RE-WRITING THE RULES

Ferrari had big plans to mark the advent of a century that began with a two. It was planning a fresh new model, something to carry on the line originally drawn in the sand by the 308 and scrawled anew by the 328, 348 and 355. It would be no retro pastiche and no rehash of a timeworn structure but a creation engineered from the ground up to resonate through the ages.

The 355’s replacement boasted a larger 3.6-litre V8 beefed up for global markets – longer, wider and taller, this was a Ferrari for everyday use. Well, kind of.

That’s not to say that it lost any frisson of specialness. In a first for a production Ferrari road car the 360 Modena featured a stiff, all-aluminium chassis and body, its lightness allowing the larger 360’s kerb weight to match the diminutive 355’s. Look at it side-on and you’ll see that it has an absurdly long wheelbase, with almost no rear overhang. This is because it was engineered for a smooth and cosseting ride, with the incidental benefit being a negative lift coefficient. This was a taut and aggressive car but one that could hold your hand and proffer a friendly smile. The 360’s slippery shape was the result of 5000 hours in the wind tunnel. It lost its forebears’ pop-up lights but gained an F1inspired smooth underbody with a sort of air-tunnel running from the central front splitter cut-out to the rear diffuser. It wanted to be a sensible Ferrari but also a pseudo-race car.

The 360 Spider heralded Pininfarina’s 70th anniversary of building pretty motors, and unlike many convertible versions of focused sports cars, it wasn’t all that much of a compromise. The hood design and its stowage were precision-engineered not to disrupt the aerodynamics, and the Spider’s ultimate drag coefficient was an impressive 0.36 to the Modena’s 0.335. And with no extra weight or loss in stiffness, why wouldn’t you opt for the drop-top and hear the banshee-howl of that V8 in full surround sound?

’Longer, wider and taller – this was a Ferrari for everyday use. Well, kind of…’