2004 Ferrari 360 'Manual' Spider

Description

Introduced in 1999, Ferrari’s 360 Modena was an all-new design replacing the popular F355 and the latest in the long-running series of mid-engined V8 models that continues to the present day with the latest F8 Tributo series.  Built around a completely new all-aluminium chassis and Pininfarina styling that marked a break with tradition (doing away with pop-up headlamps and a traditional grille), the 360 was significantly lighter and more powerful than its predecessors, elevating the ‘junior’ Ferrari to genuine supercar performance levels.  The 3.6-litre Tipo F131 V8 employed a flat plane crank and titanium connecting rods to develop a power output of 395 horsepower and for the first time was offered with the optional ‘F1’ single-clutch electrohydraulic-actuated gearshift, although a traditional six-speed gated manual was still available.  A year after the 360 Modena went into production Ferrari unveiled a Spider variant at the Geneva Salon in 2000, with a reinforced chassis and safety roll bars integrated into the bodywork.  Weighing just 60 kgs more than the coupe, the 360 Spider’s engine was displayed under a glass cover and the soft-top was electrically operated.  With a top speed of 295 km/h and zero to 100 dispatched in just 4.5 seconds, the 360 is still an impressively quick – not to mention incredibly rewarding - car to drive today.  Commercially successful, the 360 Spider almost outsold the Modena (7,565 were made compared with 8,800 coupes) but relatively few (2,119) were sold with the traditional manual gearbox and even fewer of these (approximately 500) were in right-hand drive configuration – the vast majority of which went to the UK, making the car offered here a rare beast indeed.