Words: Nathan Chadwick
Photography: Broad Arrow Auctions
As far as bon mots go, none come more damning than a freshly appointed CEO machine gunning a car in front of his new staff. Yet if we wind back to the start of Luca Cordero di Montezemolo’s second time at Ferrari in 1991, that’s precisely what happened.
In an interview with Motor Sport magazine, the man himself recalled being introduced to the firm’s model line up by his new staff. “I’m at the first meeting as CEO. [They say] OK, we have the Testarossa, we have the 348 – very good car, very innovative, eight cylinders…” and I said ‘Please stop. This is a s*** car, so don’t tell this to me, I am a client. I know what this car is like.”
The car that followed, the F355, would go on to become a lauded supercar superhero, which alongside the 456 and 550, put Ferrari back on the map after the difficult era after Enzo’s passing. The Honda NSX proved that you could have exoticism and usability, while the 348 was deemed to be ‘ugly’, ‘undrivable’ and ‘worthless’.
Today, copy-and-paste internet articles still repeat the age-old opinions, and esteemed journalists who were there at the time line up to pile in the punches.
There’s a few problems with all this, of course – the 348 is arguably the last properly old-school supercar Ferrari made for a mainstream audience, offering raw thrills that the F355 can’t quite match.
Now, I appreciate that many might see this heretical. After all, the F355 was a bedroom poster king for an entire generation. However, with the Hagerty Valuation tool putting a concours 348 tb at £59,600, and a merely ‘good’ F355 at £62,700, is the near-£30,000 delta to a Concours F355 justified from behind the wheel?
True, the 348 has a few problems. Most were ordered in Rosso, which when paired with the black plastic bumpers and trim of the early cars makes for a visual clash that’s just plain awkward. However, darker colours, and painting these black areas (as Ferrari itself did with the gen-2 348s), does much to alleviate that problem.
It’s also a car that neatly blends the Fioravanti wedge profile with the Testarossa styling language, and today its short, sharp, angular look fits into a current vogue for such brutalist machinery – cars such as the Alfa SZ, Lancia Delta Integrale, BMW M3 E30 and Mercedes-Benz W124 and 190E. As such it’s a fascinating blend of 80s futurism and 70s wedge, and with a smaller footprint than today’s Ferraris, less intimidating to poke down the average British B-road.
Well, from a size point of view. The 348 has a reputation for being snappy on the limit; compared to the NSX, it is a much more difficult car to drive.
Now, that might be a worthwhile criticism when the car was new and more likely to be pressed into daily service. The F355 is far better at that role – not only is it a lot more forgiving, there’s much more space around the knees, the gearchange is much, much smoother, and it has power steering.
It is that power steering setup that really detracts from the F355. It was one of Ferrari’s first efforts on a mid-engined car and it’s not the best – which is only brought into stark contrast when you drive a 348 straight afterwards. The 348’s steering might be heavier, but you feel so much more involved – it might not be the last word in chassis precision, by golly it’s thrilling. You feel every millimetre of the road; you feel like you’re driving a proper supercar.
This was always the downside to the Honda NSX. Other than the wonderful R and Type-R models, the standard NSX lacks the raw thrills of a supercar. Don’t get me wrong, the NSX is a wonderful car – beautifully engineered and pretty, and the engine is a naturally aspirated gem, but it doesn’t quite deliver the gut punch of adrenaline you get from the 348. And for those early morning blasts at the weekend, isn’t that what you want a supercar for?
If you actually look back at contemporary road tests, journalists loved the 348. One particularly famous, rather tall journalist-turned-farming gentleman even took his test car for a picnic in Performance Car, such was his love for it. Yet within just a few years he, and others, joined in with the chorus of hate and angst towards that same car. Ah, what short memories.
There’s no denying that the F355 is the better car. Better built, easier to look after and styled in a way that’s more acceptable to most tastes, it is completely understandable why it is so loved. However, is it the better supercar? The 348 is awkward, cramped and uncompromising, but it is also raw and thrilling in a way supercars are supposed to be. And who wants to daily drive their supercar to the supermarket? Isn’t the whole supercar experience about shock and awe, and being just a little bit frightened?
Perhaps it’s time to think again about the 348 – the last hardcore mainstream mid-engined Ferrari? This Ferrari 348 was up for grabs with Broad Arrow Auctions at its Amelia sale. More details here.
Do you own a Ferrari 348 with an interesting story? We would love to hear from you at hdc@hagerty.com