Toward the end of its production life, Ferrari's 328 was losing its competitive edge. Sure, it was still as beautiful as it had been, and just as much fun to drive, but a Ferrari can never be mediocre. And the upsurging performance of Porsche's 911s, and even the Corvette, put Ferrari's superiority seriously in question.
So the powers at Maranello decided it was time for an update. Not just a minor one, like the change from 308 to 328, but a complete reengineering. The old, curvaceous body was dropped in favor of a new one from Pininfarina. This new model, the 348, had lost the S-shaped body line of the earlier car, replaced with more of a wedge-shaped body, more of a single unit. In addition, the gouge leading into the flank intake was dropped, replaced by a slatted intake in the door, very like that of the 348's larger stablemate, the Testarossa.
Performance was improved, of course. The 348 was faster than the 328, and, more importantly, it was faster than its competitors. Top speeds climbed into the 160s and handling was improved, though some said it was a little twitchy (at least, compared with its successor, the 355).
The first 348 offered was the berlinetta, or hardtop, now called the 348tb. This was shortly followed by the 348ts, which had a removable, targa-style roof panel. Ferrari later offered a true convertible 348, the Spyder, but the ts remained in production throughout the 348's life.
This is the 348 model that Maisto offers. I inevitably must compare it with my Bburago 348tb, though the roof, of course, is different. I actually have two of the Maistos, one in red (rosso corsa), and one in Fly Yellow (Giallo Modena), so my one Bburago is outnumbered.
But not outclassed.
The Bburago had a few distinct flaws, but the Maisto has its own. First, though, let's review some of its strengths:
The car has Maisto's usual spring suspension, which gives it a lively, friendly feel. The tires lack crispness in molding, but at least they're not Bburago's generic tires, and they have a good feel to them. (But, unlike most Maisto tires, they have prominent mold seams running down the center.)
The doors have the slatted intakes, and they're slightly more accurate that the Bburago -- the slats begin at the leading edge of the door, rather than being set back. But, where the Bburago's intakes actually go through to the doorjamb, the Maisto's end in a black piece that's the back of the door liner. This simulates the intake, but not really well. Besides, on the yellow specimen, the translucence of the plastic insert that makes the slats causes its color to fade toward green where it gets near the doorliner. This is not a noticeable problem in the red sample.
While we're discussing the doors, I'd like to complain about the mirrors. They're plastic pieces extending from the door liners, and they're poorly proportioned -- the stems are too thick, and the mirror surfaces too small.
The front trunklid opens to reveal a full spare, and wedges open easily. As usual, though, the paint fades away.
A momentary note here about the paint: Maisto's paint seems to have been improving lately, and these models are a good example. It's smoother, lacking the drips and orange peel that many earlier Maistos had. But they're still skipping the undersides and insides of the sheetmetal.
While I complained about the Bburago's rear window, Maisto's has its own flaws. Sure, it follows the outline of the real thing. But it slopes inward at the bottom, and halfway up it gains a wedge-shaped cross section that would make it, if it were a real car, unusable.
Opening the engine lid reveals a different problem. The engine actually isn't badly done -- a very metallic grey, with some of Maisto's wispy translucent sparkplug wires. The first problem is that there is a prominent, shelflike flange running around the inside of the engine opening -- this is partly due to the location of the body mounting screws, but they could have been disguised or relocated.
The second problem is less obvious, but it's a distinct step downward from the Bburago: where Bburago's model has a plastic grille insert in the engine lid, this engine lid is a solid metal casting, with only surface texturing.
And the third problem is subtler, one that might be easily assumed to be only a problem with an individual model: the engine lid skews badly to the left when closing, enough that it impacts on the corner of the bodywork. This is causing the paint on my yellow one to crack and chip. (I figured this out before buying my red one, so I've been careful about that.) I dismantled and reassembled the yellow one in hopes of fixing the problem, but it went back together exactly the same way, and the skew was back.
While I'm listing my litany of complaints, let me mention Maisto's worst crime in this model: the "targa" top doesn't lift off. I know it can be done: Anson did it with their Ferrari 328, Maisto did it with their C4 Corvette coupes, and Mira built a Ferrari 348ts with a removable top. So why not this Maisto? Corporate laziness seems like the only answer.
And it's too bad that it doesn't lift off, because the interior is better than that of Bburago's 348. The seats and dashboard are shaped considerably better -- though it's kind of hard to tell, because it's all black.
One more complaint, and then I'll shut up for now: You might notice that the A-pillars on the windshield are rather thick. In fact, they're not only too thick for scale, but the whole windshield is too broad -- and so is the whole cockpit. The Bburago, and the real Ferrari, narrow more toward the top.
On the whole, it's hard to recommend this model.
To sum it up:
Strengths: Good interior, nicely finished engine.
Weaknesses: Non-removable top, inaccurate windshield, misaligned engine lid.
Overall: A model that Maisto should have done better.
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