1995 Ferrari F355 Competizione

355 competizione show car in 1995 was 101557
Museum car is 101557

At Ferrari they often fake liveries or even modify original liveries!
They did with 458 GT2 and again with a 458GT2 Le Mans winner!
They misleading with info & car spec signs on/next to the cars.

 

Thanks for clarifying that, Tom. It´s a shame that they do not put more detailing-love into the displayed cars at the Ferrari Museum, I was quite disappointed, not far off a tourist trap. I asked a staff member if he might open the door of the 355 for me to take some pictures of the interior - not possible. Told him about my car, the restoring process etc. but still a big NO. Thank you, sir, just travelled 600km for a 1 hour visit. The Bistro at the end of the tour is a joke. The cheapest plastic mugs and paper-plates for a piece of pizza. I didn´t mind the Pizza but FFS, this is FERRARI, can´t they afford proper plates for their customers? Enzo probably turned in his grave several times...

 

Unfortunately, the truth...

 

They have no clue there, but if you think its a joke, you have never been to Abu Dhabi Ferrari World!

 

Welcome to the Ferrari show!

 

+355.

The car is definitely the 355 Competizione and add the door card to the list as a dead giveaway. This is the only 355 Ive ever seen with cf door cards that are similar to the ones on the F40, CS, and Scuderia. Every other door card looks like ass, which is why I inquired earlier if anyone happens to know a product number. The mold has to be lying somewhere. Perhaps Michelotto... who knows?
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Robb's picture.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

I guess only Ferrari would know why they did it. We can only make assumptions. I would've left it alone as the only F355 Competizione in the world. Perhaps they were tired of folks asking them what a F355 Competizione was and where they could buy one.

 

I love the mousehair dash and the cf door cards on the competizione.

If you look at the graphics on the car in the museum, to make it look like the TH design, you'll notice it is far from an exact copy. The proportions on the graphics on the front of the car are off.

The original TH design is paint I believe.

Robb

 

To answer Heinz on why Ferrari would do this...

I think to most people (with less fanaticism) - would only see a red standard Ferrari.

The exhibit that the car was displayed in (when I visited) had an F40 LM, 250 swb, 750 monza, 166 MM Berlinetta Vignale, F333 SP, 512M, 512 S - so all of these with racing heritage. The competizione did not race... But it dressed up with a challenge livery did.

I don't think Ferrari has other 355 in their warehouse except the World Tour Rosso Barchetta and the Competizione. So this was the easy way out. They selected the TH livery because it was easy to apply on a red car and the brand is known worldwide.

I would have been happy to let them borrow our challenge car for the display but I understand the logistics.

Robb

 

Another giveaway are the vents in the rear deck lid. The first generation wing, which was mounted anteriorly, was removed and the holes patched and painted over. The Challenge wing is mounted in the proper position.

.
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

I never found a picture of the 355 competizione's front, but we do know it has fixed headlamps and most likely from Michelotto. You do see a glimpse of the fixed headlight in the drawing in the first post.

Apparently you can order some of this stuff as this yellow Spider has done. If you look closely, the headlights extend into the front panel. That must mean there is a front panel option?
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

....
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Wow! Good eye Barry

 

Thanks, Ken. I was at Classic Coach when they got the call from the museum asking them to help with the livery for the Competizione which they wanted to "disguise" as an F355 Challenge. I took pictures of the various decals on my friend's Tommy Hilfiger Challenge which were sent to Sign-A-Rama for conversion to decals. The museum used most of what I photographed. That was about two years ago. They wanted to portray a 1999 season F355 Challenge.

 

Yes, it's painted.

.
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Ahhhh. I was wondering what the Classic Coach Decal on the front windshield was all about. I guess you would know the right people who know the right people in Ferrari who could answer the question of "why" they did what they did to the Competizione.

 

I'm still trying to figure out why Ferrari ran the shift shaft through the oil and transmission sumps in the 308s and 328s. Another design wonder from Ferrari S.p.A!

 

Believe it or not, about a year ago, there was a reputable Ferrari parts shop in Japan that was selling "F355 Competizione" rear badges. No BS. They were going for about $600 a pop. I am not sure how many they had, but I was dumbfounded. It looked pretty legit too, so I highly doubt it was fake. It is no longer on the website. I should've bought one just for kicks.

?????????? T-WEST

They've gotten some pretty cool stuff I've seen for their clients... including the CF cluster thingy shown on the Competizione.
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Well. Looks like I spoke too soon. Found it.

T-WEST | ???? | ????? | F355 Competizione Motif
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Ferrari (based on the press articles) had intended to build a number of Competizione's so there could have been some parts available moving into their system. But at an MSRP over 200,000 maybe that failed to catch on.

It was a new type of transmission no one had really experienced yet and maybe not understood or desired compared to a manual vs the "Valero" or auto. It may not have been as perfected as the 355F1.

Buyers were faced with regular F355 Berlinetta at around 110k or a challenge around 150k

So I'm not sure the 50k+ premium over a challenge car gave people what they wanted using mostly challenge parts, or maybe Ferrari just had other priorities and it was not at the top of their priority list. And then time moved on...

Robb

 

Since asking this question originally, I did find a side view from a Uk owners magazine that appears to show the 95 show car on the stand as having standard pop up headlamps... cropped image attached.
The original drawing showed fixed lights.... but it also showed a standard rear wing, so the drawing is not fully representative of what was in Geneva on the stand.

Good detective work on the rear wing and the filled slots in the engine cover, that was the other thing that was throwing people off the scent. I'd assumed the engine cover had been swapped for a standard version with wing.
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Cool to see the new photo. Great investigators in the group.

Definitely a unique car. Would love to know if the F1 system in it is exact copy of F1 released later or if it is a bit cruder. The F1 in the car is what makes it revolutionary and valuable to me.

The 348 gt LM had the fixed headlights (I think done by Michelotto) so Ferrari could have added them to the competizione if they felt it important for their display car.

Robb