Exotic-car ownership, like anything super exclusive, becomes easier to reach by the everyday man over time. While this may put those once-unreachable goals within your comfort zone, it also makes supercars like this manual Ferrari 348 available to any negligent and tasteless owner with the cash to afford the sizable down payment. So the question is, is it worth saving?
This 1995 Ferrari 348 Spider was the entry-level car for the short-selling masses in its day. It was also the sort of car that Enzo Ferrari hated, as it was a necessary evil in order to keep his prestigious brand involved in motorsport. Nevertheless, it was quite a formidable drop-top, boasting around 300 horsepower from its 3.4 liter, high-revving V8 engine and delivering an exhaust note that put anyone with a lesser bank account rightly to shame.
However, 20 years have elapsed between this car’s construction and the present day, and throughout those depreciating decades, a few choice changes have been made by its multiple owners, with the result being a car that costs around the same as a moderately equipped, entry-level SUV or minivan.
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While this Ferrari won’t be a museum piece with its more than 38,000 miles, it’s a far cry from any sort of mileage you’d see on a 20-year old Bimmer, much less something more pedestrian.
According to the seller and the pictures of paperwork, the car was last serviced in 2012, meaning that it’s likely overdue for the engine-out service that will tack on another $5-8k on top of the purchase price. While this figure can be daunting, the seller is negotiable and prices for Ferrari convertibles with gated manuals have only increased over recent years, so any investment now could pay dividends.
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Now, with the questionable taste of the added speakers and gaudy chrome wheels, I’d be concerned about the quality of repairs and frequency of maintenance on a car this fragile and expensive. I’d advise to definitely get a pre-purchase inspection on the car, as parts and labor prices can add up quickly. They’re not exactly second-mortgage expensive, but they can be expensive enough to make you reconsider half-price appetizers at Applebee’s.
If the car checks out as reasonably faultless and you can find a set of original wheels for it, it’s not a bad way to get into an appreciating supercar with the transmission that will always be desirable by those with more money than brains.
Buy it and get paid to drive a Ferrari. I can think of nothing better.
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