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Ferrari 550 coupe cars for sale
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2000 Ferrari 550 2 door coupe 2000 Ferrari 550 Maranello Immaculate original condition- Price reduction
$208,900
West Hollywood, California
2000 Ferrari 550 Maranello Red/Tan 13.5K Miles, loaded with options, no damage history clean Carfax, very well documented history. This 550 I personally sold new to multiple world champion boxer Oscar Del Hoya when I was the Manager of Ferrari Beverly Hills. I know all the subsequent Southern California owners personally and I can attest that this car has always been garaged and well maintained. The leather is in immaculate supple condition and has no shrinkage or dryness that is common in most of these 550’s.Factory options:Daytona Seats, with Red piping,Scuderia Shields, Diamond tufted Leather Rear Shelf,3 piece factory modular wheels.Very Rare Fiorano Handling package Factory LuggageRed Brake Calipers See Window sticker for full itemsWhen the car was new Ferrari BH installed the Tubi exhaust as well as a tasteful high end fully removable sound system installed by a well known Ferrari Stereo expert. As mentioned the system can be put back to stock.Clear Bra as well as Skid plates. Cilajet was later added to protect the paint which is immaculate condtionAll books tools keys, car cover etc are with the car.This very 550m was featured in Automobile Magazine 550 Buyers guide. See attached article. The car is now due for its belt service due to time and we can include the service in the deal. The car is available in Los Angeles for inspection by appointment.For more picture and information please go to THECARSHRINK.COM$208,900 OBO Reasonable offers will be considered.
Trim 2 door coupe
Ferrari : 550 MARANELLO FERRARI 550 MARNANELLO SERVICED GIALLO YELLOW DAYTONA SEATS 275 YELLOW HRE
$209,000
Beverly Hills, California
You are looking at an investment grade Ferrari 550 Maranello and one of the very best cars ever to come out of the Ferrari factory. This is truly a spectacular condition Ferrari 550 Maranello. I have seen two 550s with 6,000 miles on them and they did not look as good as this car. This Maranello features the rare and strikingly handsome Giallo Modena color paint, an outstanding glove soft leather interior and an engine clean enough to eat from. Appearing as nearly new are the black leather Daytona leather seats and the mint condition diamond leather rear shelf. The original official color of Ferrari was in fact Giallo (yellow) as this is the official color of Modena, Italy where Enzo Ferrari was born and where he located his factory. Red was the color of Italy (as green was England, blue for France, silver for Germany, etc.) but the actual color of Ferrari was yellow, which is why this color is called Modena Yellow (and why the Ferrari badge features a yellow background behind the prancing horse). Whereas red maybe too flashy for some or simply far too common, this yellow has the same visual power as the red, if not more, while being far more rare and less ostentatious. While there are many red, black, blue, silver and grey 550s yellow Maranellos are particularly rare. This Ferrari looks more like a one-year old car rather than a nearly 20 year-old classic Ferrari, such is its exceptional condition. The dash is as new and with none of the typical drying or shrinkage issues. The leather seats, featuring their “Daytona” pattern, are as new and without wear. There are no sticky parts. The Books and Manuals and their leather pouch and the Leather toolkit are included as shown in the photograph. The major service was recently performed, including new timing belts, tensioner bearings, drive belts, filters, oils, fluids, gaskets and seals, spark plugs, pollen filter, etc. Also included are a set of premium HRE wheels with Michelin tires (265 mm/ 19” front and 325 mm / 20” rear) that cost nearly $9,000. (I will try and get a photo of these wheels on the car and post the pic in the next couple of days.) The wheels look absolutely stunning on the 550. The OEM wheels are as new and feature brand spanking new freshly mounted Bridgestone Potenza tires (Bridgestone Potenzas were an OEM tire fitment for the 550 from Ferrari when new) with their stickers still on them. The 550 Maranello is one of the hottest Ferraris on the market today and for good reason as it is perhaps the best all around front-engine GT ever built by Maranello. When new the world recognized the 550 as the true spiritual successor to the legendary Daytona. At a recent Concours, studying the profiles of the Datyona, 365GTC, the 550 and a yellow 275GTB, the 550 looked more athletic, balanced and handsome than the 365 GTC or the Daytona. Only the seven figure 275 was arguably more handsome. Interestingly enough, side by side the 550 more closely resembles the 275 than the Daytona as well. (Long hood, rear fender power bulge, flip up rear tail, etc.) It's clear to see the 550 is the modern day interpretation and successor to the 275. The owner of the yellow 275, a well-known collector, told me once how he'd only paid several thousand dollars for the 275 years earlier and now clearly benefiting from that ownership and the car's appreciation! So why am I selling my 550 if it's such a great car? Because I'd like to buy a 550 Barchetta and they are rather expensive. (If any Barchetta owners are interested in a trade please contact me.) The 550 is the last true Ferrari GT featuring an Enzo-era gated manual shifter, an actual accelerator cable connecting the driver directly to the engine and a traditional tubular steel chassis. The 550 is a solid and reliable sports car as well as rolling sculpture. Brock Yates, who along with Dan Gurney drove a Daytona from Coast to Coast in the Cannonball Run in just 36 hours with Gurney purportedly driving some 20 miles at speeds in excess of 170 mph, compared the Daytona to the 550. In his 1997 Car & Driver comparison he wrote the Daytona and the 550 were “amazingly similar in concept and capability” and that one should “Consider that the Daytona and the Maranello are genetically linked in overall architecture.” Back in 1997 Yates wrote: “Over a quarter-century apart in age, but amazingly similar in concept and capability. They are the fabled 365GTB/4 Daytona (circa 1968-73) and the current, potentially fabled 550 Maranello, introduced in 1996. Both cars represent the quintessential Ferrari theme; a theme Enzo established in 1947.” Brock Yates, now a legend in his own right, is one who would know. (More from Brock Yates below.) Daytona coupes are now pushing $1,000,000.00 while the 550 is a better Ferrari in every way, as shown in a side by side comparison by EVO Magazine with the 275, Daytona, 550 and the 599. Of these cars, EVO picked the 550 as the better of this bunch. (See below.) Also included in the test was the 575 with a manual transmission…a car that today costs around $300,000 or more…if you can even find a 575 with a manual gearbox! Yet, by comparison for collectability the 550 comes out on top. The 575 has drive by wire which lacks the feel of the direct accelerator cable found in the 550 and Daytona. Nearly all 575s are the less desirable automatic/paddle shifters. The 550 interior is a much cleaner design and more attractive with flowing lines that contour cohesively from the door panels around through to the center console. The nose of the 575 was also rounded off and in the process it lost the tailored sharpness of the 550’s shark nose. The 575 is a great car but the 550 is the closest thing to a Daytona in terms of visceral feel and stunning purity of design which make the 550 the most collectable coupe after the Daytona. When the 550 came out Daytona coupes could be purchased for around $100k so their values have increased approximately 7 times over since then, making them unaffordable to most. Don’t be surprised with the 550 follows in its predecessor’s footsteps. Even the never much loved 365 GTC/4 are now selling for more than $300k so you can imagine what the well-received 550 will appreciate to! The 550 is not only remarkably handsome and exotic looking, but fast (nearly 200 mph and 0-60 in just 4.2 seconds), comfortable and reliable. The 550 was a stunning 3.2 seconds faster around Ferrari’s Fiorano race track than the mid-engined 512M. The sound of the 550’s V12, with its titanium connecting rods and four valves per cylinder, is second to none. It is truly the perfect all around driving Ferrari and as rolling art with its own symphony it is also a great investment. Just two years ago when I sold my 512TR I noted in my Ebay ad that the 512TR was going to go up in value. It was simply too good of a car, looks and performance wise, to not go up in value when compared to other cars on the market. Well, since then the car has more than doubled in value as is valued at well-over $200k. Yet Ferrari produced about 9,957 Testarossas (TR, 512TR and 512M) and only about 3,083 550 Maranello so there are nearly three and a quarter TRs for every one 550. There is no doubt the 550 is visceral Ferrari with a traditional Enzo era tube chassis and gated shifter: A car that’s engaging to drive and better in performance in every way than the Daytona and arguably just as good looking on the outside and unquestionably better on the inside. (The seats of in the Daytona don’t even adjust at all.) There is no doubt the 550 Maranellos values will be increasing dramatically. As it is, there are precious few on today’s marketplace for sale and when they do come up for sale they don’t last very long. At RM’s September 2015 auction in England, Max Girardo, auctioneer and managing director of RM Sotheby’s European division, said in a post-sale news release that the market is still commanding strong money, and rather significantly he noted further, “We welcomed bidders from 26 countries, of which 23 percent were new clients to RM Sotheby’s.” When the 550 was produced back in the late 1990s Russia, China, India and other economies were struggling and emerging economies and they were not buying Ferraris. Today’s population of 7 billion people with nearly 2,000 billionaires around the globe means the demand for collectible Ferraris is greater than ever, as shown by RM. The 550 is also rare with just over 3,000 produced compared to 16,000 or so 360s and likely similar numbers for the 430 and 458, etc. A 550 Maranello convertible (a “Barchetta”) was sold by Gooding for $762,000 this past August and Parties are now routinely asking half a million dollars for the convertible version of the 550….a car with no real roof and a car that is identical to the 550 Maranello mechanically. Just two years ago the average asking price for a Barchetta was just under $200k. This gives insight into the future value of the Maranello. Ferrari made more 246 Dinos than 550 Maranellos (3,761 compared to just 3,083 Maranellos) yet those V6 engined Ferraris can run $400k to $500k. The 550 Maranello is only now starting to come into its own and a year or two from now these cars will be soon prohibitively expensive for most people to purchase. Similarly, remember when Boxers were ~$65k? Those days are long gone now as well. The 550 is rapidly being appreciated now for the classic Daytona successor that it is…only better. Whether as an investment or as your daily driver, the 550 is an all around stunning winner of a Ferrari and this one now for sale is a rare gem. BROCK YATES: Attempts to compare a modem automobile with an aged counterpart are as futile as those tedious sports-bar arguments over whether Babe Ruth could hit a 100-mph Randy Johnson fastball, or if Rocky Marciano could go toe to toe with Evander Holyfield, or if Emmitt Smith can hit off-tackle as hard and quick as Jim Brown. Apples and oranges, as the old saw goes, and as time marches on, the size, strength, and style of both men and machines are altered to a point wherein historical comparisons lapse into pointless gibberish based only on prejudice and the age of the proponents. Except in the case of two Ferraris, over a quarter-century apart in age, but amazingly similar in concept and capability. They are the fabled 365GTB/4 Daytona (circa 1968-73) and the current, potentially fabled 550 Maranello, introduced in 1996. Both cars represent the quintessential Ferrari theme; a theme Enzo established in 1947 with his nascent 125 sports car and carried forward in increasingly brash and outrageous forms, i.e., a well-founded chassis cradling a front-mounted, narrow-angle V-12 producing prodigious horsepower from relatively small displacements. Consider that the Daytona and the Maranello are genetically linked in overall architecture. Both are V-12, front-engine machines with transaxles and unequal-length, coil-sprung independent suspensions. Four-wheel vented disc brakes and two-place, grand-touring coupe bodywork with high levels of comfort are common traits, as are stunning performance figures and relatively large dimensions and heavy weight. Clearly, the 550 is a technical marvel compared with its cousin, owing to its electronically controlled fuel injection and adjustable traction control, shock absorbers, and anti-lock brakes, plus a plethora of luxury power options. The Daytona has simple, powerless bucket seats, and the most vivid and unpleasant clue to its age is its recirculating-ball manual steering, which serves as a mobile Soloflex at low speeds (although it becomes feathery and precise at highway velocities.) Moreover, its steering wheel resides at a bus driver's angle, recalling the days when such ergonomic decisions were governed exclusively by the bulk of the Commendatore, who mandated all wheel and pedal positions (thereby eliminating all humans of small stature from becoming Ferrari drivers). With 1.1 more liters of engine displacement than the Daytona (5.5 liters versus 4.4) and vastly more efficient port fuel injection, four-valve cylinder-head design, and intake and exhaust manifold tuning, the 550's engine easily overcomes stringent emissions rules to pump out 458 horses, or 143 more than its cousin. When once considers that this is being produced by a tractable, smooth-idling, normally-aspirate engine, the Ferrari's engineering staff's skill at producing steroid-induced horsepower comes into focus. EVO MAGAZINE REVIEWS CLASSIC FERRARI GTs Ferrari 599 GTB vs 275 GTB, Daytona, 550 Maranello and 575M 27 Feb 2013 The launch of a new V12 Ferrari is the perfect excuse to bring together its front-engined forebears. Jethro Bovingdon drives them all, from sublime 275 GTB to stunning 599 GTB Fiorano. Millions of car enthusiasts suddenly understood what it feels like to be the front splitter on a 430 Scuderia when the F12 Berlinetta was revealed. In fact my chin is still recovering from the gravel rash incurred by dragging my bottom jaw around for at least two days in the immediate aftermath: 730bhp, wild aerodynamic devices like the ‘Aero Bridge’, Active Brake Cooling, a top speed of over 211mph… it’s not so much an evolutionary step as a giant leap into a tear in the time-space continuum. Right now we can only imagine how it drives (brilliantly seems a safe bet), but what we can do is look back to see what has made the front-engined Ferrari V12 berlinettas so extraordinary in the past, and perhaps identify the magic that the F12 would do well to carry into its startling new hyper-reality. So we find ourselves at Millbrook Proving Ground on a drizzly Saturday morning. The forecast says we can look forward to sunshine but it hardly seems to matter. Unless giant rocks of ice start to fall from the sky, the weather couldn’t possibly spoil this very special day. It’s one of those pinch-yourself moments as I look around to see 275 GTB, 365 GTB/4 Daytona, 550 Maranello, 575M and 599 GTB Fiorano… I want to jump up and down and run in circles but instead I just nod in dumbstruck silence as David Ingram-Hill hands me the keys to his family’s beautiful 275 GTB and coolly gives me some instructions about the finer points of handling this near 50-year-old road-racer. ‘It’s a 1965 two-cam six-carb model with the Webers instead of the Solex, steel- bodied and a long-nose/short-tail car. It’s got a dogleg first and the throttle is a bit sticky initially. Use all the available revs, no restrictions, just go for it. It goes like stink. You will absolutely love it.’ David is, as you may have gathered, a bit of a hero. This 275 (insured by us for £800,000) has recently skimmed across Patagonia in the 1000 Millas Sport rally, is a regular on the Mille Miglia and gets used very, very hard every time it’s brought out into the wild. It’s beautifully maintained but never pampered, loved for what it does, not just how it looks. Even so, driving it onto Millbrook’s challenging Alpine Hill Route in the damp is enough to get a swarm of mutant butterflies dive-bombing my stomach lining. It’s hard to imagine a more evocative machine than a bright red 275 GTB with white roundels on the bonnet and doors and huge Scuderia Ferrari shields on the front wings. Swing open the tiny, lightweight door and drop into the low-backed black bucket seat, remember to breathe, then just soak in the details. The big, metal-spoked, leather-trimmed wheel with that famous badge staring proudly back at you; the large, clear instruments set in a simple wooden dash (speedo reading to 300kph, red line at 7500rpm); the tightly-gated ’box and the deliciously tactile gearknob with those perfect, finger-shaped indentations on its rear face; the miniature elegance of the door mirrors; the almost pornographic rise and fall of the curvaceous wings and bonnet… God, I’m as cynical as the next man, but the 275 is plain irresistible. Turn the tiny key, press the oversized black plastic rocker switch marked ‘A’ where you’d expect to find a stereo in a normal car, listen for the click of the fuel pump, turn the key a bit further and the 3.3-litre Colombo V12 (see panel, p68) starts to churn. Now squeeze the throttle ever so gently and feel the weight of the carbs pushing back… the engine catches then thrums and thrashes at a fast idle. I’m told this particular V12 is good for around 300bhp and the GTB is built like a racer – it weighs just 1200kg. As I take up the clutch and try to judge that heavy throttle, I can’t help wondering if the 205/70 VR14 (yes, 14!) tyres are going to be my friends or a deadly foe… The weighty first inch or so of throttle pedal is the only heavy thing about the 275 GTB. Its unassisted steering is light and intuitive with none of the slack I’d expected, the gearchange is precise despite the transaxle layout (then a first for a Ferrari berlinetta but continued to this day) and there’s a supple effortlessness about its damping. But that doesn’t make it a relaxing car to drive – it’s too intense for that. The V12 is torque-lite but rev-happy, and to make it feel like the full 300bhp you need to be determined to see the needle swing towards the red. The V12’s complex tangle of noise is pulled tight as the revs rise and, much as I hesitate to use the words, the resulting snarl at the top end is pure Le Mans. The 275 is not a physical car to drive but it requires real mental discipline – you must keep the engine bubbling over 5000rpm, the gearbox needs careful coaxing and an expertly judged blip of revs to change down cleanly, and the steering is exquisitely accurate but lacks the busy feel I’d expected. Even on the heavily cambered turns of the Hill Route it never weights-up to give you something to lean against; instead you feel for the grip through the seat and I never felt minded to really fling it towards a corner. I suspect experience would breed much more confidence because the basics are so right: the 275 GTB is so narrow and agile, the body control is absolutely remarkable for such an old car, the brakes (here upgraded to Daytona-spec) are superb, and the whole car just seems incredibly happy when it’s being driven hard. The noise, the smell of hot oil, the way reflections seem to rush up to the curved windscreen and then streak past the side windows… it’s just pure theatre and pure race car. I’m smitten. Imagine driving this car in 1965 when the average family car (think of an Anglia 105E) covered the 0-60mph yardstick in around 25 seconds and could barely hit 80mph flat-out… Daytona. I am about to drive a Ferrari Daytona. I knew the numbers by heart as a kid: 4.4-litre V12, 352bhp at 7500rpm, 174mph, 0-60mph in 5.4sec, 0-100mph in 12.6… To call the 365 GTB/4 an icon is like saying that Roger Federer is quite good at tennis. This is supercar royalty. Now, it might make you feel a bit sick, but our new best mate Mr Ingram-Hill also owns the Daytona (I won’t mention the F40 and the F50). He warns me it’s a bit different to the 275 and the key to that is one figure that my young mind never really factored-in to the Daytona myth. It weighs 1600kg. Compared with its predecessor it’s a genuine porker. The question is, has it been on protein shakes and designer steroids or just spent too long at the pasta buffet? The sliver of chrome that acts as a door handle gives no clue to the car’s heft, but settle into the laid-back, squidgy seat and it feels like a very different animal to the racy, minimalist 275. There’s a wide centre console (complete with electric window switches), the steering wheel is vast, you sit much higher and the big, faded black dash has a sort of old-school Californian glamour to it – in other words it’s stylish but unnecessarily huge. Wow, talk about a shift in focus. The broad-chested Tipo 251 V12 churns in the same slightly reluctant fashion before booming to life and seeming to swallow up the whole car. This one has a deeper but still super-complex note. The ’box still has a familiar dogleg pattern but the exposed metal gate has vanished and the tight precision is replaced by a loose, long-throw action. Again the big carbs give a heavy stiction to the throttle but that’s nothing compared with the steering (still unassisted), which is painfully heavy as I roll gingerly out of our little collecting area and on to the Hill Route. Within perhaps five seconds of driving the Daytona you know it’s not a wild, highly-strung and enthralling road-racer like its predecessor. The weight of the steering, the huge torque of the engine, the overly-sensitive brakes… virtually every detail says this is pure GT, a sea- change in the direction of front-engined V12 Ferraris. However, I don’t mind admitting it makes me feel instantly more comfortable. Yes, the steering is almost comically heavy and there’s more body-roll and less agility, but that means the Daytona is easier to read and doesn’t feel like it might skate across the surface unexpectedly. Delve deeper, though, and the Daytona starts to show its limitations. The engine is absolutely stonking, no question. It’s quicker than the 275 even pulling that extra 400kg, and despite that deep well of torque it’ll rev right out, too. But push the chassis harder and the steering becomes almost unmanageable and never seems to lighten at all, the body starts to lurch a little between direction changes, there’s inevitable understeer and the gearbox has such wide ratios that smooth progress is very tricky to maintain. I’ve never driven a car that needs such a massive throttle input to match the revs on a downshift. It’s fair to say that after the fairytale brilliance of the 275 GTB, the 365 GTB/4 is something of a disappointment. Of course I absolutely accept that the Hill Route is the very worst place to drive the Daytona. This is a car for fast, wide French N-roads where you never dip below 100mph, society girlfriend in the passenger seat eager to get to Monte Carlo and congratulate you on your impeccable taste in bank accounts. Repeatedly. However, here and now it’s not a patch on that eager, fizzing 275 GTB and although I still want a Daytona in my kitchen, I wouldn’t be that bothered if it was bricked-in. Beautiful, thumpingly quick, magnificent noise… it just lacks that chassis sparkle I’d dreamt about. If it hadn’t been for the vision of Luca di Montezemolo, the Daytona might have been the last of its kind, the finale to a lost era of effortless continent-crossing married with genuine sports car thrills. But after the Berlinetta Boxer era and the heroically OTT Testarossa, 512 TR and F512M, in the late-’90s Ferrari went back to its front-engined roots. And how. The 550 Maranello was received with quiet confusion, furrowed brows and comparisons with the Toyota Supra. But any notion that Ferrari had lost the plot was found to be absurd as soon as journalists and customers began to drive the 550 in anger. It was the Daytona formula updated, refined and executed with stunning attention to detail. The launch of the Maranello in 1996 was before my time, but eight years later, when we were conducting our Greatest Drivers’ Cars feature (evo 066) I can clearly remember driving one across south Wales and wondering where Ferrari had hidden its 1716kg, wringing ever last drop from that creamy V12, smile growing wider with every corner. Nick Hill’s example is a peach. Gleaming in the sunshine, it’s hard to believe a car of such elegance could ever have been dismissed as a frump. I can barely wait to drive it. Instantly it feels like an old friend: the towering high-rise centre console still looks terrific; the wide transmission tunnel and proudly gated six-speed ’box holler that there’s some seriously big forces being channelled back to those rear wheels; even the plain, slightly slippery-looking three-spoke steering wheel feels just about perfect. With ribbed ‘Daytona’ seats, acres of creme leather and red carpets, this 550 is loaded with nostalgia but still functional and modern. Breathing fast and free through a Larini exhaust, the 5.5-litre V12 sounds like it’s got barely a tenth of the internal friction of the old stagers. Although the numbers say that the 485bhp Maranello isn’t that much quicker than the 352bhp Daytona (12.6sec to 100mph for the old timer, 10.1 for the 550), I think the steep inclines and wickedly cambered turns of the Hill Route might just paint a different picture. Sure enough the 550 Maranello feels lighter, faster and more agile than the Daytona. In fact even the 275 GTB feels slightly ponderous in comparison with the more modern V12. Quick steering, superb brakes, amazing throttle response and an abundance of torque just help you to drive closer to the 550’s limits with more margin for error and without having to carry all the speed that the front tyres can handle. In the older cars you suspect you have to get them dancing right on the limit to feel their real magic, well into the realms of momentum – a game with fearsome stakes. The 550 indulges a slow-in, fast-out approach so you can gain confidence as the front end bites, spot the exit and then load (or indeed overload) the rear tyres at will and steer the car on the throttle. It’s wonderfully accessible and ironically I think makes the newer car more fun at lower speeds. And what you’re accessing is still, 16 years on, truly sublime. The ride is firm (too firm if you select Sport mode, which makes the 550 unsettled) but the pay-off is an amazing ability to control its bulk, a front end that you can lean on with total confidence and a direct link between your right foot and a rear axle that’s always intimately involved with the car’s balance. It’s very rare to find a car that responds so cleanly and quickly to every input that you make, that makes the driver so central to how it behaves. There is pitch and roll but it’s all perfectly in tune and only increases your interaction with the car and gives you more options. Very few sports cars are blessed with such clarity and adjustability, and yet when you throttle back a bit the 550 is a simply brilliant and relaxing GT car. It takes elements of the rabid 275 and the laid-back Daytona and conjures a character that doesn’t feel compromised in any way, yet covers every base. It is simply a terrific car. The 575M, you may remember, didn’t get off to an auspicious start in 2002. It took the athletic control of the 550 and replaced it with flabby indecision. If you so much as showed a 575 a tricky compression it’d smash its belly into the road. Fortunately, Richard Allen’s 575M is fitted with the Fiorano handling package, lowering it by 15mm and retuning both the dampers and the steering, which restored much of the 550’s brilliance and became the default choice for buyers outside the US. I’m expecting it to feel like a slightly softer 550. Pull the door shut and the 575M is clearly a more modern Ferrari: dead ahead is a big central rev-counter, smaller speedo to its right. The steering wheel is smaller, more sculpted; the big shoebox console is gone. But the real change is the sheer reach of the revised 5.7-litre engine, now producing 508bhp and nudging the top speed up to 202mph, and the added polish to the chassis. I’d have scarcely believed it, but the 575M Fiorano monsters the 550. There’s more steering feel, greater traction, even a better ultimate balance. Within 200 yards I’m absolutely amazed, within half a mile I’m laughing at the ferocity of the engine, and within a mile I’ve turned off the traction control, stopped laughing and started working as hard as I can to bring out the best in the 575M, completely absorbed and more committed than I’d care to admit to the kind Mr Allen. Sorry Richard, but to drive the 575M in any other way just wouldn’t be right… A few laps of the route later, the 575M has me completely. The V12’s delivery knocks the wind from your lungs in the mid-range and is savage if you dare wring it out, the ’box is sweet and quick, the steering – so artificial at parking speeds – buzzes and tugs at your wrists above about 30mph, and the way you can dictate to the chassis without ever bullying it is just mesmerising. I’m bewitched – and bewildered to think that the 599 GTB is a big step on from this freakishly talented supercar… It is, too. The 599 is faster (a bit), has more grip (lots) and when you’re smacking home another violent gearshift, manettino set to ‘Race’, V12 screaming up towards 8000rpm, shift-lights on the carbon steering wheel blinking like crazy, you can only conclude that this is something truly extraordinary. But that’s not the end of the story. The 599 GTB is incredible but it’s also way too big, the chassis has astonishing agility but it’s also nervous and demanding, and every lump and bump seems to introduce expensive carbon venturi to coarse road surface. It’s more like a front-engined 430 Scuderia than a successor to the Daytona, 550 and 575M. The sheer physical size of the 599 GTB is extraordinary and the feeling that you’re a little kid in a big man’s car never evaporates. But the lightness to the way it drives is more extraordinary still. You’d barely guess there was a 6-litre V12 ahead of you when it pivots into a corner with seemingly no inertia to overcome, magnetorheological dampers keeping the body flat, steering light and completely uniform in weight, driving hard through the rear wheels and climbing in steps at 3000rpm and 5500rpm until you’re getting the full noise of 611bhp up towards eight. If there’s a downside it’s that the manic F1 gearshift, scalpel-sharp V12 and darty steering response seem to demand that you attack, attack, attack… it feels like the 599 GTB is running away from you and, when you attempt to wind the pace back in, the gearshift feels unnecessarily manic, the V12 doesn’t deliver such easy-going torque and, because there’s less weight transfer, the steering provides very little information about grip levels. It’s both highly-strung and slightly aloof after the 575M – an odd combination, but inescapable after the transparent balance of its predecessor. Privileges come no greater than driving these cars back-to-back on a perfect Spring day on a road with very loosely advised speed limits. I’ve been staggered, disappointed, elated, mildly terrified and completely smitten. The 275 feels like a racer with numberplates and I love its infectious character, its tiny dimensions, the elegance of every detail, the view, the smell and the noise when its V12 is working hard. Clearly the F12 Berlinetta would do well to recreate its sense of uncompromising dynamic focus. I didn’t gel with the Daytona but it too has lessons for the new car: The F12 needs the capability to deliver its performance easily and conjure up images of a lost way of life, a life of relaxed journeys down tree-lined French roads, of vast distances dispatched. The 550 and 575M nailed that dual character perfectly. They’re a delight to drive slowly, effortless at a fast cruise and yet totally absorbing with traction control disengaged, an empty passenger seat and a fabulous road ahead. The 599 GTB is a very different V12 Ferrari – more manic than the 275, more demanding than the lucid Maranellos, more thrilling than either on the right road on the right day, but less rounded, less loveable and less forgiving. The F12 will be faster still: its dual-clutch ’box will give it instant shifts, its active aero even greater stability at speed and its electronics should make 730bhp exploitable. I just pray it puts the driver right at its centre, just like the greats from Ferrari’s past. Can’t wait to find out.
Trim COUPE
Ferrari : 550 Base Coupe 2-Door 1998 ferrari 550 maranello base coupe 2 door 5.5 l
$70,000
Englewood, Colorado
1998 Ferrari 550 Maranello, The car has just had a complete major service, cams out all seals and timing belts replaced fuel filters, Cabin filter, Valve covers re powder coated, the car runs very strong and solid and is ready to go, It does have a rebuilt from salvage title from a minor accident the hood and left headlamp were the only parts needed to complete the repair, All work was done in house and we have pictures and documents to show what all was done, Bid with confidence this is a great car, 28k miles
Trim Base Coupe 2 Door
Ferrari : 550 Base Coupe 2-Door 1998 ferrari 550 maranello coupe 2 door 5.5 l v 12 rosso corsa
$96,000
Albuquerque, New Mexico
MOTIVA PERFORMACE Auto Sales Here we have a stunning example of a 1998 Ferrari 550 Maranello with only 23k miles. 6-speed gated manual transmission, classic Rosso Corsa (racing red) on beige leather interior. The combination of 485hp out of the 5.5 liter V12 and Pininfarina styling made for an instant classic. This car is all original and has not had any paint work. 100% garage kept.This 550 Maranello has always been very well cared for and only driven in nice weather. The leather and dash items are as they were when new and look and feel proper. This car has the all keys, manuals, books, and tool kit including a car cover. This car is all stock. With the price of 12 cylinder Ferrari's skyrocketing, this a perfect car to own with a proper V12 engine in mounted up front like Enzo wanted. Please feel free to call with questions 505-550-8899, ask for Dan. The car is located at Motiva Performance in Albuquerque, NM if you would like to take a look at it. Engine:Ferrari 550 Maranello V12 engine front-engined car. The engine is a naturally aspirated V12 with 4 valves per cylinder, dual overhead cams and variable length intake manifold. It displaces 5474 cc (334 in³) and produces 492 PS (485 hp, 357 kW) at 7000 rpm and 568.1 N·m (419 lb·ft) at 5000 rpm. Bore and stroke is 88 x 75 mm. Chassis:The 550 Maranello has a tubular steel frame chassis with light aluminum bodywork bolted to it and a 6-speed manual transmission. The steering is rack and pinion with variable power assist. The vented disc brakes are 330 mm (13.0 in) for the front and 310 mm (12.2 in) for the rear. Performance: The 550 Maranello can accelerate to 60 mph (97 km/h) in 4.2 seconds and can reach 161 kilometres per hour (100 mph)in 9.6 seconds The ¼ mile (0.4 km) time is 12.5 seconds at 116.9 mph. The top speed is 320.3 kilometers per hour (199.0 mph). Drag coefficient (Cd) was 0.33. Excellent Interior Excellent Carpets Excellent Seats Excellent Dashboard Excellent Panels / Headliner Excellent Exterior Excellent Original Paint Excellent Trim Condition Excellent Glass Condition No Visible Rust No Known Accidents No Known Bodywork Fully Detailed The successful high bidder will submit a $1,000 non-refundable deposit within 2 business days of the close of the auction to secure the vehicle. Buyer agrees to pay remaining balance due (plus applicable fees and taxes) within 5 days of the close of the auction. All financial transactions must be completed before delivery of the vehicle. Payment Methods: Cash (In Person), certified check, bank transfer, or 3rd-party financing. At this time, we do not provide in house shipping options. Any and all shipping is to be arranged by the buyer. We recommend using an auto shipper such as Out of state buyers are responsible for all state, county, city taxes and fees, as well as title/registration fees in the state that the vehicle will be registered. Please feel free to call with questions 505-550-8899, ask for Dan
Trim Base Coupe 2 Door
