Ferrari 360 Challenge Stradale 'Cornes Edition'
One of my childhood poster cars, in a very special Challenge Stradale
Ferrari 360 Challenge Stradale 'Cornes Edition'
The Ferrari 360 was one of my poster cars as a kid. I don’t remember specifically why I loved it so much at the time, but even looking at it today, I still think it looks great. And the F430 that succeeded it is imo one of the most stunning cars ever made
I was scrolling through Alex Penfold’s Instagram recently and came across an album of photos from New Year in Japan. I swiped my way through the album with feelings of "woah that’s rare" as I saw a photo of a Ruf RT35, combined with somewhat numbed feelings of "well it is Japan after all" in response to a Lamborghini Diablo SV with a Ferrari F50-esque bodykit.
After reaching the end of the album, I tapped into the comments to see what others had to say, and spotted a comment mentioning a 'Cornes CS'. I’d never come across this before, so I looked back through the photos armed only with the knowledge that 'CS' often refers to Challenge Stradale - the hardcore variant of a Ferrari 360. Lo and behold I found a picture of a 360 that I’d previously just swiped straight past, not thinking much of it. Looking a bit more closely, it did look a little bit unusual with a white rear grill (which to my knowledge could have just been a paint job by the owner), but beyond that, it didn’t look like much more than a standard Ferrari 360
[This image is missing]
After a quick google, I found that the Ferrari 360 Challenge Stradale 'Cornes Edition' is pretty damn rare; only 25 in existence. It was built to celebrate 25 years of Cornes being the official importer of Ferrari’s in Japan.
It differs from a normal Challenge Stradale in that it has a white rear grill and rev counter, a carbon fibre fuel filler cap and paddle shifters, and carbon ceramic brakes with gold brake callipers. Oh and Michael Schumacher’s signature on the door.[1]
Spotting a 360 Challenge Stradale is pretty rare as is, so spotting a 1 of 25 Cornes Edition in a parking lot is really something else. Props to the owner for driving it
This post is part of WeblogPoMo2024. Read the others in the series: