French registration papers

- The ultimate model in the 348 range
- Very good overall condition
- More than 7000 € spent recently on maintenance

The replacement for the 328, the Ferrari 348 was the first car to come out of Maranello after the death of the Commendatore Enzo Ferrari. Presented at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 1989, it continued Ferrari’s tradition of two-seat V8-engined sports cars. The ‘348’ model name came from its engine capacity (of 3.4 litres), while the ‘8’ referred to the number of cylinders powering it. Equipped as ever with 4 valves per cylinder, the V8 engine now developed 300 bhp. A few changes were made to it, including the fitment of Bosch fuel injection and a new cylinder head. Another new feature was the 5-speed manual gearbox, transversely mounted behind the engine. This configuration made it possible to reduce the rear overhang and lower the centre of gravity. It delivered excellent performance but required a real understanding of the car’s handling when driven to the limit. Available first as a coupé and targa, the range was later extended with a genuine convertible model in 1993. The Spider appeared at the Geneva Motor Show and became the ultimate model in the line-up, with various improvements including an increase in power to 320 bhp. It would be succeeded by the F355 in 1994.

The Ferrari 348 Spider which we are offering for sale was delivered new on 2 July 1993 by the Mellin Sportwagen dealership in Berlin. Its first owner, an Italian, took care to have the first 1000 km service carried out in Italy, barely three weeks after buying the car. As its original service booklet confirms, the 348 Spider then spent ten or so years in Sweden, where it was looked after the official importer for Ferrari & Maserati in Malmö. Purchased in 2015 by its current owner, the car is now registered in France, after he obtained its certificate of conformity from Maranello. The car is in particularly good condition for a Ferrari from the 1990s and still has its toolkit and Schedoni leather wallet containing the original manuals. The paintwork in the original shade of Nero Ferrari is quite magnificent and there is no trace of corrosion. Inside the car, the fabric hood and carpets have been well preserved and the Connolly leather upholstery shows only slight signs of wear on the driver’s seat. From a mechanical point of view, our road test proved entirely satisfactory. The idle is stable, the revs then build evenly and powerfully. The car’s good overall running order is also due to the specialist P3 Automobiles in Cannes, which carried out a full service on the car at the end of 2016. The bill came to a total of nearly 7400 €, with work including the replacement of the timing kit, the alternator and air-conditioning belts, the thermostat and four Pirelli P0 tyres; the air-conditioning was also recharged. The inspection report delivered shortly afterwards by BME Expertises assessed it as being in good overall condition, with a replacement value of 95,000 €. With scarcely 32,000 miles (51,000 km) recorded, buying the ultimate Ferrari in the 348 range today seems like a reasonable purchase for what should be a safe bet in the market in the future.