This car, Lot 149, sold for $335,000, including buyer’s premium, at RM Sotheby’s Coral Gables, FL, sale, on February 27, 2026.
The Ford vs. Ferrari battle was won by Fiat when it acquired 50% of Ferrari in 1969. The partnership began to yield results when Enzo Ferrari was slowing down prior to his death in 1988. Fiat was inserting its people into key positions at the factory, who were laser-focused on production speed and cost; performance and quality took a back seat.
Ferrari’s model line in 1989 consisted of the 328, Testarossa and Mondial t. The 328 was a variation of a 13-year-old model. The Testarossa was only five years old, a shooting star but one that was now burning out. The underrated Mondial was never a factor and would soon be gone. A replacement for the 328 was needed, but can you replace a legend?
The 348 was the first Ferrari produced by the new Fiat regime, discarding the 328’s tube-frame chassis in favor of a monocoque with a subframe. This less-expensive construction technique was the standard of the production-car universe and was more flexible than the old style. The 348’s body and trim may have been intentionally designed to be light, but the opening panels just felt cheap. The interior material was similarly downgraded. In short, a great car was replaced with a substandard one.
A perfect storm
Meanwhile, back at the showroom, a disaster had hit. A run on classic Ferraris during the 1980s came to a screeching halt in 1990. Classic Ferraris became a falling knife, with few buyers trying to catch a deal on the way down. Ferrari 365 GTC/4s that were trading for $200k became $50k cars without a stop in between. Dinos, also in this price range, were doomed to the same fate. The 348 market was never healthy, but as new-car clients saw the classic-market carnage, they stopped buying, too.
When sales tanked, inventory backed up throughout the supply chain. Dealers were choking on inventory. Distributors had to warehouse cars that dealers would not take. The factory did its best to slow down production, but it was too little, too late.
By 1992, Ferrari’s lineup was suffering. The 348 had not caught on. The 512 TR, which replaced the Testarossa, was an excellent car, but it was not selling either. The 4-seat 456 GT brought little to the table. Making things worse, production of the 348-succeeding F355 was ramping up, which required old inventory to be cleared out.
When cutting production did not help, Ferrari got aggressive on pricing. It offered a $10k “incentive” on new 348s and a $30k incentive on new 512 TRs. Then, Ferrari decided that, with little investment, it could build a special edition of the 348 to juice sales. Little did anyone know that this last-ditch effort would be a blueprint for some of Ferrari’s most exciting cars to come.
Sales special
Ferrari picked through its parts bin to make the 348 Serie Speciale. Fitting a 348 Spider exhaust added 12 horses, while a lower final-drive ratio also gave the car more zip. Widening the rear track improved handling with little added cost. Removing the grille over the taillights dramatically changed the looks of the car while saving a couple bucks.
Painting the lower trim body color rather than its previous black freshened the look without costing a cent. A new front lip spoiler probably wasn’t functional, but it was the dessert for the other cosmetic upgrades. The pièce de resistance was leather-covered F40-style Kevlar bucket seats. These may have added some cost, but the race-car look was worth it. Optional comfort seats made by Poltrona Frau were available for larger drivers.
Introduced at the 1992 Los Angeles Auto Show, the 348 Serie Speciale was well received but did not get a lot of press. Only the dealer regulars and hardcore enthusiasts knew about the car, and they had been so turned off by 348s that they did not care. The Speciales sold at list price, and you did not have to be a VIP to get one.
While the 348 Serie Speciale was largely a marketing scheme, it started a Ferrari tradition. Next, the F355 ended production with the Spider Serie Fiorano, a limited-edition model from the same playbook. Though, rather than needing the model to sell a few more cars, the Fiorano was built to celebrate the F355’s success. As the series progressed, the appearance and performance of these speciales became more extreme — and with a stronger market, so did the requirements to buy one. Future speciales such as the 360 Challenge Stradale and 430 Scuderia became high-demand vehicles that dealers doled out exclusively to their best clients.
Collect ’em all
Recently there has been a run on special-series Ferraris. Well-heeled collectors have been on a mission to procure the whole series, leading to price increases on some models by nearly a million dollars over the past year alone. The 348 Serie Speciales had been under the radar, with most collectors not knowing they needed one until this car showed up.
The sale price here was well over the top, but the singular color combo of Blu Sera over tan leather helped make it a unicorn. Mileage was a bit high for a trophy car, at just under 20,000 miles, but as the model has been overlooked for decades, you probably won’t find many Serie Speciales with dramatically less use.
Condition was very good but not quite perfect, with SCM’s auction reporter noting somewhat flat paint. A previous owner replaced the Speciale muffler with a Tubi, discarded the muffler heat shield, put on aftermarket catalytic converters and replaced the OEM wheels with chrome aftermarket items, but the car now wears correct 348 wheels. The unique and unobtanium front lip spoiler is missing. None of that mattered to the bidders determined to take this car home.
Prior to this result, the highest recorded sale of a 348 Serie Speciale that I have seen was $188k. What made this sale different at $335k was that all speciales are now the flavor of the month. Collectors are buying these Ferraris like they are Pokémon cards, and money does not seem to be an issue. Cars with high options and low mileage are being snapped up at $100k more than the last one sold for a week earlier.
The 348 Serie Speciale may have been a marketing ploy to revive a dead horse, but the series it inspired has produced some of the most exciting cars Ferrari has ever produced. The seller got a windfall, but the buyer knew what they were doing. They were not buying a car; they were buying a piece of a collection. As a car, the price was too high. As the first car in a series of sought-after limited-edition Ferraris, it was worth the money.
