacular the car looked. I guess you get so used to seeing them in the showroom sat amongst many other Ferrari’s that the visual impact is dimmed. Sat on the stone drive bordered by trees the car was simply drop dead beautiful.
All of my amateur research led to the conclusion that a good condition, well documented but regularly used 355 was the best bet ( the minimum my car has covered per 12 month period since its birth is 2,000 miles with a maximum of 6,000 ).
Well, so far this appears to be the case. In my first month of ownership ( October ) I notched up just over 1,000 miles without any drama ( of the unwanted variety ) whatsoever. Only small niggle was the appearance of a “fluttering” speedometer needle on random occasions. A quick call to Alistair diagnosed a dodgy road speed sensor which, no question, was covered by the warranty. A pleasant drive down to KHPC saw a new sensor fitted and the niggle resolved.
It was on the journey back from KHPC that the car and myself were forced to endure the most testing conditions in the form of an 8 mile 90 minute walking pace queue leading into the Dartford tunnels. I watched the gauges like a hawk but am delighted to report that they all stayed dead solid at the “12 o’clock” position ........ my eventual arrival at and drive through the tunnel banished that 90 minute period to history as the car sounded awesome bordering on painfully loud !
I am still finding it very difficult to leave the car in the garage whenever the forecast is favourable. However, I am sure the gritters will be out on the road shortly and that will be my signal to tuck the car away for the worst of winter.
This “tucking away” will be a pampered affair! I have bought an air-chamber ( the plastic tent with framework and built in fans ) into which I have sited a de-humidifier on a permanent drain to the outside of the chamber. The de-humidifier runs 24/7 switching on and off via the humidistat. I have set the fans on the chamber to come on for 15 minutes every 6 hours ( ie 4 times per 24 hours ) just to move some air around inside the chamber and give the de-humidifier something to do so as to warm the chamber up a bit. This setup collects about a pint of water per 24 hour period.
In summary, after one month of ownership and 1,000 miles I am loving the car. It is certainly quick and exciting enough for the public road whilst also comfortable, reliable and reasonably practical for use as a “normal” car.
I will update at the end of my 2nd month.
