HISTORY

The first Ferrari 360 Modena coupe models arrived in the UK in April 1999. Initial press reaction was favourable if not ecstatic, several reviewers caught on the hop by the F355′s premature demise and not entirely comfy with the Modena’s slightly awkward styling. What brooked no criticism, however, was the engine. With 400bhp on tap from a 3.6-litre V8, the power was 25bhp up on the F355, even if the automobile had put on 40kg of extra weight. Available either as a conventional manual or with the ‘F1′ style paddle gearchange, the 360 Modena continued the latter day tradition of entry-level Ferraris becoming a showcase for innovative engineering solutions, not least in its aerodynamics and integral use of aluminium structures.

The Ferrari 360 Spider convertible model’s launch was delayed until October 2000 due to engineering issues concerning the car’s soft leading. With a similar window on the mid-mounted engine as the coupe, the Spider’s desirability was boosted by the closer proximity to the V8′s manic aural accompaniment. Again, the Spider was offered with manual or F1 gearboxes, with only around 35% of buyers opting for the paddle change. Perform a downchange with Ferrari’s F1 gearbox as you brake challenging into a corner and you will wonder why.

The range was added to in Summer 2003 with the arrival of the 360 Challenge Stradale coupe. Effectively a road legal version of the Ferrari 360 Challenge race car (Stradale means road compatible in Ferrari-speak) and weighing in at a hefty £133,025, the Challenge Stradale is a lightened, toughened, lower and quicker version of the 360 Modena aimed at both gentleman racers and nicely-heeled trackday fiends.

WHAT YOU GET

Practicality has made the Ferrari 360 fantastic. This may well appear a perverse sentiment, pertaining as it does to a two seat, mid-engined 400bhp exotic, but Ferrari surely learned lessons from the overblown eighties cars that still lingered in the range when President Luca di Montezemolo took over the reins at Maranello. Describing the Athena-poster 512 TR as “a show off” and the 348 as “one of the worst Ferrari’s I’ve ever driven”, di Montezemolo envisioned a future where Ferraris were possessed genuine utility a la Porsche 911.

If the firm could engineer in such utility without diluting capability, the car’s mileages would rise, the cars would act as mobile Ferrari advertisements, dealers would undertake more servicing company and both new and utilized sales would blossom. Walking a tightrope between exclusivity and revenue, di Montezemolo may just have pulled it off. Certainly the Ferrari 360 is the sort of auto that offers much more than a passing nod towards practicality. The early promotional videos showed Eddie Irvine casually tossing a bag of golf clubs into 1, and Ferrari were at pains to demonstrate the wider opening doors and narrower sills. Driver and passenger airbags and a swooping, soft dash get rid of a small of the stark, supercar drama of years gone by, but the smell of hot oil and the impatient whine of that glazed-in V8 that permeates the cabin lets you know that the boys in the engine department have adopted the practicality drive with something less than function-to-rule willingness.

WHAT YOU PAY

Official proper hand drive prices for the Ferrari 360 Modena start off at around £60,000 for a 1999 T-registered manual cars with a 2000 X-plater reaching £66,000. Even though the F1 gearchange retails at around £7,000 extra when new, the relative unpopularity of this system has created manual cars more saleable. An equivalent 2000X Modena F1 will retail at around £69,000, demand for the car as a whole meaning that manual buyers will often opt for a decent F1 auto if the colour, condition and specification is correct. Modenas and Spiders from 2002 onwards are still commanding a premium over the new list price, regardless of Ferrari’s almost paranoid attempts to deter speculators. Those are just the laws of supply and demand at work…

WHAT TO LOOK FOR

The clutch mechanisms in the F1 models have been known to give up the ghost within five,000 miles of challenging use. If the automobile is left in full ‘automatic’ mode, where the transmission changes gear for you, clutch life is reduced drastically if exposed to city driving. Low speed manoeuvring is always slightly jerky in this mode, but if you detect clutch slip, that will require function. Service intervals really should be rigidly adhered to so check the history to make certain that function has been carried out punctually. Each and every 3 years, regardless of mileage covered, the 360 will want its cam belt replaced. This is an engine out job and so watch out for cars approaching this massive cash milestone.

The only other notable fault that the 360 suffered from is an occasionally leaky cam cover. Make sure the cover is clean prior to any test drive and inspect afterwards for signs of oil. The engine gets covered in grime soon after a thousand miles or so, your glazed-in masterpiece resembling something that is been in a loft given that the seventies, so make positive everything is as clean as a whistle and amenable to inspection. Given that most of the 360s on sale at present will have covered much less than 10,000 miles, place emphasis on attempting to gauge how challenging the car’s been utilised. Look for evidence of scoring of the brake discs and stone chipping and inspect the bodywork carefully. Many of the exterior panels are load bearing, which may assist in the quest for reduced weight, but can also make a minor indiscretion a crushingly high-priced encounter.

REPLACEMENT PARTS

(approx based on a 2000 360 Modena coupe) Ferrari spares are not affordable, but nor are they the horrendous expense that a lot of would think. A pair of front brake pads for the 360 retail at just under £200, with rear pads costing a similar quantity. A new clutch assembly is around £340. Anticipate to pay around £340 for a new alternator whilst a starter motor retails at around £260. Massive figures begin to appear if you require a new headlamp (£1170 – colour coded) or an exhaust method (£2900 such as catalysts but excluding manifolds).

ON THE ROAD

Given that the admittedly delightful F355 was a thorough reworking of the unloved 348, the fact that the 360 was new from the ground up gave trigger for optimism. Whereas the F355 was nervous as you approached the limits of it is handling, feeling as if it was about to dance on tiptoes backwards off the stage, the 360 feels resolute and planted. The hysterical renting wail of the engine encourages manic progress, tempered only by the notion that destroying a 360 Modena in a moment of misplaced machismo is somehow about as bad as it gets.

With 400 prancing horses six inches from your left ear it can be taken as read that the 360′s performance box is unquestioningly ticked. Reaching sixty mph in 4.5 seconds on the way to 186mph are the purely academic benchmarks which those who’ll never drive the vehicle may well judge it by, but the encounter of exploding a 360 by way of a series of tight curves, fingers flapping at the F1 paddles like a Torinese traffic policeman, the engine barking and screaming, the anti-lock brakes performing a staccato dance under your left foot is what makes the 360 such a memorable drive.

Switching the ASR traction control to Sport setting firms up the dampers and makes it possible for you a devilish margin of slip and slide prior to order is restored, the stiffness of the chassis and implacability of the suspension setting occasionally giving a degree of buck and skip over rough surfaces. For generally scabrous British roads, the Sport setting may possibly well remain redundant, finest being employed for the times you’ll treat the 360 to a track outing.

OVERALL

This is actually rather straightforward. If you have £100,000 to spend on a sports auto and you uncover the Porsche 911 turbo anaesthetic, the Lamborghini Diablo affected and the Aston Martin DB7 Vantage overstuffed, you know what to do. For the rest of us, it is comforting to know that only mere details of cash flow stand between us and the most charismatic sports vehicle in the world.

Ferrari Motor Sports