A civilized Ferrari? Yes! Enzo Ferrari always believed that competition improved the breed, and that is just as true on the street as on the racetrack. Perhaps due in no small part to the very polished Acura NSX, traditional supercar makers suddenly had to contend with more than just being fast and gorgeous—the cars also had to be user-friendly, reliable, and comfortable. The Ferrari 360 Modena was a crowning achievement of this new attitude, creating a car that is not only stunningly fast and capable, but also docile enough to idle in rush-hour traffic with the A/C blasting, easy to park in crowded parking lots, and comfortable enough to drive every day. In essence, you could drive this car every day and have no inkling of its extraordinary performance capabilities because it does everything else so extraordinarily well.

This 2000 Ferrari 360 Modena, like many of its siblings, has been exclusively a fair-weather toy car and as such shows just over 22,000 miles today. Finished the relatively rare combination of Titanio Grigio (titanium gray) with a lovely dark red leather interior, it’s beautiful yet subtle, the ideal combination for the Ferrari enthusiast who prefers to enjoy the machinery without an audience. Ferrari’s build quality in the 360 is superb, and you really did get what you paid for with beautifully fitted bodywork, impossibly smooth paint, and a gloss deep enough to swim in. Styling was all-new, a big change from the angular F355 it replaced, and set the standard for all the “entry level” Ferrari models to follow. Sinuous curves replaced the angles and strakes of the earlier cars and there are many who find the 360’s large headlights, purposeful air intakes and relative lack of extra ornamentation among the most attractive designs of modern Ferrari. This car has never been wrecked or painted, and remains in excellent condition throughout with only a few minor signs of use on the nose, most of which could probably be erased by a talented body shop. It proudly wears Ferrari insignias on the front fenders, an extra-cost option, and even the original protective tape is still wrapped around the fender edges and the lower intake scoop ahead of the rear wheels. Most Ferraris are low-mileage and the owners baby them, and this car is no exception.

The interior is beautifully appointed in a way that only the Italians seem to have mastered. The deeply bolstered leather seats are supportive for high-performance driving yet comfortable enough for cross-country drives, and the materials are at once supple yet durable. The same is true of the carpets, which are a deep pile that feels impossibly luxurious under your feet and every surface you touch or see is beautifully tailored and made of expensive materials. A lot of enthusiasts will be happy to see the chrome 6-speed shifter in the center console, as the joys of shift-it-yourself operation in a Ferrari are to be savored regardless of whether the paddle shift cars are marginally quicker. And as you’d expect from a car with an original sticker price deep into six-figure territory, everything is included, from power windows to keyless entry to automatic climate control to a powerful AM/FM/CD stereo system that may never even be used thanks to the sonorous V8 out back. Demerits? A few. The outer seat bolster on the driver’s side is a bit scuffed for obvious reasons and some of the plastic in the car has started to degrade and is “sticky,” which, apparently, is a very common malady in Ferraris of this period and is almost completely unavoidable. Otherwise it remains in virtually as-new condition with everything fully functional. Even the forward-mounted trunk is beautifully appointed and includes the original bottle-type tire inflator and complete tool kit, both in their original leather cases and wrappers.

But you don’t buy Ferraris simply to commute, you buy it to commune with the machinery, to enjoy the journey and not merely rush to a destination. For that, the 360 provides a stunningly tractable and user-friendly yet savagely ferocious 3.6 liter DOHC V8. The list of exotic materials and specifications is extensive, and any Ferrari aficionado worth his salt will rattle them off with more authority than I can here, but the end result is a wonderful powerplant that starts easily, idles smoothly, is happy to trundle along in 3rd gear at 2800 RPM, yet screams to 8500 RPM with the most sonorous exhaust note this side of Imola. As I said, you could drive it gently and never know how truly fast it is.

The engine bay is a delightful combination of art, science, and pure race hardware, following Ferrari’s tradition of bringing track tech to the street. The intake plenums that feed each cylinder bank are covered in traditional Ferrari “Rosso Corso” wrinkle-finish paint, the airboxes and throttle bodies are right there on top, and the beautiful subframes feature welds that were done by an artist. Look a little deeper and you’ll see the race-spec gear, including braided stainless lines, heavy-duty fasteners, and exquisite build quality. The exhaust system is stainless and right up there for everyone to see and there’s nothing like hearing that high-winding V8 inhaling right over your shoulder as you run through the gears. And speaking of gears, the six-speed transmission is a delight to row, not balky as you’d expect from the gate and Ferrari’s reputation, and the ratios are exactly right. Steering effort is light at low speeds thanks to power assist, but it still carves the road with the precision of a scalpel without any loss of tactile feedback. And, of course, the brakes are supremely powerful Brembos at all four corners, there to bail you out should you get in over your head or spot the local constabulary over the next rise. Ride quality is shockingly good for a car that will corner at close to 1.0g and with so few miles, there are no squeaks, rattles, or other signs of use in the driving experience. Five-spoke Ferrari alloys are in very good condition, with only one small mark on the left rear that’s just barely visible in the photos. Original-spec Michelin Pilot Sport tires measuring 215/45/18 in front and 275/40/18 in back show good tread life remaining although if you are planning any serious performance driving, replacements might be a smart investment.

The car includes all the original manuals and books in their original leather binder, which also shows the 5000, 10,000, and 15,000 miles services having been performed at appropriate intervals. We have receipts for more recent maintenance, as well as a window sticker. Harwood Motors might recommend that the 30,000 mile service be performed before using the car to its full potential, as it has been inactive for some time and a fresh timing belt is just smart insurance. We can have this service performed for the new owner prior to delivery; please contact us for details.

Ferraris used to be intimidating the way the old 911 Turbo might have been—ferocious, entertaining, yet willing to bite a foolish driver. With the 360 Modena, this is no longer the case and the extraordinary quality and usability of this car show that a lightly-used Ferrari is perhaps the biggest bang for your performance buck in the known universe. If you could own just one car that could do it all, it would be easy to make the 360 Modena your first choice.