The 348 may just be the cheap Ferrari two-seater of the moment. That makes our Nice Price or Crack Pipe Spider worth a look, if at least to see if it’s worth its asking.
When it was new, yesterday’s 1981 DeLorean DMC-12 possessed features that seemed out of some magical future—crisp Giugiaro styling, gull-wing doors, a ‘frunk,” all of which was clad in an amazing stainless steel body.
That promised future never really panned out. Giugiaro went on to sell designs to companies like Daewoo, Lambo doors became all the rage until they didn’t anymore, and stainless steel has once again been relegated in the automotive world to the B-pillars of the eponymously named Porsche 911 Targa.
I’ll bet the seller of that DeLorean would like to be living in an alternate reality where its fashion and features were more widely appreciated. That would have perhaps led to a different outcome in yesterday’s voting. As it was—in the real world—85 percent of you felt his $48,500 asking was Crack Pipe worthy. And that’s a stain that will be hard to remove.
Let’s talk a bit about the naming convention applied to today’s 1995 Ferrari 348 Spider. It’s really quite simple, the first two numbers indicate the engine’s displacement in litres, while the final digit denotes cylinder count. Shit, you don’t even need to do any maths.
This is a naming mechanism that Ferrari adopted in the late 1960s with the introduction of the Dino 206 (2 litres, 6 cylinders.) The prior convention of naming their cars after the displacement of a single cylinder—250, 365, etc—worked when all road Ferraris were armed with 12 cylinder engines, but throwing the eights in there mixed things up. That resulted in cars like the 308, 328, and, as represented here, the 348. The succeeding 355 messed things up again.
The 348 may share a naming convention with its immediate predecessors, but it doesn’t share a drivetrain layout. The 300-312 horsepower (depending upon year) DOHC V8 sits longitudinally aft of the cabin, while its five-speed transaxle fits transversely behind it. This layout was taken from the company’s 312-T F1 cars and required a four inch stretch in wheelbase over the prior transverse engined 328.
The newer car was also wider than its predecessor, owing to the radiators and oils coolers being moved from the lips to the hips. It’s not like Cizeta-Moroder V16T wide, but if it were a lady it could be considered an “easy birther.”
This particular Spider hails from the 348’s final model year and represents Ferrari’s first V8-powered full-convertible two seater. A total of 1,090 Spiders were built over the course of the open top model’s three-year run.
This one looks to be in running condition. At least it’s photographed in multiple locations so it likely moves under its own power. The seller is shy with the car’s details in the ad, revealing only that it is a one-owner car, and the fact that that one owner has put 33,000 miles on it.
The car is appropriately painted Rosso Corsa, set off with a black interior and fabric top. That interior looks to be in decent shape, with only some de-lamination of the door card coverings at the arm rests to mar the experience.
The body likewise seems perfectly serviceable, and its major rubber bits don’t seem to have gone south yet. The 348 was not one of Ferrari’s/Pininfarina’s better efforts, but these last model year cars hold up better than do the earlier black bottomed ones do.
They’re also unloved by Ferrari fanatics much in the way that Porsche patrons give the 996 the short shrift. That of course may work in a potential buyer’s favor should they just be looking to impress club conquests and reunion goers with a Prancing Horse keyfob tossed absentmindedly onto a bar.
As I noted, this car sports 33,000 miles. That’s way low for your average 22 year old car, but of course nothing about any Ferrari is average, and those kind of miles can be a lifetime and a half for one of the Italian marque’s rides. A major point for anyone considering this car is whether the major maintenance has been performed, and if so how recently. These cars require lots of work to be performed based on age, more-so than miles, and that work is oftentimes freaking expensive.
That’s kind of the elephant in the room here, isn’t it? Well, that and the spider webs on the wheel in the one pic. I wonder what the discount is for a Spider with actual spiders?
The price—ensconced spiders or not—is $49,900, or about a grand more than yesterday’s old-ass DeLorean. That may be a good bit of scratch, but does it feel like a fair price to join the exclusive club of Ferrari owners and maintainers?
What do you think, does this 348 Spider feel like it’s worth $49,900 based on its all-too-brief ad? Or, is this one Spider that’s just not fly enough to ask that much?
You decide!
Los Angeles, CA Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
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