355 by Evoluto First Drive: This Restomodded ’90s Ferrari Is Sensational Nostalgia and Modern Thrill

The widening world of restomods just got more interesting. The word is a pastiche of “restoration” and “modification,” where an individual or more likely an entity takes an old car and not only fixes the obvious stuff, but aims to improve the very idea of the vehicle itself. Keep the vibe, toss what’s bad, and improve the reality.

Singer Vehicle Design not only provides the most obvious example, but the now nearly household-name car tuner is the 900-pound gorilla of the scene. Singer takes a Porsche 964 (a 911 produced between 1986 and ’93) and stiffens it, replaces the body panels to make it look like an OG 911, bolts in a better engine, reworks the suspension, and goes bonkers on the drool-worthy interiors. Finally, the company charges eager customers around a million bucks, and still, there’s a years-long waiting list—and that’s just for the base model. Indeed, a cottage industry has sprung up trying to replicate Singer’s unlikely yet continued success, arguably leading to reimagined 911 fatigue among car enthusiasts. That’s why we were doubly intrigued by newer company Evoluto and its just-launched first product, known as the 355 by Evoluto.

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Ah, the Ferrari 355

This Bloody Red (Evoluto kindly told me I could name the custom color) final prototype and the 55 production vehicles (being the F355 and all) that will follow all begin life as the original Ferrari version, of course. Produced between 1995 and ’99 and designed by Maurizio Corbi at Pininfarina, the F355 was a major update from the (rather poor by Ferrari standards) 348 mid-engine sports car.

The F355 these days is enjoying a bit of a moment as car enthusiasts vocally appreciate its good looks, naturally aspirated V-8, and gated manual transmission. “Peak analog” is the term I hear tossed about when it comes to this car. As such, prices have gone way up; nice examples are pushing their way past the $150K price point. Keep that number in mind.

As good fortune would have it, a friend happened to show up to the gas station with his 1996 F355 GTS (targa top) while we were fueling the 355 by Evoluto, and I got to drive both back to back. The original Ferrari F355 is lovely, but it’s a time capsule exemplifying the state of the supercar art from 30 years ago. Enter Evoluto, which promises to leave what’s great and amend what’s not so hot.

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Singer Tricks, Ferrari Attitude

The first process begins when Evoluto strips the donor F355 down to its body-in-white, the bare metal chassis. From there, it adds carbon-fiber bracing to address structural weaknesses (or at least what the U.K.-based company says are structural weaknesses). Evoluto claims that overall stiffness is increased by 23 percent. (Singer does the same to 911 chassis.)

One of the key players behind this reworked F355 is a Scot named Amjad Ali, who came to our attention back in 2018 when we drove the first Gunther Werks 911 prototype. It was Ali’s observation that 993 race cars (both the Cup and RSR) had an essentially square wheel setup (meaning the front track is as wide as the rear), and that it was the key to unlocking the 993’s handling potential. Guess what? The 355 by Evoluto features a front track that’s 3 inches wider than stock and a rear that’s 2.5 inches wider.

The team (and Ali) didn’t stop there. The steering rack is changed, going from 3.25 turns lock-to-lock to a mere 2.0. The suspension is completely altered and features a setup derived from hardware made by supplier R53 that is tailored to the 355’s specific needs. New parts include the uprights, anti-roll bar attachment points, three-way adjustable dampers with external reservoirs, springs, and wheel bearings. The suspension was codeveloped by Evoluto and its parent company, DRVN. Spinning with the wheel bearings are some serious Brembo stoppers: 15-inchers squeezed by six-piston calipers up front and 14-inchers with four pistons in the rear. The wheels are 19x8.5 front, 19x11 rear (an inch increase in size over stock), and made either from forged aluminum alloy or magnesium. The tires are Michelin Pilot Sport 4S, a solid choice.

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Ian Callum Gives the 355 New Skin

The car’s new body panels are mostly carbon fiber (the roof remains steel) and were designed by none other than another Scot who happens to be a friend of MotorTrend, Ian Callum. Why not just make it look exactly like an original F355? The big reason is that the wheels would stick out from the bodywork thanks to the increased track widths, but Evoluto also needed more airflow via the side intakes to cool the engine.

When viewed next to Pininfarina’s original shapely shape, it’s difficult not to clock the older design’s purity. However, taken out of that bubble, Callum’s reworked shape is quite stunning, with hints of Lotus Esprit and second-generation Toyota MR2 (that’s the good-looking one). Visually, the wheels look an inch too large, but maybe a color besides gold would shrink ’em? The interior is a bigger and better improvement over stock. People will love the chunky, milled controls, and it’s nearly impossible to keep your hand off the skateboard-wheel-esque carbon-fiber shift knob. And for certain, a gated manual remains one of driving life’s true tactile treats.

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The Horsepower Math Gets Messy

The next part about the engine is going to be controversial, so please both hear me and allow me to remind you I did drive a real Ferrari F355 back to back with the 355 Evoluto.

Like the donor car, the engine remains a 3.5-liter, five-valve, naturally aspirated V-8. Evoluto rates it at 415 horsepower at 8,000 rpm and 273 lb-ft of torque, while claiming it makes 100 more horsepower than stock. The controversial part is Ferrari rated the F355’s mill at 375 hp, and 415 minus 375 certainly doesn’t equal a 100-hp improvement.

However, Evoluto says it has dyno’d a lot of F355 engines and that those engines actually make around 315 hp. As I drove both engines in question, I’ll say the truth feels like it lies somewhere between the two. Need more power? Evoluto offers a 3.7-liter version of the V-8 that’s good for 475 hp and 295 lb-ft. Evoluto also claims its car weighs around 2,750 pounds, so throw in 150 pounds or so for a tank of gas, and that’s quite good by today’s standards. As mentioned, the company plans to build 55 examples for about $800,000 plus whatever you paid for the donor F355.

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Why This Thing Feels So Special

Put it all together, and you have one hell of a great driving automobile. Unlike so many modern exotics that are eaten by power figures and numbers (looking at you, Lamborghini Temerario), this puppy is laser-focused on your five senses, sound being the biggie.

Leave it in first gear, roll into the throttle, and the engine takes its sweet, melodic time winding out to its 8,500-rpm redline. Just as you reach it, left-boot the clutch and smoothly pull that long shift lever—clank, clank—from one detent down to the next. Then sit back and relax as the engine begins the process of singing to redline all over again. Clutch, push up and left, now enjoy the sounds of third gear. The new stainless-steel (though titanium comes with the bigger engine) exhaust pipes simply sing. It’s one of the sexiest engine notes I’ve ever heard, and I just spent a week with a Ford Mustang GTD. The best part about reaching the top of third gear is getting to do it all over again in fourth. If I owned this car, I’d block out at least one day a month for a deserted, dead-straight stretch of desolate highway and just blast through all the gears. Sound therapy’s all the rage these days, right?

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The widened track, the redone suspension, the quicker steering rack, and the fatter, grippier, larger-diameter tires all pay large performance dividends. Compared to the actual Ferrari F355, the Evoluto version rides better, holds the road twice as well, steers three times better with four times the feel, and sounds easily 10 times better, if not more.

To underline it fully, the note coming out of the tailpipes is glorious and fully audible both inside and outside the cabin. All seems right with the world from behind the gorgeous, flat-bottom, leather and aluminum steering wheel. The difference was so pronounced that instead of comparing the Evoluto car to the 1996 F355, I found my mind thinking of more recent cars before locking in on the first-generation Audi R8. Gated manual, similar power (420 hp) from a mid-mounted non-turbo V-8—there’s a real similarity. The Evoluto’s big advantage is its exceptional steering. While a lovely car, the original R8’s steering was number than it should have been. Put another way, the final production prototype from an unknown Midlands startup literally smokes a VW Group icon, as well as a true classic from Ferrari.

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Can Any Restomod Really Be Worth $800K?

I’m not rich enough to fully comprehend cars that cost this much. So it’s as easy for me to say you would totally drop big coin on this joyous restomod as it is to say you absolutely should not. The real question for Evoluto is, are there 55 people on the planet who see the value in such a terrific machine? Fifty people looking for the “peak analog performance” that the brand is promising and promoting? I don’t know, because what’s to stop someone else from building and selling a higher peak?

Instead, the team behind this car should be proud of what it’s built. The customers, I believe, will come and be very happy they did. I thought back to a conversation I had inside Gunther Werk’s Garden Grove, California, workshop with founder and CEO Peter Nam after I’d driven a fully baked Gunther Coupe, which like the 355 here, just blew me away. “Dude, you really should have built more than 25 of these,” I said. He replied, “I know.” I think this here 355 is good and great and wonderful enough to place Evoluto in a similar position when we and the company look back on it in a couple years from now.