1998 Ferrari 550 Maranello

This one is a UK-market car supplied new by Maranello Concessionaires. It passed through various hands in the first 14 years of its life, racking up a modest mileage by most standards (around 42,000 miles) and suffering no mishaps. The current owner saw it for sale at Bell Classic in 2013 when he was bringing in another Ferrari for restoration work and was struck by the colour. Not that many were built in Tour de France blue with a dark interior (the pale cream interiors show their age much more) and the owner already had two Ferraris in the same shade – so he did a deal.

He’s a man who freely admits to the car collecting bug and has several of them, which is the main reason this car never saw much use. As the vendor puts it, for most trips, there were cars on the driveway which were easier to get at than those in the garage, where this one lived.

So apart from a few trips to Goodwood, where the owner is a member, and the occasional weekend blast or trip into London for work, it’s only been to the MoT station and back. The mileage totals about 2000 in the last eight years, during which time the owner has had the cambelts done three times!

The approach was simple – take it once a year to Paul Hargreaves (a much respected independent specialist) and ask him to give it whatever it needs and send it back with a new MoT. Indeed, the money spent on going through the car after purchase, maintaining it in between and then giving it a grand farewell service this summer totals some £10,000.

It’s mechanically perfect, then. It’s also very smart but not concours standard, having been maintained for use rather than display. This makes the owner somewhat wistful, as he wishes he’d found more time to drive it. However, he recognises that things are unlikely to change and it’s time for someone else – perhaps with more determination to put this car to use – to enjoy the 550.

It has an MoT until next October (it’s never failed an MoT in the vendor’s ownership, nor had an advisory, he thinks) and has had every servicing need attended to. While fastidious owners might wish to tidy up small cosmetic marks, it’s absolutely ready to enjoy and is likely to represent something of a bargain compared to the prices asked for similar cars in the trade.

Tour de France blue is a beautiful colour. There’s quite a subtle metallic content to it and it pays tricks on you in the sunshine – it can appear different hues from different angles. See the light gathering on the main crease along the line of the door handle and you could be looking at a sunrise over the Mediterranean…

Putting the poetic waffle to one side, the paint finish is in excellent condition. The bonnet was refinished in the current ownership to remove stone chips and early signs of bubbling on the front edge, a common 550 flaw. The match is very good but perhaps not prize-winningly perfect, but then the vendor has owned another TdF blue Ferrari from new, and says every panel looks a slightly different shade. He thinks this car may have had paint on one or two other panels, but it’s difficult to be sure.

There are still some stone chips low down on the nose, dots on the front panel around the grill and air intakes, but they’re tiny and they don’t draw the eye – you have to go looking for them. Likewise, the front ends of the sills have been slightly marked by grit thrown up from the wheels , but it would be easy to improve.

We found one or two minor peels in the lacquer: on a quarterlight frame on the offside and on the door mirror on the nearside. There may be other minute marks to find with enough attention but on the whole, the body is in great shape: the panels on a 550 are aluminium so your enemies are dents and the bubbles around panel edges that signify the start of corrosion. There are none of either on this car.

The wheels are unmarked and wear correctly sized and rated Pirellis; 255/40 ZR 18s on the front and 295/35 ZR 18s on the rear. All were fitted back in 2014 but have only covered a couple of thousand miles, with all the intervening time in a dark garage, so they’re unlikely to need replacement.

This car was optioned with the Interior Pack, comprising not only a stitched-leather parcel shelf and headlining but also ‘Daytona’ seats, with no prizes for guessing which car’s chairs they imitate. They’re actually very handsome, with a horizontal ribbing in the hide that allows both comfort and a cool, ventilated feel.

You could be forgiven for thinking the seats were actually black, but the tone is a deep, dark blue, with marginally lighter leather on the dash. You won’t find any rips or serious scuffs but the leather on the lower bolsters is slightly marked by use. The whole feel is one that’s been mellowed by use rather than worn or damaged.

It’s odd to compliment any classic Italian sports car on its heating and ventilation, but has anyone ever improved on the 550’s layout? One dial to select where the air goes, one to choose the temperature (each with an easy click to the nine o’clock position for ‘Auto’) one button to recirculate the air and one to turn everything off.

Like every other switch and dial in here, it all works as it should. So does the Kenwood head unit and the CD changer in the boot, not that the owner has ever used it – like many 550 owners, he’s found enough aural entertainment under his right foot.

There is one black mark, which is the bubbling on the steering wheel centre where the adhesive is letting go. Because this is over the airbag, sorting it out might involve replacing the wheel itself, so for the sake of a few blebs the owner elected to live with it.

He spent a diligent fortnight in lockdown addressing another issue common to many 550s, however. The plastic in many of the dash controls is prone to going sticky and leaving black residue on fingertips. Maserati owners will be familiar with this fault too. Our owner must be a resourceful chap because he eventually discovered that a special cleaner for removing soot from the inside of woodburning stove doors does a terrific job of removing the black grime and leaving the switches clean to the touch.

Finally, we can have a look in the boot and discover an unmarked carpet liner, that CD changer and a tin of tyre sealant in place of a spare – something many 550s did without. Also in there is a fabulous tool kit, with every item present. Those spare cambelts, mind you, are the originals and are now at least 23 years old, so should be regarded as decorative rather than functional.

We could waste thousands of words on the way this car sounds, feels and drives, but if you’ve got this far you’ll have some idea of what to expect. Instead, it’s best to confirm that it behaves exactly as it should, bursting into life and settling into a busy but steady V12 idle, with plenty of subdued commotion. It tracks straight, stops well, makes no untoward noises from wheels or suspension and changes gear with a precise, well-engineered heft.

The owner puts it well when he says that it not only keeps up with modern traffic (of course it does) but with modern Ferraris, which is more impressive. It’s still a fiercely quick car, with relentless acceleration through the rev range and a mountain of torque – you can pull away from a standstill in 4th gear without a shudder, should you wish to try. The 550 Maranello developed a reputation for being able to live up to the hype and quite easily meet or beat the quoted performance figures, including that 199mph top speed. Drive this well-mannered but shatteringly powerful car and you’ll believe it too.

The engine bay is very smart without having been detailed. If you want to park it somewhere with the bonnet raised, a day spent with a toothbrush and cleaning kit would have it looking almost new again, bar some flaking to the top edge of the radiator cowl.

Look under the car and you’ll find no concerns re: bushing, piping or corrosion, but at the same time it’s not smart and new. Just the normal state of a car used on the road and kept for go rather than show. That means a few scrapes on the bottom of the tray below the nose, probably inflicted by oversized speed bumps, plus a more general coating of dust and road grime. Honest rather than beautiful.

The car’s original service book accompanies it ( a lovely tan leather document wallet) and shows stamps from the supplying dealer in Egham, and then some more from independents. There’s an MoT record too. Incidentally, the little torch in the document wallet has gone missing (they always do) and the owner paid around £150 for a new one from Ferrari. 

There are full receipts from the current owner’s time, beginning with a £4,500 spend in 2013 when he gave the car whatever it needed during a thorough recommissioning process. Soon after came four tyres at a total just over £1000, then sundry other items as required each year, including a gas strut for the bonnet. The owner also had a spare key cut (the red one) to go with the main black key, the black fob and the all-important red master fob, which allows you to code a replacement black one, should you need to. The code required for this is also in the bag with the keys.

Another comprehensive receipt for around £4,500 dates from July and there are plenty of old MoTs to support the mileage. The V5C is present in the owner’s name and states eight previous keepers.

This car has a great deal going for it. It’s a superb colour combination that’s possibly the best of all for the 550 Maranello: as a sophisticated, continent-crossing GT it doesn’t suit rosso corsa like smaller Ferraris do, while yellow is garish, black is sinister and silver is, well…a little dull. The Daytona seats and interior pack are the cherry on top.

It’s also in extremely tempting condition, having been owned for the last eight years by the kind of vendor that buying guides tell you to seek out. In other words, someone who can afford to give it whatever it needs, who uses it sparingly and who keeps it in a heated garage. At less than 45,000 miles it’s by no means a leggy example, but also not one of the preserved-in-aspic low milers that demand huge prices and probably don’t drive half as well.

We think this fabulous grand touring supercar will sell for between £65,000 and £80,000. It doesn’t have the all-Ferrari service history and is no one-owner example, but anyone examining the paperwork can only conclude it’s had an expert pampering every year since 2013. It’s in terrific shape, and as the owner says, he wouldn’t hesitate to drive it to his place in south-west France tomorrow. Can we come too?

Viewing is always encouraged. This particular car is located with us at The Market HQ near Abingdon; we are open weekdays between 9am-5pm, to arrange an appointment please use the Contact Seller button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.