Only allowed to be built by employees with at least 10 years of experience At the Ferrari factory, they were simultaneously introducing their new 348 with cheeky Testarossa gills and a square-cut look. Unfortunately, the motoring journalists were not particularly enthusiastic about the wild, Italian stallion. In particular, they complained about instability at high speed, as well as a tendency to turn your wife into a widow if you let off the gas around corners. In addition, there was the lame feeling of quality. The Honda NSX, like the Ferrari, was hand-built, but only employees with more than ten years of experience were allowed to get close to the Japanese supercar. Whether Ferrari short by the same rule is extremely doubtful. In fact, it was so bad at Ferrari that when Luca di Montezemolo put his popo in the boss's chair and was handed a 348, he immediately called his new staff to a skid ball. He explained to the employees that he was extremely dissatisfied with the car, and that it was some of the worst piece of work that had ever carried a prancing stallion on the bonnet. Rumor has it that he had an NSX sent over from Japan and asked his engineers to use it as the target for the successor 355. Honda had won, but the victory was to be bittersweet. The V-TEC system is too wild I spot the messy field that starts at 8,000 rpm and throws the ultra-precise gear stick down into second gear. Finally. The supercar has been brought to life. It is in this part of the revolution scale where there is full value for money. Through the long sharp curves you can easily keep the pedal down, while in the small sharp ones you balance it on the limit through the delicious steering. The V-TEC system works like crazy as I nail the accelerator to the floor. The forces are transferred to the asphalt without any problems and the whole car feels controlled. The machinery whirs away as the sound becomes more and more intense. The whole experience is actually so special that for a short while I completely forget that this car is twenty years old. Any businessman will know that if the competitor has an inferior product than you, you have a clear advantage. But it didn't work out that way for Honda. Even if the Ferrari 348 required monthly maintenance at the mechanic, it was still a Ferrari. Back then, just the fact that you owned a Ferrari could get you into the VIP parties. A Honda NSX couldn't even get you a free fadol at the Ferry Inn. For the same reason, the factory ended up producing only 18,000 NSXs from 1990 to 2005. In the same period, Ferrari sold over 37,000 examples of the 348, 355 and 360. Click 'NEXT PAGE' to read on