There are countless new cars you should be excited about and, if you’re a young enthusiast, you should enjoy your future legends now. Your Corollas GR. Your Subarus WRX. Your Mustangs Dark Horse. These are all great and exciting vehicles. We may have reached peak car, as there’s never been a time when you can buy so many cars that are so fast, so easy to drive, and also so damn reliable.
You should also enjoy your legends now because at some point they’re going to take the cars you used as your phone backgrounds and make them ‘better’ and charge you $900k for the pleasure.
I’m in England and I’m staying quite close to a pub (which is a side effect of being anywhere in England) and that pub happens to be host to the company Evoluto. You’ve probably never heard of Evoluto, but you might know their sister company Boreham as the people who are going to remake the Ford RS200 and Mk1 Escort. Having had dinner with them and bugged them about ’80s and ’90s Fords I can say, with few doubts and a couple of pints, these are exactly the people you want bringing back the best era of British Fords.
The whole premise of the parent company, DRVN, is that new cars aren’t quite right or, rather, they aren’t quite wrong in the way that makes old cars so lovable. There’s so much power, there’s so much tire, and so much electronic help that they can’t quite be enjoyed in the same way.
“We had lower-powered cars that were more fun,” as Amjad Ali, Technical Director of Evoluto Automobili said before dinner.
Last night they showed off the 355 by Evoluto, taking great pains not to say the word “Ferrari” too many times because they clearly don’t want to get sued to pieces. What they did say were things like: “bringing the joy of dream of driving” and “not a game console” and “the pure thrill of driving.” I haven’t driven the Evoluto 355 yet so it’s hard to confirm any of that, but it’s probably good and maybe great as this is a car made by a bunch of engineers (Ali was on the team behind Gunther Werks for years) and designers who owned and loved Ferrari F355s.
And why wouldn’t they? The Ferrari F355 is a car everyone loves, even those who have never driven it. The wedge shape of the F355 was inherited from the wonky 348, along with the V8, and both were improved on in just about every way.
So why improve it further? Owners of the cars will tell you that, for all the charms, there are quirks. A lot of quirks. Some of the quirks are the good part, many of them mean you have to pray every time you turn the key.
How Evoluto Improves The F355
Evoluto, like Singer, can’t make you a new car. But show up with a somewhat functioning F355 with a valid VIN plate and the company can reimagine and rework the car with what they call “OEM-level quality” and production.
Out in back is the most important bit, which is a flat-plane crank V8 with about 420 horsepower revving to 8500 RPM and probably sounding the business all the way up. Every piece of the motor has been tweaked, upgraded, and replaced, with a new engine management system and coil-on-plug ignition.
Surrounding that motor is a new body designed by CALLUM, which is legendary designer Ian Callum’s new business. From top to bottom, the whole thing has been reworked in carbon fiber with numerous panels introduced to stiffen the body by about 23% while also keeping weight down around 2,800 pounds.
“Creating a special and updated version of such an iconic car such as the 355 is challenging. It requires total understanding of the boundaries of change,” said Callum. “However, the team at CALLUM enjoyed bringing together new forms and details to produce a beautiful design, while fully respecting the original.”
In person, it’s immediately recognizable as a 355, just one that’s a little lower, a little wider, a little cleaner and more modern with touches like turn signals in the mirror and a 288 GTO throwback around the rear with the trio of vents. It works. I love non-red Ferraris so the blue is a nice idea, although this particular blue is a bit too metallic for my personal taste.
The whole point of the car is that it’s going to be built to your personal taste, so don’t let the color bother you. If you want a pink 355 by Evoluto they’ll make you a pink 355 by Evoluto. I want a green one because I’m a weirdo.
More important than what they added is what they didn’t: modern driver aids. This is a car designed to be an F355 that starts every time you want to hit the road, but once you get there it’s on your ass to stay off the grass. The company refers to this as “peak analog” or, well, “peak anologue” because they’re Brits.
Ali also said, specifically, that for all the modern stuff and big new Brembo brakes “some of the idiosyncracies” are still there.
If you’ve got an F355 or can access one, you can make an appointment with Evoluto to build one exactly to your spec. Hand them just shy of a million dollars and you can be one of the planned 55 people who will get one of these.
Glorified restomod? I’m okay.
I think this is the nicest and most beautiful “meh” car ever. Original 355 is beautiful, this somehow has too much and too little happening at the same time with the modifications.
This looks amazing and I love that term: peak analog. It’s still way too expensive for what you get
I’m still asking why. A quick looks tells me a running F355 will cost at least $100K (tax, transportation, etc) plus $900k? For…. I don’t really know
♫ Am I blue? Am I blue? ♫
♫ Blue his house
With a blue little window
And a blue
corvetteF355 EvolotoAnd everything is blue for him
And himself and everybody around
Cause he ain’t got nobody to listen to
♫
I’m blue
Da ba dee da ba di
Da ba dee da ba di
Da ba dee da ba di
Da ba dee da ba di
Da ba dee da ba di
Da ba dee da ba di
Da ba dee da ba di ♫
If they’re going to take cues from the 288 GTO and do that much work, why not go all the way and make a “what if” 355 GTO?
I’m not really a big fan of making already good old cars too precious and imbued with modern styling touches and performance upgrades. People who equate fun to drive with little more than performance numbers should just buy new crap and leave charming, (nearly) nanny-free, analog old cars alone. Sure, better brakes, modern tires, maybe fixes to engineering or design Achilles’ heel(s), but I’ll never get the significant power upgrades for a car that was never designed for it and either requires extensive modifications to manage so that it no longer has the old character and charm or is unusable (though at the power levels of most of these things, it’s unusable either way). This is in the same ballpark of the sad old boomer at a cruise night with his POS T-Bucket with a (reputedly, though it certainly cost some money) built 572 that “dynoed at 800 hp” that he uses to lead a parade of frustrated normal cars to the ice cream shop once a week. At some point, just make the numbers up—nobody cares and the owner couldn’t drive something that powerful, anyway.
I really appreciate that they tried to keep the quirks with this restomod. I haven’t and will never drive one, but I hope it drives like it used to, it seems like the people in charge of it know what they’re about.
(rant incoming)
Most restomods, or Singerized cars, as some call them, are aimed at people who love the idea of a certain car but not the actual execution of it. I recently saw a Singer at a meet, and everything about it is absolutely gorgeous, but I’d rather drive the stock long-hood that I saw at the same meet, because it’s the original experience. It’s difficult and troublesome and compromised, as it should be. I’ve heard many people who know more than me call Singers clinical and ironed out.
I really appreciate a good restomod for the craftsmanship and care that goes into it, in the same way that I appreciate the hand-painted murals and meticulously polished hydraulics on a high-end low-rider. I’ll be the first to say that a lot of restos are half-assed hot rods that only care about the donor’s styling, if that, but the good ones are rolling art. Perhaps not as meaningful as the low-rider, but art nonetheless.
That said, I think the best restomod you can make if you love a given car is one that simply scales it to modern tires. Take (insert classic car here), put it on new performance rubber, then tweak the chassis and interfaces to have the same behavior at 1.05g that it used to have at 0.7g on cross-plies, and upgrade the engine in proportion so you get similar behavior on-throttle. Sadly, too many just keep the shell and stick a modern supercar underneath it instead.
Really, a lot of them are ways to put a recognizable brand on individuality, which is a bit of an oxymoron, but it does work. People want to see things they recognize done up like other things they know. It’s J.J. Abrams making a Star Wars trilogy to prove that he can do it better than Lucas.
TL,DR: I’m glad to see a restomod that doesn’t try to “fix” everything that makes a car special.
Wow, that was indeed a rant.
As advertised.
That thing looks great. I can’t wait until I’m a super rich guy. Hmmm. Maybe education was the wrong field to get into…
Interesting. Thanks Matt.
But for the big bucks asked here, I would hope my head lights would close all the way. Identical to the other one.
Guess I’ll just keep my 308…
they’re both closed all of the way, it’s a shadow caused by the dramatic lighting.
Let’s hope so?
It’s nice; that said if I were a rich person (and they probably don’t think like this), I’d get a great example of an F355 and upgrade just the mechanicals. Replace the stock brakes with Brembos, do all the engine stuff they mentioned, and maybe a bit more like address any faulty known issues with these, like electrical stuff, suspension, whatever.
Then I’d drive it…and for far less than $900k in the end.
Sir Hardigree- Love the pluralized model names! reminds me of listening to baseball on the radio!
“Your Aaron Judges, your Charlie Blackmons, Your DJ LeMahieus” etc.
Excellent work, sir. Few publications nowadays use the english language in a bright and fun way anymore.
Cheers, mate.
Everyone’s favorite Ferrari?
Pretty bold statement.
The generation that grew up on Magnum P.I. begs to differ.
…or Miami Vice and Sega’s Out Run.
That generation isn’t everyone though!
Tom Selleck’s mustache disagrees.
Before today, I had never heard of the 355 being anyone’s favorite Ferrari. I prefer the Mondial myself, but the 288 GTO is by far my favorite.
The beauty of an F355 is the simplicity in its design. This adds more styling, and subtracts the beauty because of it.
I like the upgraded interior (not a 355 strong point) but the exterior changes are not for me.
Part of the charm/enjoyment of being in a car like a 355 is the older ergonomics and materials (provided they’re in decent shape) as well as the driving dynamics. If I was able to spend that kind of money on a Ferrari, I’d buy a new one with a much nicer interior.
But if I want the experience of a 355 or similar, I’d rather find a nice example (or one that can be made nice) which can be done for a lot less money and get a lot more original experience.
No pictures available of the car sitting with all its apertures s we can see the lines? Or do I have to go to Instagram for that?
Why does this look like a special edition Mustang to me? The rear gills look like something from many bad body kits or kit-car level supercars or something in the 00’s.
I think it’s the color that makes me think Mustang.
I would have preferred this treatment on the 348. I love the side strakes. It looks like a Testarossa that can fit in a garage bay. Performance doesn’t really matter, but reliability is nice.
The F355 was my dream Ferrari at one point. I even bought a ride in one of the race cars and enjoyed a hilarious spin at Snetterton circuit. The styling is perfect, I wouldn’t want to change anything.
But then I don’t have so much money falling out of my arse that I’ve run out of ways to spend it.
Edit to add: if I did have the money for this I’d pay extra not to have the stripe on the steering wheel to show which way it’s pointing. This is only acceptable in rally cars.
Rich people have such interesting problems (Sure. I like my Ferrari, I just wish it cost a lot more). Problem solved.
These sure seem like what economists call “positional goods”…something valued b/c others can’t have them. I guess once you get to a certain level of money, even super expensive but still available stuff seems pedestrian, so you want something unique that nobody (well, relatively nobody) has.
The economics are intriguing to me. GM has to build cars that are widely acceptable, both what they are and what they cost, so we get nuthin’ but crossovers; but a company like this, going after a much more idiosyncratic market, knows high price tags are the least of its concerns.
“Veblen goods” probably also fits for these.
That’s a really good point. Now I’m wondering what, car-wise, the general price level is for that these days? I know Ford had little trouble selling the GT, so maybe somewhere around a half-million?
While the 355 is great, the Testarossa, F40, F50, 330 P4, 288GTO, Daytona, and 250GTO, are all better. Heck the
Triumph250 GT California from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is better. There’s probably more too…Yeah, out of Ferrari’s entire catalogue, the 355 is pretty meh. Nothing against the 355, it’s just Ferrari has made a ton of iconic cars.
I think it’s not so much “everyone’s favorite” as “the one everyone remembers from the ’90s, the decade currently beloved by marketers.”
If they’d done this 10 years ago, it’d been a 308 I bet.
When I think of a Ferrari of the ’90s, I think of the F50. Was it the best looking Ferrari of all time? Not even close. But a freakin’ 4.7L V12 that was a descendant of the Ferrari V12 F1 engine!?!?!? Hnnngggg.
Sure, it doesn’t get the love like the F40 before it did, but I’d still rank it as far more memorable than the 355 when it comes to ’90s Ferraris
What I remember most about the 355 is that it didn’t have the badass strakes going down the side like the 348 did before it. Oh, and it lost in Fast and the Furious.
Agree on the F50, but I bet for casual enthusiasts who are now very rich, forthat decade, they vaguely remember Xenia Onnatop driving one in Goldeneye.
I’d rank Xenia Onnatop as more memorable. Then the 355 from The Rock. Then the 355 from Goldeneye.
So I had to check, but I totally misremembered that Onnatop’s was actually classic Ferrari red! In my mind, it was bright yellow, llike Cage’s in The Rock. That definitely tells me something about casual recollections of ’90s Ferraris I think.
“Dude you just wrecked your Ferrari”
“Its not mine.”
For some reason that whole chase scene is my favorite part of The Rock.
Definitely not one I’d put in my top list, but I do consider it the last real Ferrari.
No way Jose! The 550 and 575 were made well past the 355. Same with the 456. All of those classic V12 touring monsters.
They’re nice, but I prefer the cars they try to recall in their styling and the old V12s sounded better. The main thing for me, is that F355 was developed from the 348, which Enzo saw before he died. The front engined V12s came later and were very far from the Testarossa series they replaced. I don’t consider anything new post Enzo as a real Ferrari, same with Bugattis post Ettore (too bad Jean didn’t live to take over), and sort of Lamborghini, but I like the Diablo and LM002 too much (definitely nothing after VW started overseeing their design).
The 550 didn’t replace the Testarossa; it was a continuation of the previously discontinued Daytona. Plus, the 456 overlapped with the Testarossa for four years and was a replacement for the 412.
What a stretch! Enzo saw the freaking Mondial, are you going to consider that more Ferrari than the Superamerica simply because Enzo saw it? Besides, like you said, Enzo never saw the 355, he only saw the 348. And if anything, the 355 deviated further away from what Enzo would have wanted, by making it more livable than 348.
I’m sure you’re aware that the Daytona was discontinued decades earlier. The 550 was the just the next in line of the high end 12 cylinder GT line of Ferrari. Daytona>BBs>Testarossas>then they went back to front engine for the 550. Ferrari was Enzo’s vision and the cars reflected the infamously iron fist he ruled it with. Anything after is a mere corporate entity run by douchebags for douchebags. Yes, a Mondial is a more a Ferrari than any of the instagram-tool mobiles they make now for unimaginative rich people.
The F355 was more “livable” as a response to market forces thanks to a correction the Japanese forced all the complacent higher end Europeans into. If Enzo was still around at the time and still wanted to make cars, he’d have done the same, not to mention that he didn’t really give that much of a shit about the road cars as long as they kept funding the racing and famously disdained much of his road car customer base.
My point is the 550 was a clear return to a layout (V12, front engine, 2-seater) that Ferrari occupied for decades. From ’48 to the Daytona’s end in ’73, Ferrari had continually offered a front engined V12.
While yes, they left that and offered the BB, it was a huge departure of what they had been doing. Heck, Ferrari didn’t even offer a mid-engine car until the Dino in ’67.
I just find it crazy you consider a 355 more “Ferrari” than other “Ferraris” because it was based on a car that Enzo saw, compared to the 550 that returned to the roots of the companies road car offerings; V12, front engine two seaters.
Matt, I fully agree that cars should be enjoyed by people who are enthusiasts. All the ones I know are my son and his friends. None of these kids are driving a GR corolla, WRX or Dark Horse. One has a 2005 Focus sedan that he bought because it’s a manual, others have similar manual cars that are cheap. I talked with an owner of a Dark Horse recently: He doesn’t track it, doesn’t autocross and it sounds like he just drives it slowly. He’s also my age or older at 50ish. Cars for young enthusiasts are REALLY expensive when you earn $17/hour and have some bills. I’m all for a singer version of a Ferrari, but $900,000 sounds like a lifetime of earnings and a prayer for retirement Nice, but unobtanuim. I’ll go have my morning coffee now and be less cynical.
I’ll say, that while the stereotype of rich older guys buying all the cool stuff and not driving it tends to ring somewhat true, I have met some absolutely incredibly enthusiastic wealthy people. For reference, I’m a mid-20s guy who is fortunate enough to have a sub-10k fun car here and there, and basically cycle through projects annually by breaking even and moving on.
Guy I met by chance in my town has some sweet cars, some Ferraris, one of which is an 812, some 00’s V12 AMG goodness, but also a handful of Miatas, some of which are for Spec Miata racing. The kind of guy that, on the surface, would want nothing to do with a plucky wide eyed young person, but I ended up chatting with him for around half an hour just talking cars, life, and why we enjoy cars the way we do.
Despite my shorter time in the world of having access to fun cars, I’ve met some incredible car people up and down the spectrum of means, everything from beater 3k miatas, all the way up to the big dollar fancy stuff. The posers and show-offs are certainly out there, often in larger numbers than I would like, but when you find that real enthusiast, whether it be through AutoX, a track, or just by finding a cool car and waiting for the owner to come over, they’re out there, and always happy to talk regardless of what “societal norms” would normally dictate.
I fully agree. The car community of true enthusiasts is very welcoming and is why I love this site above all others. I just want cars to be cheaper so kids and younger generations can experience a motor’s growl, the satisfaction of a well times shift and other dynamic events. I’ll never own my poster cars from childhood like a 911 or a Countach, but I’ve still had some fun cars and want others to enjoy them as well. Otherwise no one will balk when hardware subscriptions are everywhere on new cars.
I totally agree with that sentiment, cars have become seen as investments, rather than tools or object to enjoy, and far too many are getting locked away in collections that see no miles, no sunlight, and no use. If Jay Leno is willing to regularly drive his McLaren F1 around public roads (along with every single other car he owns) rich d-bags should drive their air cooled 911s around, instead of stashing them.
Say what you will about many of the big-name Youtube automotive personalities, but a lot of them at least use their “collector” vehicles on a regular basis. Seeing, hearing and experiencing cars like that is a decent consolation prize when most are speculated to the moon and locked up forever.
That interior looks straight out of a 90s Ford concept car. I’ll let you decide whether that’s a good or bad thing.
Now I can’t unsee that – thanks. That odd performance-velour thing (I have no idea what it’s actually called) really does it.
Vandelay Industries must be doing well because that interior will absolutely ensconce you in velvet.
I assumed it was Alcantara and will look like dirty crap in a few years. Then I realized most of these will end up as garage queens, so it’s probably all good.
Oh God, I read “performance-velour” in Zapp Brannigan’s voice and now I will call it nothing else.
A new Autopian member level name?
Maybe it’s the blue, the lighting, or you used a potato for a camera (incl in their press shot), but that car is not very photogenic and I certainly hope it looks better in person than it appears in these photos.