Shaped like a stubby wedge with pop-up headlights, the Ferrari 355 is a sensational drivers' car; on the road as much as on the track.

 

But more importantly, the 355 is the last Ferrari to actually look like one – and Stuart Milne loves it.

 

Last August one of my best mates got married, and I had the honour of being best man.

 

And even though there's not really much to do – organise the compulsory strippers, sort out a speech and make sure the hungover groom remembers where the wedding is – it's still a nerve wracking time.

 

So I was choked when I was given a supercar experience for my troubles.

 

Almost a year later, I'm pleased to say they're still happily married but I still had a voucher for a day driving a piece of exotica burning a hole in my pocket.

 

All I had to do was choose between a Porsche 911 and a Ferrari 355.

 

And as good as the Porker is, there really is no choice – the 355 is one of my favourite cars from the world's most evocative car maker.

 

So last weekend I climbed in my car to drive to Silverstone.

 

And straight into the heaviest fog I've seen in years, which convinced me the day would be postponed.

 

But good luck shines on the righteous (the 355, not me), and after an hour delay, the organisers gave me a quick briefing; which consisted of 'this is the car, it's left hand drive, don't crash', I was out on the track.

 

On the way to the southern circuit at the Northampton-based track, I had a few minutes to check out the interior; something I'd never done before, as I was always blown away by the sexy bodywork.

 

And to be honest, it wasn't that nice.

 

Sure, my car for the next few laps was a used-and-abused 100,000-miler, so the leather was cracked and the cabin was creaking; but the dash looked dated and the driving position was pretty uncomfortable with its off-set pedals.

 

But the seats were comfortable, and held me firm during my three flat-out laps of the famous circuit.

 

Under full throttle, the 355 sounds scintillating with a roar giving way to a scream as the rev counter bends round to the red line, giving the full Michael Schumacher effect.

 

Of course, it's very, very fast. My car, bereft of the flappy-paddle F1-style gearshift can blast to the requisite 60mph from rest in just 4.7 seconds, and given enough road, will hit 183mph flat out.

 

But it’s the corners where it really shines. There's bags of grip thanks to the rubber band-thick garden rollers it has for tyres, and very little body roll in the corners.

 

It offers bags of feedback through the steering wheel, and is just so easy to drive fast.

 

I only had three laps in my Ferrari, but it left me smitten. And I wasn't alone.

 

Chatting to one of instructors on the way to returning my crash helmet, he revealed the 355s would be replaced by a fleet of 360s – complete with their driver aids and semi automatic gearboxes.

 

I wasn't half glad I went when I did.

 

The 'bog-standard' 355 coupe – with a fixed roof and a manual gearbox – would have set the first buyers back almost £100,000 in the mid-nineties, but today they start at £30,000.

 

A Ferrari for the same as a new BMW 335i coupe? That's an appealing alternative.

 

But if you can't stretch to that, how about Ferrari looks, with Japanese reliability? There are plenty of 355 replicas based on the Toyota MR2 for less than half the price of the real deal.

 

 

L.A.T.W.O.T. Video of the week

 

Loads of footage of 355s being driven heroically. Obviously not with quite as much finesse as 'smasher' Milne's recent exploits at Silverstone.

 

 

Auto Trader links

 

Insane 217mph Ferrari F430 – first pics

Cop a load of this Ferrari

£550k mint Ferrari up for grabs

Classic Ferrari set to fetch £5 million

 

Read previous Look at the Wheels on That columns