Restomods walk the ultimate tightrope in the automotive world. Shops that do too little to a car can feel like they’re overcharging for no reason, while those that do too much will have people saying they’ve ruined a good thing. DRVN Automotive seems to have struck a perfect balance with its first restomod, the 355 by Evoluto.
DRVN Automotive is a group of brands based in the United Kingdom that for years has been working with mainstream manufacturers to develop and produce vehicles. For the first time, it’s decided to branch out and create a product for itself using a new brand under its umbrella: Evoluto Automobili.
While it’s easy to modernize electronics and bump power in anything 30 years old, revamping the Ferrari F355’s design for the modern era was a daunting task, says DRVN CEO Iain Muir.
“All cars are about a personal preference, aren’t they?” Muir told Motor1. “And you’re going to have purists that don’t want to change anything in a car. We left the styling down to Ian Callum.”
Peyton Guercio (@guercio.visuals) / DRVN Automotive
Peyton Guercio (@guercio.visuals) / DRVN Automotive
Callum is a legend in the automotive world. Responsible for penning icons like the original Aston Martin Vanquish and Jaguar F-Type, he now runs his own studio, Callum Designs.
“He’s one of the greatest car designers of all time,” Muir says. “When we had our design review meetings with them, and sat with him at length on many occasions going through it, we were aware that [the F355] was a naturally very pretty car.
“But modern 21st century manufacturing techniques enable you to do more with the lines on a car and with the sculpture in a car than you can necessarily do back when the car was launched. And it’s using those modern capabilities to be able to accentuate what you see.”
The 355 by Evoluto, then, presents more as an “F355 Plus” than a new, fully modern take on the 1990s icon. Neither the shape nor the fascias have changed. There are still pop-up headlights and four beautiful, round taillights. The most obvious evolution comes at the rear, where that taillight cluster and the diffuser have been redesigned. The wheels are new split five-spoke 19-inchers that shroud massive Brembo brakes.
Peyton Guercio (@guercio.visuals) / DRVN Automotive
Look closer and you’ll begin to spot more changes. There are extra vents above the headlights and on the rear haunches, there to allow more airflow. The side scoops for the engine are bigger. The body is 1.5 inches wider than before, giving the car a more defined, aggressive stance.
“But it’s still instantly recognizable as a 355,” says Muir.
While most of the exterior upgrades are decidedly subtle, the underskin upgrades are far more extensive. DRVN uses a donor car to keep the original VIN, stripping it down to the bare steel chassis before fixing any imperfections. Then, structural carbon fiber is added to improve stiffness.
“Our design and engineering team ran the chassis through computer-aided engineering software, and we bent it virtually to see where the stronger points on the chassis and where the weaker points are on the chassis, again using technology that wasn’t available at that time,” says Muir. “It showed us several areas in the car that we wanted to improve the stiffness.”
Peyton Guercio (@guercio.visuals) / DRVN Automotive
Peyton Guercio (@guercio.visuals) / DRVN Automotive
Peyton Guercio (@guercio.visuals) / DRVN Automotive
Those areas are bonded and fused with structural carbon fiber panels, shaped to fit perfectly with the original chassis. The pieces can be found in places like the rear bulkhead, the side skirts, and even the rear fascia. That carbon panel that holds the taillights is now a structural part of the chassis, as is the rear decklid cover. Torsional stiffness is up by 23% as a result, says Muir.
Meanwhile, the entire car is still 220 pounds lighter than a standard F355, for a curb weight of 2,755 pounds. That’s thanks to extensive use of carbon for the body panels.
“Everything other than the base chassis itself, which includes the roof and the rear buttresses, is [carbon fiber],” Muir tells us. “The bumpers are all carbon, the doors, the fenders, and all the interior substrates.”
Despite all of the carbon, Muir says most of the weight loss can be attributed to the revamped interior. While the 355 looks very much like the original design on the outside, the cabin has been completely overhauled and modernized.
“There’s not one single original substrate kept in the interior,” says Muir. “It’s all brand new, with the exception of the [instrument] binnacle. And it’s all carbon fiber. We’ve done that for two reasons: One, for light weighting, obviously, and strength. But, the other reason is that we want every car to be able to be a one-of-one commission for the clients.
Peyton Guercio (@guercio.visuals) / DRVN Automotive
Peyton Guercio (@guercio.visuals) / DRVN Automotive
“So we’ve designed all the substrates internally so that they can be a visual carbon fiber, or you can cover them in Alcantara or leather and give people as many options as possible to put their own stamp on the car.”
The drivetrain too has been given a serious update. The iconic five-valve 3.5-liter V-8 is still present and accounted for, but it’s essentially all-new.
“There’s over 200 new components in the engine itself, and we have ported the head to increase airflow, and [installed a] coil-on-plug ignition system,” Muir says. “We have redesigned and re-engineered many of the components.”
The result is 414 horsepower on the dyno, around 100 more horses over the equivalent factory-built engine. Plenty for a car that weighs less than a brand-new GR86. But that’s not all. DRVN plans to offer an optional upgrade to 500 hp for customers who want even more thrust.
“That’s got even more extensive changes to it,” says Muir. “We’re increasing that [engine] to 3.9 liters, and there’ll be new pistons.”
Peyton Guercio (@guercio.visuals) / DRVN Automotive
Every 355 by Evoluto will come standard with the F355’s OEM-spec six-speed gated manual transmission. Unlike the rest of the car, nothing inside or out is modified.
“As far as the gearbox is concerned, we’re not making any changes to it,” Muir tells Motor1.
“What we’re doing is completely stripping it down and completely refurbishing the gearbox back to factory-fresh, and then putting it back into the car, ready for the customer.”
With a starting price of £695,000 (around $922,000) plus the price of a donor car, the 355 by Evoluto is more expensive than most new Ferraris. Still, interested buyers are already being directed to a waiting list for the planned run of 50 cars.
“We’re currently oversubscribed for the program, which is a fantastic position to be in,” Muir says. “As far as the feedback from customers, it’s been fantastic.”