The music video for Cosmic Girl depicts three famous supercars driving and racing each other through several highways and mountain roads across a desert landscape from clear daylight to dawn. The cars in the video are a black Ferrari F355 GTS, a purple Lamborghini Diablo SE30 and a red Ferrari F40. That black F355 GTS wasn't just a prop. It belonged to Jay Kay, the man who's built one of the most enviable car collections in Britain.
When the F355 GTS launched in 1995, it cost approximately £100,000 to £110,000 new in the UK. The GTS model was based on the Berlinetta but offered a removable targa style hardtop roof which could be stored behind the seats, powered by the same 3.5 liter V8 capable of 375 hp. A total of 2,048 GTS cars were delivered with the 6 speed manual transmission, making it rarer than the Berlinetta from day one.
The Value Equation
Today, Ferrari F355 GTS manual values range from $106,000 to $307,000 depending on condition and provenance, with the top sale reaching $307,000 for a 1998 model. In UK pounds, that translates to roughly £80,000 to £240,000. Average good condition examples sit around £130,000, which represents approximately 18 to 30 percent appreciation over the original purchase price depending on specification and history.
Adjust the original £100,000 to £110,000 for inflation and you're looking at £200,000 to £220,000 in today's money. So in real terms, the F355 GTS has actually depreciated slightly from its inflation adjusted price. But here's where provenance changes everything. Jay Kay's car, with its connection to one of the most iconic music videos of the 1990s, would command significant premium over standard examples. Celebrity ownership, video appearance, and cultural significance add value conventional pricing guides don't capture.
Why It Held Value
The F355 represents a sweet spot in Ferrari's timeline. The F355 was the last in the series of mid engine Ferrari models with the Flying Buttress rear window, a lineage going back to the 1965 Dino 206 GT. It's the final analog Ferrari before electronics dominated, the last mid-engine V8 with truly mechanical character before the 360 brought modernity.
In the UK only seven F355s with a manual gearbox were delivered to the UK market. Just four Berlinettas, zero GTS, and three Spiders. Wait, zero manual GTS models in the UK? That can't be right given Jay Kay owned one, unless his was European spec or that statistic refers to a specific variant. Regardless, manual 355s in any form are rare in Britain, which supports values.
The GTS specifically occupies middle ground between hardcore Berlinetta and compromised Spider. It wasn't that sporty anymore since it had to reinforce the chassis, but it wasn't as flimsy as the cabriolet. That compromise appeals to buyers wanting open air experience without the structural penalties of a full convertible.
The Cosmic Girl Effect
Celebrity provenance matters. Michael Schumacher's 1996 F355 GTS sold at RM Sotheby's, finished in Blu Le Mans with cream leather, commanded premium pricing due to its Formula One champion ownership. Jay Kay's car carries similar weight. The man is a known car collector with impeccable taste. He's owned a Ferrari Enzo, Ferrari LaFerrari, Aston Martin DB5, Maserati AG6, Mercedes 600, and a Lamborghini Miura SV worth substantially more than the Diablo.
That Cosmic Girl video has been watched millions of times. The black F355 GTS, the purple Diablo, the red F40 blasting through Spanish desert roads became automotive iconography. Jay Kay had to drive the Diablo with no windscreen for most of the video after a precision driver knocked the camera off a cliff and took out the front windscreen, which is why you see him squinting and trying to sing the song while driving mountain roads. The chaos behind the scenes only added to the legend.
The Investment
Buy the right car at the right time with the right specification and hold long enough, depreciation reverses. The F355 GTS hit its value trough around 2010 to 2012 when buyers dismissed it as outdated technology requiring expensive maintenance. Anyone who bought then is showing profit now. Anyone who bought new and held through the depreciation curve is approaching breakeven in nominal terms, though inflation adjusted they're still underwater.
But Jay Kay wasn't buying for investment. He was buying to drive, to enjoy, to feature in videos that defined an era. The appreciation is incidental. The experience was the point. In the Cosmic Girl video, the F355 was driven by what one would assume is the titular Cosmic Girl while Jay Kay chased in the purple Lamborghini. That's the entire philosophy. Buy cars you want to use, not cars you hope appreciate.
The F355 GTS proves you can own good cars that don't depreciate catastrophically if you choose wisely. Manual transmission, limited production GTS variant, famous ownership, cultural significance through music video appearance. None of this was predictable in 1996. It's only obvious looking backward. That's always how these things work. The cars worth owning are the ones people will remember decades later for reasons beyond speed or rarity. The F355 GTS became more than a Ferrari. It became part of 1990s cultural memory. That's worth more than any specification sheet suggests.