2005 Ferrari 360 Spider

With just one former keeper and in the care of the second since 2007, this wonderful Blu Tour de France Ferrari 360 Spider is still showing just 23,483 miles on the odometer despite a romp down to Le Mans five years ago.

And, despite that miniscule mileage, it’s had nine services including four changes of camshaft timing belt. It had a full respray five years ago too, plus refurbished brake calipers and alloy wheels, and a set of new Pirelli P-Zero tyres at the same time.

The owner is often away with work, and it sat pretty much unused between 2018 and 2023. Now being sold on his behalf by a friend who’s in the trade, this is your chance to get your hands on a well-fettled example that’s in need of nothing more than a little TLC.

It’s a helluva shape, isn’t it – and even more so when it’s finished in something other than red. Not that there’s anything wrong with the traditional colour but a subtler hue like Blu Tour de France (colour code 552) gives it a whole new look.

It’s in great shape, too but that’s what you get when you buy a car that’s had two careful owners and a recent high-quality respray.

Even so, the underlying panels are straight and true and beautifully aligned with swage lines leading seamlessly from front wing to rear wing by way of those huge doors. Even and consistent panel gaps further underline the point, while the paintwork is every bit as good as you’d expect.

The folding roof is a matching shade, and furls and unfurls as it should, rising and falling neatly at the touch of a button. It looks to have spent most of its life lowered, so there are creases although no damage.

The five-spoke alloy wheels, with yellow centre caps to match the brake calipers and the badges on the front wings, are in good health and they’re fitted with matching Pirelli P-Zero Directionale tyres in the correct sizes of 215/45ZR18 on the front and 275/40ZR18 on the rear.

While all have legal tread on them all were mentioned as being damaged during the last couple of MoTs due to age-related cracking, so you should budget to have them replaced even though they’ve covered only a thousand miles or so.

The nearside rear wheel also has a minor scrape to it (#25), one mirror has a stonechip (e.g. #142), and there is some peeling paint on the alloy bases of the door mirrors (#172 and #189) but there’s nothing else to worry about.

With light tan leather, carbon-fibre-backed sports seats, and that classic Ferrari open gate, the cockpit is every single one of your Ferrari fantasies made true – and that’s before we even mention its condition.

Because it, like the coachwork, is in a stunning condition with almost no visible wear to the seats at all; we spotted the very gentlest of creasing to the driver’s seat (#207) but nothing more.

The door cards, carpets and dashboard tell the same story and April of this year saw the elastics replaced in the front half of the headliner, so that’s all good, too.

The headunit has been replaced with a modern flip-front Pioneer unit. The original may come with the car, providing the owner can find it!

The boot contains two Ferrari leather cases, one of which contains the tool kit while the other would have contained the factory battery charger. It also plays host to the tyre inflator, a replacement battery charger/conditioner, an indoor car cover, and even a case to keep a spare litre of engine oil.

Flaws are few. The bonnet release cable needs adjusting as it’s hanging down, and a fastidious owner might like to vacuum the carpets but apart from that it needs nothing other than continued careful curation.

As you can see in the accompanying video, the 360 Spider starts beautifully, idles well, and revs like a dream with an exhaust note to die for.

It also shows good oil pressure and, of course, there are no warning lights illuminated on the dashboard.

The aluminium spaceframe chassis rules out the sort of rot and rust that was the end of many a classic Ferrari of course, but the underside is nonetheless very tidy and clean.

The engine bay is good too, although we do note some peeling to the red crackle finish (e.g. #13) and some rust to the catches (#72).

The front undertray and spoiler have taken a hit at some point as both are scraped (#264 and #268). It looks to be only cosmetic in nature but as the latter is visible at eye-level we can see the new owner will probably want to sort it out sooner rather than later.

The Ferrari’s MoT certificate is valid until January 2024 and the Spider comes with some old MoT certificates and invoices.

The recent Vehicle History Check is clear and it also comes with its book pack and two sets of keys.

Sadly, the service history booklet has been misplaced. The owner is looking for it and will forward it to the winning bidder if he finds it. However, there is a printout showing the car’s service history (#295) on file, so at least you know it’s been serviced and maintained properly.

The Ferrari’s service history is as follows:

• 24.04.2005 and 1,320 miles – service by Stratstone Wilmslow
• 19.01.2006 and 3,469 miles – service by Stratstone Wilmslow
• 01.02.2007 and 6,662 miles – service by Stratstone Wilmslow
• 25.07.2007 and 7,581 miles – service including cambelts by (unknown)
• 19.02.2009 and 14,380 miles – service by Graypaul Nottingham
• 03.06.2011 and circa 17,000 miles - service including cambelts and tensioners by Supercar Clinic
• 07.08.2014 and 20,382 miles – service by (unknown)
• 07.06.2017 and 21,353 miles – service including cambelts by Supercar Clinic
• 27.01.2023 and 23,285 miles – service including cambelts and tensioners plus auxiliary belts by AutoExpert, Lytham

It might be a well-worn cliché that every petrolhead should own a Ferrari at some point in their life but clichés become so for a reason and this delightfully specified, manual Ferrari 360 Spider would make an ideal introduction to the marque.

As a modern classic and probably the first Ferrari to embrace technology to control things like the engine power curve, the F1 gearbox’s shift points, and even the ride, the 360 balances the analogue nature we all love in our classic cars with a level of reliability, performance, and safety that would have been unheard of even a decade before.

Which makes them a very attractive proposition for the discerning enthusiast who wants to experience an old school supercar but doesn’t want to compromise either their driving pleasure or the car’s everyday usability to get it.

Our guide price of somewhere between £60,000 and £70,000 reflects the need for some further cosmetic fettling and a new set of tyres, work that will, of course, add value with every step you take.

Viewing is always encouraged, and this particular car is located with us at The Market HQ near Abingdon; we are open weekdays 9am-5pm, to arrange an appointment please use the Contact Seller button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.