Automotive Icons: Ferrari F355
It all started off with Goldeneye
To me, the Ferrari F355 is one of the most iconic cars ever made. It was the first Ferrari which really caught my attention when I was younger thanks to it featuring In Goldeneye and that I saw a few on a regular basis in the town that I grew up in.
The F355 was probably one of the first ‘modern’ Ferrari’s too. By that, it was a substantially upgraded 348, of which it replaced. Having a better chassis, gearbox, and engine, the F355 was just so much better than the 348. It also looked better too. Retaining the same basic shape as the 348, it was refined with a mid 1990s design which hasn’t aged that badly since it was first revealed in 1994.
Sure, 24 years on, the F355 isn’t what you would call fast. An Audi RS3 can out-perform the F355 but that doesn’t matter. The F355 existed at a time in Ferrari’s history when it was producing some other amazing cars which includes the F512 M, 550 Maranello and the bat-shit crazy F50. Being an entry-level Ferrari, it also sold incredibly well. With just over 11,000 units made (Berlinetta, Spider and GTS), it was Ferrari’s best-selling model ever.
The F355 also came with a fairly significant gearbox option too. You had the choice of the traditional 6-speed manual gearbox or at the time, the game changing F1 style electrohydraulic manual gearbox. The F355 was the first road car to feature this gearbox technology which was trickled down from Ferrari’s F1 cars. Since the F355, this type of gearbox has been used in models such as the F430, 599 and the original Enzo based FXX.
Naturally, the F355 also game in a spicier Challenge flavour. In order to get a F355 Challenge, you Ferrari a bit more money to make your F355 ready for track use. In this package, you got many race-ready parts which included a rollcage, a lighter and louder exhaust, better Brembo brakes which were also used on the F40 and a massive rear wing.
As previously stated, the F355 isn’t fast by modern standards but at the time when it was new, it was pretty fast. According to official figures from Ferrari, the F355 was capable of doing 0-62mph in 4.7 seconds, the ¼ mile in 12.9 seconds and storm it’s way to 183mph. Power came from a 3.5 litre, naturally aspirated V8 which was capable of producing 375bhp. This was all wrapped in a car which weighed just under 1500kg.
For me, the F355 is by far one of my favourite Ferrari’s ever made. I’d happily have one over a 488 GTB just because it’s just so much cooler in my eyes. It’s got a timeless design, it’s still competent when it comes to performance figures and it has the all important pop-up headlights. The only thing which stops me from buying one, along with a Testarossa, is that I can’t afford one.
I aim to make this a weekly series from now, with a different car every Monday. This is also part of a more consistent flow of content from me and Second Gear. Hope you’ll stick around to see it happen!
#ferrari #ferrarif355 #f355 #classics #classiccars #icons #heroes #italia #automotiveicons #secondgear #smalltribes #smalltribe #feature #supercars
Join In
Comments (0)