READER'S BLOG: Ferrari president was 'rash'

Andrew Gaal, a Ferrari Club Australia member and owner of a 348, contributed to the article and also brought to our attention that the 348 has been relegated to one of the Scuderia's 'also-rans' by none other than former Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo himself (scroll to the bottom to read Luca's considered opinion of the 348).

Here's where Andrew enters, to come to his car's defence...

Ferrari owners come in many shapes and sizes, and they view their cars in many different lights: the status symbol, the ego trip, the penile extension, the daily driver, the chick magnet, the tax dodge and – for the diehard, passion-driven fanatic – a living entity.

I guess I fall somewhat into the last category. I have been lucky enough after many years of Alfa Romeo ownership to finally get a Ferrari into my life and mark my words, I will go to my grave with a Ferrari parked in the garage.

For me the 348 is exhilarating to drive and a very misunderstood model. Thanks to ‘that’ rash, off-the-cuff comment by Luca Montezemolo, the 348 gained an undeserved reputation. People forget that, at its much celebrated launch, there was a two-year waiting list for the 348. However like all Ferrari models the accolades soon stopped and the spotlight turned away as soon as the next model, the F355, was released. Then it, the newer car, was the best, most beautiful ever, et cetera and so on...

At only 300bhp and a 0-100km/h time of around five seconds, it's not mind-blowingly fast. In fact, by modern standards it’s pretty average and a decent HSV Commodore would blow me away at the lights.

However, the thrill of driving this car at speed, taking it to the edge around corners through the winding hills of Belgrave and Lysterfield, the 348 is amazing. And it's further enhanced by the Tubi Style sports exhaust and test pipes (replacing the cats) that I have on my car.

Technology-wise it’s a simple car with no power steering, no adjustable suspension and no high-speed shift-paddle gear change. Just a raw, fast, nimble 300bhp sports car with a millimetre-precise rack and pinion steering system (one of the best in the world, I think), a lovely pedal feel and a comfortable driving position.

This simple car will give you the thrill of a life time if you are one who loves to ‘drive’ a car, where you command its performance through measured yet forceful delivery of your will – through the gear change, steering wheel and the pedals.

Abuse it, be rough in your delivery, and you will pay the price. It will snap out the rear and wrap you around a pole in the blink of an eye. However, with a simple flick of the wrist through that wonderful rack and pinion steering you can easily gather the rear into a nice controlled slide.

Sound familiar? Yep, a 300bhp go-kart... and that’s exactly what a 348 is. If ever there where a car that I could relate to as a wild stallion, needing to be trained as opposed to tamed, the 348 would be it.

Personally, I have always thought that if I ever upgraded I would go for the F430 and, perhaps surprisingly, I would look for the six-speed stick shift over the F1 style paddles. The extra power and modern technological advances go without saying, yet the stick shift would still give me that extra element of driver input, just a little bit of ‘old school’, that I so enjoy.

At the end of the day I get 99 per cent of my thrills on public roads not the track. I may only be able to go 100km/h but boy I have fun getting there in my 348 and I want that experience to continue in my next car.

As for the 355, the car that succeeded the 348, personally I think it is over rated and, much to the disgust of the F355 Ferraristi, I view it as merely an upgraded 348 with some of the bugs removed (and others added) and some extra technology added on.

I actually see the 360 as excellent value money nowadays and from a purely practical, analytical, point of view this should be the pick of the bunch. However, it’s a very plain livery for me personally and it has become somewhat forgotten with the F430 and then the amazing 458 pushing its value down to those comparable to my own 348.

What Montezemolo said
Back in 2011, Luca di Montezemolo was less than kind about the 348 in an interview with British newspaper, The Telegraph.

“One year before I came back to Ferrari,” he said at the time, “I bought a 348.”

To the Ferrari engineers praising the 348 Montezemolo said: "No, the 348 is not a Ferrari for me.”

Two years before that interview, Montezomolo's disdain for the 348 was already the stuff of news in online forums. He denounced the Testarossa and the Mondial also, and stated categorically that the Volkswagen Golf GTI could accelerate faster than the 348.

The background to the story, from all accounts, is that Montezemolo purchased his own 348 just before accepting the role of Ferrari president near the end of 1991.

Still a new model at the time, the 348 – with Montezemolo at the wheel – was dragged off by another driver in a Fiat Strada Abarth, basically a hot hatch.