1995 Ferrari F355 Spider

This Ferrari F355 Spider is one of 2,664 examples equipped with the highly desirable 6-speed manual gearbox (semi-auto F1 transmission was an option from 1997).

It was registered in November 1995 and supplied to its first owner by the Mortimer Houghton Turner dealership. This official Ferrari dealer has long since become part of the Dick Lovett Group but Bob Houghton established a much-admired independent Ferrari specialist garage in the Cotswolds.

The F355’s latest keeper - its 7th - owned the car since early 2007, although it was kept off road for five years up to 2020.

Few colour combinations typify a marque more than “Rosso Corsa over Crema” does on a Ferrari. The racing red paint is in a good but not perfect condition across the car and the bodywork appears in good order.

There are a few blemishes including a paint crack or crease centrally on the nose, something similar to the driver’s side of the windscreen and also the offside rear wheel arch. There are further blemishes on the offside at the rear and a patch of milkiness on the lower corner of the windscreen, but unless you’re looking closely the overall effect is that the car’s paint and bodywork is good.

The folding black fabric hood is in good condition and operates as it should, with a creased but serviceable tan leather tonneau to cover it when lowered.

There is some debate over the legitimacy of the Scuderia shields on the front wings. It seems that there may have been contemporary dealer option shields that were supplied as stickers to attach to regular wing panels but also factory option shields from 1998 that were recessed into a specially stamped wing panel.

The shields on this car are not recessed but are enameled stickers, so they could either be dealer applied or later after-market items. A photograph found of the car taken in 2003 shows shields in place.

The car sits on its original 18-inch 5-spoke Speedline alloy wheels, which appear to have been repainted and are in a reasonably good condition with just the nearside rear scuffed on the rim. The front wheels are shod with Pirelli PZEROs and the rears have Dunlop SP Sports tyres.

The Crema interior is clean and undamaged but the leather seats are quite creased and carry the patina of use and probably some previous recoloring. The red carpets are intact throughout and further protected by black overmats.

The black dash and instrument panel looks tidy and in good order and the steering wheel rim is shiny but otherwise in a fair condition. A later JVC Radio CD has been fitted in the centre console.

Getting in and out of the car isn’t so straightforward as the driver’s door handle is very stiff and doesn’t return once pulled - perhaps a spring has gone - meaning that you have to push it back to latch the door closed.

The best thing about the Spider’s interior by far is the polished metal gear stick rising up out of the characteristic double-H open gate.

The hand brake doesn’t appear to be working and there is a quiet alarm that sounds constantly - it does have some form of immobiliser which may be the problem - but otherwise, as far as we’ve been able to test, everything functions as expected.

The gas struts on the front boot lid are a little weak and don’t hold it open very well, but inside the luggage space is lined in black and very clean, tidy and surprisingly spacious.

Underneath the car, pretty much everything is covered by protective undertrays creating an aerodynamic flat floor and simple rear diffuser. There are some striations and scratches on the trays - especially up front - but we can only assume that they’ve done their job of protecting the underbody.

As at the front, the struts on the rear engine cover aren’t strong enough to hold the lid up either, but again inside the large engine bay is very clean and apparently in good order.

As ever we welcome and encourage potential bidders to inspect the car in person at The Market HQ near Abingdon, Oxfordshire. Use the ‘Contact Seller’ feature to arrange a visit.

The car’s last MoT expired just last week but a year ago it passed without advisories. The online MoT history shows that between 2015 and 2020, the car was on a SORN. The car’s documents file includes paper copies of most of the MoTs which, along with the service history below, validate the current mileage of around 16,300 as genuine.

The car also comes with its service book which includes 8 stamps for maintenance as follows:

Nov 1995 - PDI - Mortimer Houghton Turner

Mar 1998 - 745 - Mortimer Houghton Turner

May 1998 - 823 - Maranello Egham (inc belts)

May 2000 - 3382 - Maranello Egham

May 2002 - 4522 - Maranello Egham (inc belts)

Jul 2004 - 7428 - Maranello Egham

Oct 2005 - 11627 - Kent High Performance (inc belts)

Feb 2009 - 14475 - Hollingworth Kidderminster (inc belts)

Plus other maintenance on invoice:

Jan 2011 - 14725 - SGM Performance Engineering - AC regas and diagnostics

The car has a Cat D insurance loss marker against it from around 2005, when we understand that the car was stolen but later recovered.

Please note also that the car’s official registration number has been changed to N671MFH, although the photographs show its most recent plate (former registrations include G17ULD and LTD355F for those who like to dig!).

The Ferrari F355 never really went through the it’s-just-an-old-Ferrari stage, which means that they’ve typically been well looked after mechanically, keeping up to date with servicing and timing belt changes through main dealers or independent specialists.

This Spider is just such an example which, although aesthetically not quite perfect, has a full service history for the low mileage and seems to run and drive pretty well - with just a slight squeak from the near side rear wheel.

With asking prices for F355s having bottomed out several years ago, we’ve seen a rise followed by a steadying over the past few years and a more recent uptick, so we expect this F355 Spider to fetch between £75,000 and £90,000.

Those that understand how minor a Cat D notice typically is won’t be put off from bidding on what is one of Ferrari’s greatest road cars, coming in archetypal colours with a drop top and the most-desirable stick shift.

Viewing is always encouraged, and this particular car is located with us at The Market HQ near Abingdon; we are open Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm, to arrange an appointment please use the ‘Contact Seller’ button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.