‘Like the first Ferrari ever to be built, the 125 S, it is also in that great Ferrari tradition of the open sports car. The F355 Spider’s Pininfarina-penned lines were honed by 1,800 hours in the wind tunnel: the result successfully blended the elegance and aerodynamics of the F355 Berlinetta with open air driving.

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‘Since this is a Spider, you can put the top down and feel the breeze, plus hear that 3.5 liter V8 engine snarling behind you. No doubt that was one of the several reasons that impelled another legend who could perpetually feel the breeze of victory to purchase a F355 6-Speed, the masterful Lakers basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal.

‘Meanwhile, in the 1996 action film The Rock, an FBI agent commandeers a Ferrari F355 and pursues an escaped prisoner, who is driving a Humvee, through the streets of San Francisco.

In case you have dreams of taking part in a similar race, at Beverly Hills Car Club right now we have a highly desirable 1997 Ferrari F355 Spider 6-Speed that is available in its factory color of Giallo Modena with a black interior.

‘It was in 1994 that Ferrari unveiled the F355, a model that is considered one of the greatest production sports-cars of the 20th century. The F355 remained in production until 1999 and with 11,273 units manufactured it became the most successful Ferrari ever. The F355 was the first model to be produced under Ferrari’s then new leadership of Luca di Montezemelo: in November 1991, FIAT Chairman Gianni Agnelli appointed Montezemolo president of Ferrari, which had been struggling since Enzo Ferrari’s death.

‘In 1997 Ferrari offered the F1-style gearbox management system standard on all three models: Berlinetta, GTS and Spider. This is the provenance of the ‘F1’ nomenclature. It was the first ever road car to be equipped with an F1 gearbox.

‘Derived directly from Formula 1, where it made its debut in 1989 winning the Brazilian Grand Prix, the electro-hydraulic system was operated by paddles behind the steering wheel using the F355’s conventional 6-speed manual gearbox. The new transmission guaranteed lightning-quick gear changes, with the additional advantage that both the driver’s hands could stay on the wheel at all times.

‘Until then the F1-style gearbox was a technology seen only at the highest end of racing. And with this $10,000 upgrade you would think F1-optioned cars would be rare. But pretty fast the 355 F1 became popular: it is the 6-speed manual version – the one we have now at Beverly Hills Car Club – that is harder to find.

‘Another first in a Ferrari for the 355 Spider was the power top. With only one push of a button the windows were lowered, the seats were moved and the top was lowered. This system led the Spider to become a more popular model than its coupe cousin.

‘Spiders always held a very special and vital place in Enzo Ferrari’s heart and in that of the company itself. The inspiration behind every Ferrari Spider is a mix of a genuinely sporty engineering and the thrill of open-top driving.

‘The F355 Spider brought this spirit to a whole new level by melding the Berlinetta and the GTS’s acknowledged performance with its superbly efficient electronically-operated semi-automatic soft top.

‘As I said, the Ferrari 355 Spider 6: one of the truly great sports-cars ever built. An absolute beauty. And rare…

-Alex Manos, Owner