Advertisement
21:40
Ferrari 360 Challenge Stradale review. Why have they become so collectable recently?
Harry's garage
·
May 10, 2026
Open on YouTube
Transcript
0:08
Well, welcome to a new Harry's Garage
0:09
video. And today's car, look at it. It's
0:12
a Ferrari 360 Challenge Chadali. And I
0:16
can remember when this car was released
0:17
in 2003. There was much excitement at
0:21
Evo Towers. And we had it in car of the
0:24
year in about November 2003 in this for
0:28
this issue. And that was out in Italy.
Advertisement
0:30
And that was the first chance I had to
0:33
drive this car. And I'm sorry to say
0:35
that it was the last time I drove a
0:38
challenge because the scooter came along
0:40
and then the special. So it's been
0:42
fantastic to revisit the challenge
0:45
sedari from 2003. So much on this car to
0:49
go through. They did a 348 competition
0:51
but very low numbers around 50. But this
0:54
car was at peak Ferrari Michael Schumaca
Advertisement
0:58
era. They're winning F1 championships
1:00
every year and I think it's a
1:03
significant Ferrari. Let's go and have a
1:05
closer look. Now looking back at the
1:08
original first drive John Barker did on
1:10
this car at Firano with the factory.
1:13
Their ambition was the Charisalia was
1:16
going to be at least 3 seconds quicker
1:18
round Fano. It ended up being 3 and a
1:20
half seconds quicker. And they did it
1:23
mainly by reducing the weight of the
1:25
car. Um, trick suspension on it as well,
1:28
which I'll run through. Better brakes
1:31
and a little bit more horsepower. And
1:33
the first change you can see is just at
1:35
the front. They had a slightly different
1:37
sort of air down around here. And this
1:40
is a lighter weight construction because
1:41
you got to remember the the Ferrari 360
1:44
arrived and this was aluminum car. They
1:47
really took the weight down. But this
1:50
car in ultimate spec was about 110 kilos
1:54
lighter than your regular 360 F1. But
1:57
you had to tick a lot of boxes to get
1:59
there. But first thing you notice you
2:00
come around the challenge wheels. One of
2:02
the best designed wheels I think fitted
2:05
on a Ferrari. So distinctive and hiding
2:09
in there are the carbon discs from the
2:12
Enzo that we've just seen. So the
2:13
Ferrari Enzo brakes on a 360. We love
2:17
that. titanium wheel nuts as well. These
2:21
beautiful carbon mirrors you can see
2:24
here. Unbelievable the construction on
2:26
them and highly prized today. And then
2:29
if I open the door,
2:33
look at the door, the door trim. So pure
2:36
carbon fiber, everything stripped out.
2:38
And we'll have a look at more detail on
2:40
the interior, but the things you want to
2:41
notice is this metal. You can just see
2:44
it shining over there. Just get rubber
2:45
mats. They've basically chucked all the
2:48
sound deadening out, all the carpet
2:50
that's gone in the dust bin and they've
2:53
added a sort of carbon different center
2:55
console. You'll see there these
2:57
beautiful carbonbacked seats. You can
3:00
see well fully carbon t even the
3:03
adjuster was in carbon as well. And then
3:06
if I just lift the engine. Yeah, the
3:08
engine cover.
3:10
Lexium plastic there. Carbon finish.
3:13
slightly different design at the back.
3:16
And there it is. Now, the engine, they
3:19
didn't add a massive amount of
3:20
horsepower, an extra 20 horsepower, 420
3:22
horsepower on here, but all carbon here.
3:25
This is before sort of Cub uh Ferrari
3:28
started charging extra for carbon. You
3:30
got it within the price of the car. I
3:32
think it was £26,000 more than a regular
3:35
360. £133,000
3:38
in 2003. works out at about4 of a
3:42
million pounds in today's money and a
3:44
much lighter um exhaust system on it. 7
3:48
kilos um saved by this and my god it's
3:52
loud and you can see the sort of valving
3:54
on it that opens up for freeer revving.
3:57
That's part of the change to get the
3:59
horsepower. They also got a slightly
4:01
bigger airflow meter on it. And looking
4:04
at the original test, they say basically
4:06
it was blueprinted engine. So yeah,
4:09
that's why there wasn't a massive lift
4:11
in power. The other thing just to note
4:13
is I'll just close this up.
4:18
This challenge sedar, this black mesh
4:21
here became a signature and people
4:24
wanted it on their standard Ferrari 360s
4:28
because it that was how you recognized
4:30
it on the road. Down here though, you've
4:32
got this extra venturi carbon fiber down
4:35
here for extra arrow as well. But
4:39
overall 360 is a beautifully well.
4:43
Pinferina design obviously. Um I think
4:46
it looks fantastic. And you got a proper
4:49
boot up the front as well. So there you
4:51
go. There's a quick run around the 360
4:53
Channidali. Let's take it outside. Take
4:55
it for a drive.
5:05
Wow. Yeah. What a cabin this is when you
5:08
get in. Um so stripped out and the metal
5:11
and these welds you see everywhere and
5:13
just these sort of rubber mats. You just
5:15
see rivets sort of where the seat is
5:17
sitting. It's like a sort of race seat.
5:19
It is a road racer for the road. I'm
5:22
quickly going to get the belts on. Some
5:24
Chan dollies come with conventional
5:26
belts. Some owners optioned a fourpoint
5:29
harness as in this one, but um it is a
5:32
Ferrari quite like it's got the Ferrari
5:33
crest on there and things. And I'm going
5:35
to fire the car up, turn the key,
5:39
immobilizer,
5:41
and then press start down here in this
5:45
unique sort of center console. Take the
5:47
handbrake off cuz it's an awkward thing.
5:50
And I think the most recognizable thing
5:52
when you get in is just in when you open
5:54
the door and just see that door car the
5:58
of carbon and it's light the door when
6:01
you open it you know it's a road racer
6:04
and I love distinctive sort of titanium
6:07
finish and the door handle and although
6:10
it's got electric windows they're here
6:12
the switches are here and met by yellow
6:16
taco there and this sort of heavy sort
6:19
of suede
6:20
non-reflective dashtop and then there's
6:23
all sorts of colors and things being
6:24
bespoke Ferrari. This one as you can see
6:27
in red. The slightly peculiar thing was
6:30
I was trying to work out this car has
6:31
air conditioning cuz there's no air
6:33
conditioning off. So when I initially
6:34
got in I thought oh it can't have air
6:37
conditioning but it was blowing cold air
6:39
at me on a warmest day. And yes they
6:42
came as standard with air conditioning
6:44
which you wouldn't expect with all this
6:46
lightness going on. They just said
6:48
usability was important. And then behind
6:50
me, another option on this car, it's got
6:53
the roll cage in it. Um, which is an
6:56
unusual fitment, but it's beautifully
6:58
done. And it's got a radio. And that
7:02
means you've got little tweeter sort of
7:05
speakers under the dash and then a big
7:08
couple of speakers in the middle there
7:09
cuz you can't have any in the door
7:11
because you got that carbon door card.
7:13
So, there's no door speakers in this
7:16
car. and Alcantara finished seats. And
7:20
I'll talk about the seats later as well
7:22
because they're fantastic. They're
7:24
really usable.
7:26
Down here, what else have I got? I've
7:27
got mirrors start. I've got LC is a
7:30
launch control, ASR off, race, which is
7:34
sort of a sport button, but being a
7:36
tanali is race. Um, door lock and
7:40
hazards and reverse. So normally you had
7:42
that the funny little tea bar in this
7:43
age of Ferrari. But on the Stanis Sedali
7:46
you get an R to press. What else? Yeah,
7:48
just world championship. There they all
7:51
are. 99 2000 2001 2002 2003 plaque on
7:55
the dash. Right, let's crack on.
8:00
The other interesting thing with this
8:02
car, no auto button. It's manual. Well,
8:04
it's it's automated manual from the
8:07
start, but there's no auto setting,
8:09
which is quite right, too. an old
8:10
challenge to Darling. And you can
8:13
probably hear the engine, which we'll
8:15
discuss later when we head out onto some
8:18
better roads.
8:28
Just in normal mode
8:39
and a gear change speed is from a bygone
8:42
age. This is sort of the first of the
8:45
automated manuals. Although this was an
8:48
iteration above it was a quicker change
8:50
than the regular 360. But um it's
8:53
something you notice when you get in.
8:55
It's a quite a relaxed change.
8:58
It's I think they're around 300
9:00
milliseconds change, but if I press
9:02
race, it does harvest speed. Goes down
9:05
to 150. But I'll come on to that in a
9:07
moment. But generally on the first time
9:10
you get into it, you're expecting this
9:12
really hardcore, this really noisy car,
9:16
um, really stiff riding. And a number of
9:19
those things are not present. And uh
9:22
it's just odd that you know 20 years on
9:26
the ride it's it's all right actually.
9:29
It's perfectly livable with I don't feel
9:32
like a GT3 RS 996 or something like
9:35
that. It rides fine. I can't you know
9:37
it's like a normal Yeah. 360. The spring
9:40
rate is actually up 20% looking at the
9:43
spec of it. And but the really neat
9:46
thing is the springs in this are made of
9:48
titanium. All part of the lightness
9:50
trick.
9:52
Then the other surprise is measured the
9:56
sound on my noisy bit of road. 79
9:59
dibels. Again, much lower than you
10:01
expect with all the sound deadling gone.
10:04
Just looking at the dash, I've got oil
10:07
temperature, water temperature, oil
10:09
pressure. And then in the taco, I've got
10:13
the gear indicator. So in third, and
10:15
then a speedo. There's no digital
10:17
speedo. and a fuel gauge and a few
10:19
instruments down there. This is the era
10:21
Ferrari before the Manitina arrived on
10:23
the F430. So, I have a clean wheel, but
10:26
you know, airbagged. Okay. But the one
10:29
thing you got to watch on this wheel is
10:31
the horn push. It's just where your
10:33
thumb rests. It's the same as on the
10:35
Enzo. And yeah, it was one of those
10:38
things every now and then. Oh, sorry. I
10:40
didn't mean to blow the horn when you're
10:41
on road test with this car. But anyway,
10:43
let's just select a race. And I'm going
10:47
to go into second down here and then
10:49
hoof up the hill.
11:06
Suddenly you have this car energized and
11:10
uh yeah, gear chains get that much
11:12
quicker. It actually changes the damper
11:14
setting as well. um just stiffens those
11:17
up and just loosens off the ASR, the
11:20
traction control, but it's very drivable
11:23
once it's in race. I'd almost say in
11:25
today's world, you always press race and
11:29
yeah, it makes it even more vocal on the
11:31
outside. The weird thing about the
11:33
exhaust sound on this car is again it's
11:36
it's not intrusive inside the cabin. If
11:40
you are standing outside or following
11:42
this car, you think, "What the hell?
11:44
How's that thing legal? It's properly
11:47
loud on the outside, but weirdly quieter
11:50
on the inside than you would think it
11:52
should be. And visibility out terrific.
11:54
I just love the view. I think after F40,
11:58
was this the first Ferrari that really
12:00
showed off its engine? What a statement
12:03
360 was under that the great big pane of
12:06
well perspects in this car. And you see
12:08
the red crack on top of the cam covers.
12:11
All beautifully laid out with the air
12:13
cleaners either side. Both the engine
12:15
and little water cooler and the alloy
12:16
screw tops for water and oil and things.
12:20
Dry sumped engine. So it dropped right
12:22
down.
12:33
Yeah. Performance on this car 4.2 2
12:35
seconds to 60 cuz it's not a huge jump
12:38
in horsepower over the regular 360, but
12:42
they did drop the weight. I weighed this
12:43
car and it went 1360 kilos, which will
12:49
be slightly more just because of that
12:51
roll cage. And actually having the radio
12:54
and electric windows was quite a heavy
12:57
add-on. They reckon around 30 kilos just
13:00
because of those two.
13:03
It might take a second round here.
13:19
Oh yes. And a little bit of gravel as
13:22
well. Yeah. It's all sorts of sounds
13:24
just breaking into the air. You hear the
13:26
scrub of the brakes. If I break now, you
13:29
could It's like a rough pad onto the
13:31
carbon discs. They were new technology
13:34
back then. But again, I use this road
13:37
because it's rubbish and it has a
13:39
terrible surface and it's quite bumpy
13:41
and it's dealing with them way better
13:44
than you'd expect this car to. One thing
13:47
it does do is a little bit of following
13:49
the camber, but being, you know, track
13:53
refugee, they're very stiff suspension
13:55
joints on it. That's sort of with the
13:58
territory. It's not too bad. It's not
14:00
grabbing it from my hand, but it's Yeah,
14:03
I have got a lot of information coming
14:05
through on the wheel. Three turns lock
14:08
to lock. The steering isn't it's sort of
14:11
star turn, but compared to today's cars,
14:14
it's it's bit terrific. Blips on the
14:17
wheel gain as I'm in race. You can hear
14:19
it just does the blip for you.
14:23
That was all exciting stuff back in
14:25
2003.
14:29
as was that.
14:34
And really, you've got to rev this car
14:37
to get the most out of it. And it's
14:39
actually quite short geared. Top speed
14:42
on the 360
14:44
was 186 mph cuz it runs out of revs.
14:48
Yes, it's in that day and age where it
14:50
will absolutely hit the red line in top.
14:52
It's top speed. It's going to let the
14:55
revs fall down in second. So, 35 mph,
14:58
4,000 RPM.
15:04
How does it cope with this compression?
15:06
Okay.
15:09
Love those blips. Now,
15:13
there's those valves that open in the
15:15
exhaust as soon as it gets to about 4
15:18
and a half, five. Just depends on the
15:20
throttle opening.
15:22
Wow.
15:24
Yeah. Very exciting.
15:40
Right. Times was on likes and dislikes.
15:43
I suppose the main dislike is just the
15:45
speed of gear change. My goodness, we
15:46
moved on. Time you got to 430 scooter
15:49
air, that was changing gear in 60
15:52
milliseconds. The fastest this can do is
15:55
150 milliseconds, which is all right,
15:57
but you really notice it if you don't
15:58
have it in race. Two, they have got
16:01
expensive recently. Um, I'll discuss
16:05
that in a conclusion because there is a
16:06
reason for it. And this car is actually
16:08
for sale. My son has got it in Metav
16:11
Cars. I saw it coming. I said, please
16:13
can have a go in that. He also has a
16:15
really trick Lancia just come in. Lancia
16:18
hyenas. I'll be testing that as well.
16:20
Anyway, I digress. What else? Um, yeah,
16:24
noisy. It's It's properly noisy on the
16:26
outside. Slightly embarrassing, so you
16:29
have to be aware of it if you're driving
16:31
it in builtup areas or where noise might
16:33
be an issue. But the likes proper proper
16:38
road racer. Um, it it I just love this
16:41
stripped out. You can tell Ferrari's put
16:43
a lot of effort into getting this car
16:45
right. And it's fested with bespokeness
16:48
everywhere I look. And I think it looks
16:51
terrific on the outside and all the
16:54
improvements, all the everything we want
16:57
as a driver's car, they put on it. The
17:00
the steering, I've seen criticism of the
17:02
steering. This is on new fresh rubber
17:05
boots. Uh Michelins, I don't find it an
17:08
issue actually. I really quite like it
17:11
and I quite love the performance and
17:13
that oh gear change is fantastic as
17:16
well. And
17:20
bottom corner. There's quite a lot
17:22
there. Goodbye to the front. Wow.
17:27
Wow.
17:29
Wow.
17:32
Go.
17:42
Lots of sounds in this car. Love the
17:44
stripped out nature. how you can hear
17:46
the brakes when you break it and the
17:48
grab on the road. All that sort of thing
17:50
just gives it that unique sense that
17:53
you're in something very special.
18:02
I'm just just changing gear for the fun
18:04
of it.
18:20
Wow. Yeah. So, what do I think of
18:23
Transari? Well, it's been wonderful to
18:25
revisit this car and get to know it
18:28
again. I've always thought Scooter is
18:31
ahead, but there's something pretty
18:34
special with this talent sedan because
18:35
it was the first of the breed. And I
18:39
love how hard Ferrari worked on it to
18:42
get it this good, this bespoke. You know
18:45
you're in a chance. Special mention to
18:47
the seats and the usability has come as
18:50
a complete shock on this car. It's up
18:52
against I think why it's got so
18:54
expensive today is because the limited
18:57
run Ferraris, you know, 288, F40, Enzo,
19:01
etc. have just gone off into the
19:03
stratosphere. What's the next super
19:07
driver focused Ferrari limited run cars?
19:10
Well, it's Channister Dari and then it's
19:12
scooter rear and then it's special and
19:15
things. That is why there's so much
19:17
interest in these cars. I believe they
19:20
were just about affordable a year ago
19:22
and then everybody has clamored to get
19:25
them. They're all actually scooter and
19:28
chastis around the same price and then
19:30
special is a leap up from this. And you
19:34
got to remember China is the rarest of
19:36
them all. I mean it's um 1,288
19:39
of these and then there's near enough
19:43
2,000. Scooter is 1,800 2,000
19:46
speciali you have 3,000 odd and pista is
19:50
4,000 odd. So that is why the values of
19:54
Chinese are higher. And personally just
19:57
driving it the the scooter here is
20:00
quicker. It's 4 point, you know, 700cc,
20:03
bigger engine, more torque, more
20:04
asparag, nearly 100 horsepower more. But
20:07
it's the bespokeness of this and the
20:09
fact that I can drive it sort of flat
20:12
out. I can get closer to its limits is
20:14
what I really like. This scooter here is
20:16
a properly quick car while this is sort
20:20
of manageable. 4.2 to 60 is very
20:23
manageable on today's roads. And yeah,
20:26
it's a very special car. So there you
20:29
go. I'm going to enjoy a bit more of
20:31
this cracking bit of road. It suits
20:34
actually suits this car really well.
20:36
Whoa.
20:52
Yeah. Been loaded. You can hear it rev
20:54
out like that.
20:56
So there you go. Whoa.
21:00
Quickly take it around here.
21:04
Yeah, it's quite loose that.
21:10
There you go. Had to do that. Sorry if I
21:13
went a bit quiet then, but I hope you
21:14
enjoyed this video. If you did, please
21:16
keep subscribing. We are edging ever
21:18
closer to 900,000 subs. If you could
21:22
subscribe, I'd really appreciate it. And
21:24
if you enjoy this video, don't worry.
21:26
There's more videos coming along very
21:27
soon. Thanks for watching.
— end of transcript —
Advertisement
