1998 Ferrari 550 Maranello
Rosso Corsa with Beige leather. Low mileage with superb service history
£134,950
Vehicle Features
- 24,851 miles
- Rosso Corsa
- Beige leather interior
- Castoro carpets
- Rosso stitching
- Beige dashboard
- Beige pillars and roof
- Beige steering wheel
- Red Calipers
Vehicle Description
A classic, muscular Ferrari GT in iconic Rosso Corsa and warm beige leather interior. A beautiful combination that gives this 550 Maranello a distinctly refined late-90s Ferrari elegance. Darker Castoro carpets and Rosso stitching provide a subtle contrast to the enticing swathe of beige.
There are two key strands to this Ferrari's appeal: the condition and the service history. Both are superb and a testament to the care and diligence of the car's short list of owners. There are 15 recorded stamps from official Ferrari dealers here in the UK (so many, in fact, that a second Ferrari service book was sourced to log the most recent maintenance) and the car has been with Bell Sport & Classic’s service department most recently.
Crucially, the service history authenticates the mere 24,851 miles that show on the car's odometer. And that mileage is commensurate with the overall condition of chassis 113266. Inside, the blemish-free Beige leather upholstery has stood the test of time, retaining that sumptuous gloss.
Accompanying this Ferrari is all the factory paraphernalia you'd expect from a car with such provenance: the leather pouch containing the factory manuals, warranty and service booklets, the complete tool kit and the puncture-repair kit, and a wealth of accompanying invoices and MOT certificates.
Increasingly attractive to today’s Ferrari enthusiast, the values have risen recently with well presented, low mileage examples commanding places in many high profile collections.
When the 550 Maranello was revealed to the press at the Nürburgring in July 1996, it was clear where Ferrari had looked for inspiration. The long, thrusting bonnet, short, clenched tail and a big, naturally aspirated V12 engine up front all meant that spiritually, conceptually and materially, the Maranello was the Daytona reborn.
It was the then Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo who decreed that Ferrari’s new series-production flagship should be front-engined, bringing to an end a 23-year-long line of flat-12 mid-engined supercars that stretched from Berlinetta Boxer through Testarossa to F512M. His reasoning was that a front-engined super-GT would be more useable, more driveable than a mid-engined exotic, and he was absolutely right. So right, in fact, that today’s pinnacle offerings from the marque still follow the 550 Maranello template nearly 30 years later.
The name combined references to the 5.5-litre capacity of the V12 engine and, of course, Ferrari’s home town. The styling was by Lorenzo Ramaciotti at Pininfarina, and as well as borrowing cues from the Daytona, it also included a visual nod to that car’s predecessor, the 275 GTB, in the form of the gills in the front wings. This was Ferrari unashamedly summoning the spirit of its legendary 1960s berlinettas.
The 48-valve quad-cam dry-sumped V12 is a remarkable engine, blending abundant power – a peak of 478bhp at 7000rpm – with genuine GT refinement. Ferrari claimed 0-62mph in 4.4sec and a top speed of 199mph.
Despite the F1 paddleshift gearbox having already appeared in the F355, the 550 was offered only with a traditional manual gearbox, a rear-mounted six-speeder that was combined with the limited-slip differential. That manual gearbox with its exposed metal gate was key to the car’s appeal at the time (although this was a thoroughly modern Ferrari, it was also a clasic front-engined GT) and makes it all the more appealing today.
There are two key strands to this Ferrari's appeal: the condition and the service history. Both are superb and a testament to the care and diligence of the car's short list of owners. There are 15 recorded stamps from official Ferrari dealers here in the UK (so many, in fact, that a second Ferrari service book was sourced to log the most recent maintenance) and the car has been with Bell Sport & Classic’s service department most recently.
Crucially, the service history authenticates the mere 24,851 miles that show on the car's odometer. And that mileage is commensurate with the overall condition of chassis 113266. Inside, the blemish-free Beige leather upholstery has stood the test of time, retaining that sumptuous gloss.
Accompanying this Ferrari is all the factory paraphernalia you'd expect from a car with such provenance: the leather pouch containing the factory manuals, warranty and service booklets, the complete tool kit and the puncture-repair kit, and a wealth of accompanying invoices and MOT certificates.
Increasingly attractive to today’s Ferrari enthusiast, the values have risen recently with well presented, low mileage examples commanding places in many high profile collections.
When the 550 Maranello was revealed to the press at the Nürburgring in July 1996, it was clear where Ferrari had looked for inspiration. The long, thrusting bonnet, short, clenched tail and a big, naturally aspirated V12 engine up front all meant that spiritually, conceptually and materially, the Maranello was the Daytona reborn.
It was the then Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo who decreed that Ferrari’s new series-production flagship should be front-engined, bringing to an end a 23-year-long line of flat-12 mid-engined supercars that stretched from Berlinetta Boxer through Testarossa to F512M. His reasoning was that a front-engined super-GT would be more useable, more driveable than a mid-engined exotic, and he was absolutely right. So right, in fact, that today’s pinnacle offerings from the marque still follow the 550 Maranello template nearly 30 years later.
The name combined references to the 5.5-litre capacity of the V12 engine and, of course, Ferrari’s home town. The styling was by Lorenzo Ramaciotti at Pininfarina, and as well as borrowing cues from the Daytona, it also included a visual nod to that car’s predecessor, the 275 GTB, in the form of the gills in the front wings. This was Ferrari unashamedly summoning the spirit of its legendary 1960s berlinettas.
The 48-valve quad-cam dry-sumped V12 is a remarkable engine, blending abundant power – a peak of 478bhp at 7000rpm – with genuine GT refinement. Ferrari claimed 0-62mph in 4.4sec and a top speed of 199mph.
Despite the F1 paddleshift gearbox having already appeared in the F355, the 550 was offered only with a traditional manual gearbox, a rear-mounted six-speeder that was combined with the limited-slip differential. That manual gearbox with its exposed metal gate was key to the car’s appeal at the time (although this was a thoroughly modern Ferrari, it was also a clasic front-engined GT) and makes it all the more appealing today.
Image Gallery
