2000 Ferrari 360 Modena – Project Profile

Breaking something down in to its constituent parts and simplifying the whole process really does bring clarity to any situation. And we really do mean any situation; be it going to the Moon or making dinner, or, as is the case here, rebuilding a crashed Ferrari 360. Once you understand that the procedure is just a series of small steps (granted, there may be a hell of a lot of them, but still), whatever it is you’re trying to accomplish appears a whole lot easier if you just apply a bit of logic.

Now we’re not saying that any automotive project is going to be easy, especially when it’s an expensive, exotic supercar, but at the end of the day it’s just a bunch of metal, plastic, nuts, bolts and wires. The basics remain the same whatever the badge on the bonnet – strip down, fix, build back up.

If you need further convincing you just have to look at Matt Armstrong. Here’s an ordinary bloke who has built an incredibly successful YouTube career by essentially rebuilding crashed, high end sports cars, including a Ferrari F430. A bloke who by his own admission explains: “I’m not professionally trained, I’m just a regular guy winging it as I go along restoring each car with my own personal touch (even if that means getting the angle grinder out)”, and if he can do it, then so can you. Matt goes on to say in the description for his channel: “I hope my content brings a smile to your face and maybe inspires you to get on the spanners yourself”, which is exactly what this particular car needs – some inspo and some (OK, a lot) of spannering.

But it can be done. With the will, the motivation and a bit of spend, by the end of it all you could be the proud owner of a Ferrari 360 for a fraction of the cost of buying one with its face intact.

What is it?

What we have here is a Ferrari 360 Modena from 2000 with just 45,000 miles on the clock. Fitted with Ferrari’s 3.6-litre Tipo V8 producing 395bhp and mated to the lightening-quick ‘F1’ automated manual gearbox the 360 is among the most engaging cars ever to roll out of the factory at Maranello.

Freshly serviced prior to current ownership with no advisories on the last MOT the car is classically presented in Rosso Corsa over Nero black interior – the spec to have. But there is a rather large elephant in the room. Or should we say, on the bonnet…

Why is it a project?

As you may have noticed from the photos this Ferrari 360 has had a bit of a “ding”. Although a tad more serious than a tapped bumper in Sainsbury’s car park, the damage here has been deemed as repairable by the insurance company and has been listed as Category S, which is actually good news.

Category S is described as “Structurally Damaged Repairable”. Formerly known as Category C (repairable, but costs exceed the vehicle’s worth) a vehicle categorised as S is deemed as repairable but has sustained damage to some part of the structural frame or chassis. Damage can include a bent or twisted chassis or a crumple zone that has collapsed in a collision. In the instance of a Category S classification the vehicle can be repurchased from the insurer to be professionally repaired and put back on the road with the original VIN and V5 document.

Not only that but the all-important V8 is safely stowed in the rear which means that besides the obvious front-end damage the car is in excellent condition, with the engine and gearbox remaining unscathed by the incident.

What should you look for?

Many of us avoid the words ‘insurance write-off’ like the plague but it needn’t be that way and this flawed Fezza could be the bargain of the year, so have a proper read of the listing and pore over the plethora of pictures.

Good news! The airbags are still intact.

This is a professional auction listing so we’ve done the hard work for you but should you need some additional info or reassurance then you can chat directly with the seller using our new auction comments function. You can easily request a viewing, too, so get up close and personal to see the damage for yourself and then chuck in a cheeky bid for your chance to scoop a slice of Scuderia for a song.

What should you do with it?

It all very much depends on your skill set but the outcome remains the same regardless: channel your inner Matt Armstrong, fix that front end and get it back on the road where it belongs. There will no doubt be some chassis and suspension work to contend with and obviously there’s the bodywork but there’s nothing here that scares the bejesus out of us and all parts required should be readily available.

Looks fine from this angle!

Go and see the car in the flesh to get the full picture but if it were us we’d bring in a specialist. Someone like DK Engineering, for example, who have the knowledge, expertise and experience to bring this 360 back to its former glory.