What's new
By:
Advanced search…
Club Scuderia

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

  • Please take a minute to read this thread about our recent server issues and forum platform Switch

Ferrari F355 Berlinetta Manual

P

Pipes1984

New member
Hi all

I'm currently looking for a F355 Berlinetta manual, I'm new to Ferraris and this would be my first one, could any one recommend a good dealer/specialist to help me track down the right car? I have been in touch with Nick cartwright and they were extremely helpful, unfortunately they have no stock at the moment and suggested viewing as many cars as possible, also explained good cars are hard to come by these days.
Any info/help would be much appreciated, I have a budget of around one hundred thousand.

Many thanks

Mike
 
welcome and good luck with your search.

sounds advise from cartwright.

chat to main dealers as well as independants. i think roger at kent high performance has some at tne moment. the more you talk to the better; likley what you are after will be sold off market.

do post up on here when you see something. people may know the car and also the dealer if sold that way, like everything some are great, some are to be avoided!!!
 
Pipes1984 said:
Hi all

I'm currently looking for a F355 Berlinetta manual, I'm new to Ferraris and this would be my first one, could any one recommend a good dealer/specialist to help me track down the right car? I have been in touch with Nick cartwright and they were extremely helpful, unfortunately they have no stock at the moment and suggested viewing as many cars as possible, also explained good cars are hard to come by these days.
Any info/help would be much appreciated, I have a budget of around one hundred thousand.

Many thanks

Mike
Click to expand...

Carrs of Exeter had a 355 in their showroom a week or so ago. £105K I believe. Not sure if it was GTS or Berlinetta but probably worth a look either way.
 
Ian355 said:
Carrs of Exeter had a 355 in their showroom a week or so ago. £105K I believe. Not sure if it was GTS or Berlinetta but probably worth a look either way.
Click to expand...

Correction. It seems to be up for a shade under £110k but still worth a chat to them
 
Pipes1984 said:
I think that car has the F1 gearbox, I have my heart set on a manual.
Click to expand...

Didn’t get a close look when I was there so could well be. Whatever the car is I can recommend Carrs for some advice and servicing. They were very helpful when I was buying my 355 even though it was going to be from elsewhere.
As with most (or all?) Ferrari main dealers they discount the servicing costs for the older cars so they are worth considering when you do find your car.
I agree with tom on the gearbox, warm a little and second gear selection is fine, alternatively just miss 2nd for the first change.
I’ve been told it’s trapped oil restricting the selector shaft movement so the oil escapes easier when warm.
I’ve had my 355 ( manual of course) for 20 years and it still gives me a buzz.
Good luck.
 
Ian355 said:
I agree with tom on the gearbox, warm a little and second gear selection is fine, alternatively just miss 2nd for the first change.
IÂ’ve been told itÂ’s trapped oil restricting the selector shaft movement so the oil escapes easier when warm.
Click to expand...

There's a trick we do with 348s. Essentially when you start out (ie only when first moving off) you leave by either shifting to reverse through 1st or 1st through reverse depending on which way you are leaving. So if you are going to reverse out of the garage you depress the clutch then shift into 1st and straight into reverse before lifting off the clutch, all one movement. No idea why it works but my car had to shift from 1st to 3rd until warm when I got her, not had to do that for 11 years now and all gears including 2nd are absolutely fine right from cold. Do it from habit each time I drive now.

Not saying to do it with a 355 as I'm not familiar with the shift mechanism, just know it works with my 348.
 
Last edited:
Ian355 said:
Didn’t get a close look when I was there so could well be. Whatever the car is I can recommend Carrs for some advice and servicing. They were very helpful when I was buying my 355 even though it was going to be from elsewhere.
As with most (or all?) Ferrari main dealers they discount the servicing costs for the older cars so they are worth considering when you do find your car.
I agree with tom on the gearbox, warm a little and second gear selection is fine, alternatively just miss 2nd for the first change.
I’ve been told it’s trapped oil restricting the selector shaft movement so the oil escapes easier when warm.
I’ve had my 355 ( manual of course) for 20 years and it still gives me a buzz.
Good luck.
Click to expand...

Thank you I will definitely do that 👌
 
Nosevi said:
There's a trick we do with 348s. Essentially when you start out (ie only when first moving off) you leave by either shifting to reverse through 1st or 1st through reverse depending on which way you are leaving. So if you are going to reverse out of the garage you depress the clutch then shift into 1st and straight into reverse before lifting off the clutch, all one movement. No idea why it works but my car had to shift from 1st to 3rd until warm when I got her, not had to do that for 11 years now and all gears including 2nd are absolutely fine right from cold. Do it from habit each time I drive now.

Not saying to do it with a 355 as I'm not familiar with the shift mechanism, just know it works with my 348.
Click to expand...

There is a dog leg between 1st and reverse on the 355 so it won’t be so quick a change as yours but would be interesting to see if it makes any difference and also what is the theory behind it.
Thanks for sharing.
 
Ian355 said:
There is a dog leg between 1st and reverse on the 355 so it won’t be so quick a change as yours but would be interesting to see if it makes any difference and also what is the theory behind it.
Thanks for sharing.
Click to expand...

Think I first read about it here: http://www.my348.com/348.html#ShiftTrick But I've seen it in several other places and lots of guys who have had 348s for a while do it, one of those things just passed from owner to owner within the community. Pretty sure it doesn't "reset the transmission" as described in that link but it does seem to work well if you do it each time you drive. Perhaps it somehow releases the trapped oil that you've been told is the cause in your earlier post?

Again, if 355 owners want to give it a bash it'd be interesting to hear if it works for them too but I'm not encouraging anyone to do it - I have no idea if there's some reason due to the layout of a 355 gear box which means it's not a good idea.
 
Nosevi said:
Think I first read about it here: http://www.my348.com/348.html#ShiftTrick But I've seen it in several other places and lots of guys who have had 348s for a while do it, one of those things just passed from owner to owner within the community. Pretty sure it doesn't "reset the transmission" as described in that link but it does seem to work well if you do it each time you drive. Perhaps it somehow releases the trapped oil that you've been told is the cause in your earlier post?

Again, if 355 owners want to give it a bash it'd be interesting to hear if it works for them too but I'm not encouraging anyone to do it - I have no idea if there's some reason due to the layout of a 355 gear box which means it's not a good idea.
Click to expand...
We all know that the cable gear change on the 348 was changed to rods for the 355. Are the gearboxes themselves identical?
 
OP when I bought my 355 in 2009 from Cartwrights they had no stock then either but I advised a spec I’d like and within 6 weeks they came up with the ideal car and a deal was done without even seeing it.

I realise the market will have changed significantly but that process worked well for me and I’m still delighted with it.
 
runnyg said:
OP when I bought my 355 in 2009 from Cartwrights they had no stock then either but I advised a spec I’d like and within 6 weeks they came up with the ideal car and a deal was done without even seeing it.

I realise the market will have changed significantly but that process worked well for me and I’m still delighted with it.
Click to expand...

That’s great to hear, I’m happy to wait for the right car and I’d really like to buy from cartwrights, they sold a stunning example last year.
Wish I’d made my discussion to buy one sooner 😭😭.
I will keep you all posted if/when the right car arrives thank you everyone you’ve been very helpful.
 
Hi Mike, as an option, have you seen the 355 manual car on the Ferrari Owners Club classifieds? May be an option and cheaper than the autotrader one! ( not connected in any way, saw it while browsing their site) Terry
 
Advice needed please

I viewed a late 355 Berlinetta manual with 13k on the clock at Bob houghtons yesterday, the car had the factory Fiorano handling pack upgrade, also had a factory challenge grill fitted.
It has had 4 owners and looked a very honest car, it also comes with a very unique number plate valued at 15 thousand.
The car is up for a whopping 140 thousand, it is certainly not immaculate,it has stone Chips on the bonnet and a lot on the front bumper, it’s also had the buttresses repaired at some point and not a great standard one is even starting to bubble slightly, the interior is very good, it’s Nero black which isn’t everyone’s choice but I quite like it.
There’s a few sections of dash just starting the sag ie passenger air bag and some sticky panels have been touched up not very well, but on the whole looks nice inside.
The history is good but not perfect, I think it missed the first two services due to zero miles being covered but had its first major at three years and has basically been looked after buy Bob since, although it did miss the covid year which is to be expected.
Am I expecting to much for the 140k asking price, but for that money I imagined all the smaller details to be sorted, I understand the handling pack is rare but is it rare enough to warrant that cost.
Any advice would be very much appreciated I certainly don’t want to rush the wrong decision here it’s a lot of money.
Regards

Mike
 
Top