---
title: "This Ferrari F355 Simulator for Sale Is Peak Retro Sim Racing"
date: "2025-07-28"
modified: "2025-07-28"
authors:
  - name: "Adam Ismail"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/adam-ismail"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/this-ferrari-f355-simulator-for-sale-is-peak-retro-sim-racing"
categories:
  - "Culture"
  - "News"
  - "Video Games"
---

# This Ferrari F355 Simulator for Sale Is Peak Retro Sim Racing

![Ferrari F355 Challenge arcade machine on Bring a Trailer](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2576-29885-scaled-copy.jpg>)
*\<p style="text-align: left;"\>\<em\>Bring a Trailer\</em\>\</p\>*

These days, a racing driver who wants to hone their craft off the track can cobble together PC parts and build a low-spec system that can run a variety of simulators well enough. The video game industry pretty much passed the threshold for photorealism a decade ago; any further advancements, like raytracing, are just icing on the cake now for uber-nerds, like the one writing this story. But 25 years ago, if, say, [Rubens Barrichello](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/38473/watch-a-big-snuggly-dog-interrupt-former-f1-driver-rubens-barrichellos-iracing-stream>) wanted a relatively accurate, engaging, and convincing digital facsimile of driving a Ferrari sports car, he couldn't just find it anywhere. He had to enlist the help of Ferrari's friends at once-juggernaut Sega, and get himself a *Ferrari F355 Challenge* arcade cabinet—like one that's listed for sale right now at [Bring a Trailer](<https://bringatrailer.com/listing/arcade-game-2/>).

Right off the bat, I'll say that if I had a garage, I'd be fighting the top bidders for this machine. Either way, I love that we've reached a point where these are getting the respect and attention they deserve on sites like Bring a Trailer, alongside [actual F355s](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/ferrari-gifted-this-f355-to-michael-schumacher-now-its-for-sale-without-reserve>).

For those who don't know the story, *F355 Challenge* only happened because legendary game designer Yu Suzuki, responsible for 1986's *Out Run*, wanted a realistic simulation of driving his personal F355. He and his [AM2](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/daytona-usa-2-is-finally-coming-to-consoles-25-years-after-arcade-release>) development studio made it happen, and the game released to arcades in 1999, before home conversions on the Dreamcast and PlayStation 2 in 2000 and 2002, respectively.

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2612-31187-scaled-copy.jpg>)

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2604-30265-scaled-copy.jpg>)

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2644-30736-scaled-copy.jpg>)

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2588-29909-scaled-1.jpg>)

*F355 Challenge* was pretty advanced for its time, a title laser-focused on replicating the dynamics of [Ferrari](<https://www.thedrive.com/category/ferrari-news>)'s sports car alone, on many of the courses that the customer racing series of the same name used to visit. The original run of deluxe cabinets was fitted with clutch pedals and six-speed shifters, as well as paddles, which were novel back then. It all sounds quaint by today's standards, but you didn't see a true, three-pedal manual transmission in the arcade outside of early 3D sims like *Hard Drivin'*, and that game was generations out of date by the time *F355* arrived.

The deluxe cabs also had triple-screen setups, foreshadowing the chosen rigs of many future sim racing enthusiasts. Sega stuffed in four of its NAOMI arcade boards to power these things: One for each display, and another as a master, to sync them all together. I had an opportunity to get behind the wheel of a deluxe machine a few years ago, and although the decades were not kind to its inputs or force-feedback steering system, I still had a blast.

![Adam sits in an F355 Challenge deluxe arcade cabinet, as two people outside the cabinet are kneeling](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_20220624_160341_108-copy.jpg>)
*Here I am, sitting in an *F355 Challenge* deluxe cabinet. Those other people are praying to Yu Suzuki—it's a long story. *Courtesy Josh Davis**

By the way, you may notice a screed on the seatbacks in the listing. It's a message, written by Yu Suzuki, and it's so earnest and of the era that I adore it: *"In 1985, there was* Hang On*, followed by* Out Run *in 1986. Over the years, I've made many driving games, and it has always been my aim to produce a driving game in which pro drivers would be able to beat game enthusiasts. After ten years, I have finally been able to achieve this goal. With the assistance of Ferrari and many pro drivers, I have created a machine that is more like an actual racing simulator than a game, and I hope that this game will evoke the same level of feeling and passion as that of an actual Ferrari. I now present this game for the enjoyment of all motor sports fans around the world."*

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xl7X6TozEw

I doubt anyone would call *F355 Challenge* truly faithful to driving the real artifact today, but it is fun, and it does still reward precision and finesse in the way modern racing sims do. [Suzuki once said](<https://www.ign.com/articles/2000/05/30/igndc-interviews-yu-suzuki>) that Barrichello was interested in buying such a machine, though I can't find any word that he ultimately did. Somebody should ask him next time they see him.

Unfortunately, the cabinet [for sale today on BaT](<https://bringatrailer.com/listing/arcade-game-2/>) is a dual, two-player unit, which lacks the six-speed shifter and clutch pedal. That wouldn't stop me, though, and it shouldn't stop you. The unit is located in Connecticut and is being auctioned with no reserve, though the bidding has already reached $4,500 as of this writing, with two days left to go.

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/F355Challenge_NAOMI_JP_Flyer_1-1-copy.jpg>)

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/F355Challenge_NAOMI_JP_Flyer_1-4-copy.jpg>)

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/F355Challenge_NAOMI_JP_Flyer_1-6-copy.jpg>)

*Got tips? Send ’em to tips@thedrive.com*[](<https://www.thedrive.com/authors/ronan-glon>)

## Author
Adam is a Senior Editor at The Drive, concentrating on curating and developing the site's slate of daily journalism, from initial pitch to final copy edit. When he's not at his desk researching leads and working with writers, he's testing vehicles or reviewing racing games, new and old. He joined The Drive in 2023, following seven years of covering consumer technology and cars. A car lover and gamer since his earliest memories, Adam came to know the automotive world through video games. First it was Daytona USA, Sega Rally, and Ridge Racer; then came Need For Speed, which inspired an encyclopedic knowledge of '90s supercars, and, of course, Gran Turismo. If not for them, he'd assuredly be doing something else right now. Adam is based in the suburbs outside Philly, where there are ample roads for his hot hatch to stretch its legs. In his car, he's probably listening to indie rock, drum and bass, or Yankees baseball.

### Author social links  
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[Instagram](<https://www.instagram.com/pioneerspine/>)  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/aismail1/>)