The 355 Berlinetta was introduced in May, 1994 as the first in a successful series of F355 models. Initially, the 6-speed manual was the only transmission available. However, in 1997, the Berlinetta was the first ever road car to be equipped with the innovative F1-style gearbox management system.
Ferrari produced 4,871 road-going Berlinetta models during the entire production run, of which 3,829 were 6-speed and 1,042 were F1 transmissions.