2000 Ferrari 550 Maranello ***The Modern Daytona***


Details

Oldtimer Australia is delighted to offer for sale a factory right hand drive, matching numbers and highly optioned 2000 Ferrari 550 Maranello.

The service book confirms this car was delivered new on the 3rd March 2000 through HR Owen to its first owner in London, UK.

The MOT certificates on file and the entries in the service book confirm the mileage on the car as genuine. During its time in the UK the car was always serviced by Ferrari specialists. The most recent service was completed by Barkaways on the 29th September 2022. In addition to its annual service, the brake fluid was changed and the cambelts were replaced. At that time the odometer read 55,488 miles. Prior to this, the technicians at Barkaways carried out scheduled services in February 2020 at 54,357 miles and in July 2021 at 55,052 miles.

Today the odometer reads 55,544 miles.

The current owner originally kept the car at his home in the UK, before importing it into Australia early this year. There is an import approval on file for the car dated 12th January 2023. The car was imported into Queensland and complianced on the 16th May 2023.

Today this Ferrari 550 Maranello presents beautifully. The colour combination of ‘Argento Nurburgring’ with the ‘Bordeaux’ leather interior really suits the car and gives it a very elegant appearance. The optional Scuderia Ferrari wing shields are a nice finishing touch.

The paint on the car is generally in very good condition, though if you look closely there are a few minor stone chips and blemishes consistent with a 23 year old car that has been used and enjoyed. The most noticeable imperfection is a small area near the B pillar on the driver’s side of the car which has been touched up. On close inspection the paint colour match is not perfect. There are cracks in the black paint on the front spoiler. All of the external trim is in good condition.

The glass, which is all original, is generally in a good condition though the rear windscreen is showing some signs of delamination in the bottom corners. The rear windscreen surround is also starting to bubble and peel in the bottom right hand corner.

The wheels, which show some light wear consistent with usage, are in good condition. They are currently shod with Pirelli P-Zero tyres. The tyres on the front are 255/40/R18’s, date stamped 4510 (week 45, 2010) and the tyres on the rear are 295/35/ZR18’s date stamped 3210 (week 32, 2010). Whilst the tyres are still in good condition they should probably be replaced on age.

Open the door and you are welcomed by a beautifully presented interior. The Bordeaux upholstery is complimented by the black dash and upper section of the door cards. This car is fitted with the optional, fully adjustable, electric Daytona style seats, embossed ‘Cavallino’ emblems on the headrests, alcantara trimmed steering wheel and a diamond-quilted leather headlining and parcel shelf.

We just love the interior of this car! Overall, it presents exceptionally well. The seats are in very good condition with no cracks or tears in the leather. They are comfortable and provide ample support.  The only imperfection we noticed is some wear on the bolster of the driver’s seat, most likely caused by the seatbelt. This would be a simple fix for a good ‘leather doctor’. The dashboard, door cards, centre console and rear parcel shelf are all in excellent condition. The instruments are clear and in good working order. Soon after arriving into Australia all of the ‘sticky’ interior buttons were repaired by Lee Brothers in Albion, Brisbane. The panel which surrounds the air conditioning controls shows some wear. The air conditioning works but needs to be regassed.

There’s no doubt a Ferrari 550 Maranello is a great looking car, but they are even better to drive! After making ourselves comfortable behind the steering wheel it is time for our much anticipated test drive. The car starts easily and the thumping 5.5 litre V12 quickly settles into a smooth idle. First impressions are good, really good. After twenty minutes behind the wheel of this car it is hard to remove the smile from ones face! This Ferrari 550 Maranello is an absolute delight to drive. It has more than enough power on tap to satisfy the most exuberant driver! Ahhh yes a manual gearbox . . . and the gear changes are easy yet direct and very satisfying both up and down the box. The car handles, steers and stops as one would expect.

The Ferrari 550 Maranello is without doubt one of the great ‘modern era’ classic Ferraris. Its design, styling and the six speed manual gearbox in many ways pay homage to some of Enzo’s finest. The 550 Maranello marked Ferrari’s return to a front engine, rear wheel drive layout for its two seater 12 cylinder flagship model, 23 years after the 365 GTB/4 Daytona had been replaced by the mid engined Berlinetta Boxer.

This Ferrari 550 Maranello is accompanied by its full book set in its leather pouch (including a fully stamped service book), a thick file of service receipts, UKV5’s and MOT’s, a tool kit in its leather case (which appears to have never been used), two sets of keys and a car cover.

Highlights:

  • Factory right hand drive, matching numbers example in the most desirable colour combination.
  • Impeccable service history.
  • Cambelts have recently been replaced.
  • Full books and tool kit.
  • Ready to use and enjoy.

Price

 

Background

Apple, Coco-Cola, McDonalds and Nike are brands recognisable the world over. So is Ferrari and interestingly the iconic Italian luxury sports car manufacturer was named ‘The World’s Strongest Brand’ in the 2019 Brand Finance Global 500 Report.

Founded by Enzo Ferrari in 1939 out of Alfa Romeo’s race division as Auto Avio Costruzioni the company built its first car in 1940. The Second World War halted Ferrari’s dream, which was finally realised in 1947, when the first car bearing his name, the Ferrari 125 S, was built. From that day on Ferrari race cars dominated the world over, winning race after race and many world championships in Formula One, sports car racing and endurance racing. Ferrari built exclusive sports cars for the road too, but in the early days, this was primarily to fund his motor racing!

The Cavallino Rampate or ‘prancing horse’ was the symbol chosen by Ferrari and like the ‘golden arches’ it is recognised by just about every man, woman and child on the planet!

The Ferrari road cars from the 1940’s and early to mid-1950’s were built in very small numbers and /it was not until the introduction of the 250 series cars that production numbers increased. Almost 1,000 Ferrari 250 GTE’s were built from 1959 – 1963. The 250 series also produced some of the most special Ferraris ever built, including the Ferrari 250 LM, 250 SWB, 250 California Spider and of course the 250 GTO. The 250 series cars were superseded by the 275 series cars, the 330 series cars and later the 365 series cars. The nomenclature designated the cubic capacity of each cylinder. So, a Ferrari 330 was powered by a 12-cylinder engine of 3967cc capacity.

Without doubt one of the best cars ever to come from Maranello was the stunning Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona. First shown at the 1968 Paris Auto Salon the Daytona was Ferrari’s replacement for the very successful 275 GTB/4. The Daytona name was planned to be used by Enzo Ferrari for his latest Berlinetta in honour of his company’s great Victory and 1-2-3 finish at the Daytona 24 hour race in 1967. The name was supposedly leaked to the public which annoyed Ferrari so he formally dropped the Daytona name for the traditional Ferrari alpha numeric nomenclature. However, the name stuck and is now synonymous with the ultimate road going front engined V12 Ferrari.

In total just over 1,400 Daytonas were built from 1968 – 1973 of which it is understood 1,269 were coupes and 122 were convertibles.

The late 1960’s and early 1970’s were fabulous times for Ferrari. Its flagship 365 GTB/4 Daytona was a resounding success and Enzo’s ‘big risk’ the Dino 246 was also selling very well. At that time Ferrari wanted to continue with his tradition of producing high performance ‘Grand Touring’ cars with a 2+2 configuration and the 365 GTC/4, which was a successor to the 365 GT 2+2 and the 365 GTC, filled that niche.

The early 1970′s were a time of innovation and Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati et al. continued to introduce new models in an endeavour to trump the other. The 365 GTC/4 was only in production in 1971 & 1972 and its successor the 365 GT/4 2+2 was first shown in October 1972 at the Paris Motor Show. This car, designed and built by Pininfarina, featured unique styling and whilst the sharp angular lines were ‘very new’ for Ferrari it did share the characteristic design feature of a swage line dividing the body into an upper and a lower half with the 365 GTB/4 Daytona. Unlike the GTC/4 the GT/4 2+2 could seat four people in relative comfort.

The 365 GT/4 2+2 was superseded by the 400 in 1976 and subsequently the 412 in 1985. Production of the 412 ended in 1989 without a direct successor.

In 1992 Ferrari introduced its next front engine grand tourer, the 456. It was a great success for Ferrari with approximately 3,289 cars produced during its 5 years in production.

In 1996 Ferrari unveiled the Ferrari 550 Maranello at the Nürburgring racing circuit in Germany. Against expectations and industry norms, Ferrari made the shock decision to switch back to a front engined configuration for its two seat production flagship. So ingrained was the mid engined philosophy that many doubted the wisdom of returning to this more traditional configuration. However, the new 550 Maranello instantly proved its doubters wrong; in the most clear cut demonstration of its performance capability, it lapped Ferrari’s Fiorano test track an astonishing three seconds faster than the outgoing F512 M.

The introduction of the 550 marked the return of the front engine two seat Ferrari and it was immediately dubbed a ‘modern Daytona’.

Designed by Pininfarina, the 550 Maranello was a resounding success for Ferrari. Some 3,083 cars were built, of which 457 were right hand drive, during its six year production run though until December 2002. In 2000, Ferrari introduced the 550 Barchetta, a limited production roadster version of the 550, of which only 448 examples were built. The Ferrari 550 Maranello was succeeded by the Ferrari 575M.


Specification

  • Ferrari 550 Maranello
  • 2000
  • Coupe
  • Manual
  • 55,544 miles
  • 5,474cc

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