2001 Ferrari 550 Maranello

One of just 457 built in right-hand drive, this Grigio Titanio Ferrari 550 Maranello has a black leather interior and sits on the optional 18-inch polished split-rim alloy wheels. Other factory options include Aluminium Grey brake calipers, a 250GT-style quilted leather luggage cover, and a Becker Silverstone CD-multichanger.

Still showing under 50,000 miles on the odometer, it comes with a very good service history with the paperwork to support the £34,000+ that has been spent on it in the past ten years.

Only being sold because the seller wants to add a soft-top grand tourer to his collection, this lovely 550 Maranello is being offered with no reserve, so will sell from the very first bid!

Grigio Titanio is a popular colour and this 550 Maranello shows why; with good shutlines and excellent panels, it makes the Ferrari look like it’s been carved from a chunk of solid titanium.

We love the combination of split-rim alloy wheels and grey brake calipers too; slightly blingy and yet understated. It’s a neat trick and one we admire.

The alloy wheels bring more good news with the fact they’re fitted with Pirelli P-Zero tyres on the front and Pirelli P-Zero Rosso on the rear, as per the factory specification plate on the nearside door jamb.

We will never get tired of telling you that experience shows that matching high-quality tyres are an infallible sign of a caring and mechanically sympathetic owner who is prepared to spend the appropriate amount in maintaining their car properly. Their presence does not, of course, preclude the need for a thorough inspection - something the vendor would welcome, by the way – but it does perhaps give you a shortcut into their attitude towards maintenance.

Flaws? Well, the alloy wheels could do with refurbishing and the paint work has been conserved rather than fully resprayed. We like this conservative approach to maintaining a car’s patina but it does mean that the photos flatter it a little as it was raining when they were taken.

With this in mind, we’d suggest potential bidders contact us to make an appointment to check its condition for themselves.

Other minor points include a cracked front numberplate (#157) and the area around the base of the offside mirror could do with being tidied up (#132).

The car was driven to us from Eastleigh and was reported to be thoroughly enjoyable on the run up the A34. We’ve tested it and found it pulls very nicely, with our assessor singling out the gearchange for praise, saying it is “excellent”.

As you can see, it starts well from cold and shows good oil pressure. It also ticks over and revs as it should, and converts Pounds Sterling into exhaust noise better and more efficiently than almost anything else.

The engine bay is clean.

The service history booklet has 10 stamps in it, and it and the attached invoices record the following work:

• 27.09.2001 and 6,272 miles – 10,000km service by Whitehouse of Kent
• 08.10.2002 and 16,667 miles – 30,000km service by Whitehouse of Kent
• 21.11.2003 and 23,944 miles - service by Maranello Sales Ltd
• 27.02.2004 and 26,199 miles – 50,000km service by Maranello Sales Ltd plus new camshaft timing belts and tensioners
• 10.05.2005 and 30,151 miles - service by Graypaul
• 27.11.2006 and 32,781 miles – service by Lancaster of Colchester
• 15.07.2008 and 34,762 miles – service and new camshaft timing belts by Borestone Repairs
• 21.08.2012 and 38,101 miles – service by V.P. Cars of Cricklewood including a new clutch, camshaft timing belts, fanbelts, front and rear brake pads, fresh brake fluid, coolant, and gearbox oil, and an air-conditioning service. All four alloy wheels were also refurbished and the tyres all replaced. This work set the owner back almost £9,000.
• 17.02.2014 and 41,459 miles – service by V.P. Cars of Cricklewood
• 09.06.2015 and 43,881 miles – service by V.P. Cars of Cricklewood including new HT leads, gearbox and engine mounts, handbrake cables, and fresh brake fluid and coolant. The wheels were also aligned. This, plus £700 of bodywork, set the final bill at £5,776
• 04.07.2017 and 44,847 miles - service by V.P. Cars of Cricklewood plus new front suspension bushes, new camshaft timing belts, new camshaft and crank oil seals, new rocker covers, fanbelts, and inlet manifold gaskets and trumpets plus fresh brake fluid. The wheels were again refurbished and fitted with four new tyres and the car was machine polished. This bill came to just over £8,000
• 09.05.2019 and circa 45,836 miles – service by SEB AutoServices including fresh gearbox oil and brake fluid, a new fuse box, front dampers and drive gears, and an oil pressure sender unit at a cost of £6,600
• 27.07.2020 and an unknown mileage – Winchmore Hill Garages carried out just over £5,000-worth of work to the engine and suspension as per the invoices you can see at #289 and #290

The Ferrari’s MoT certificate is valid until March 2024 and every single one prior to this has been free of advisories.

It also retains its EEC Certificate of Conformity, the original bill of sale from Maranello Sales Ltd showing the purchase price of £141,672.07 (or almost a quarter of a million pounds today…) and the book pack.

It also has two sets of keys and the recent Vehicle History Check is clear.

The seller has applied for a new V5, which we are expecting to be with us soon.

If you want a Ferrari 550 Maranello that you can actually drive and enjoy, this could be the one for you because the few cosmetic issues it shows means you’ll be able to use it – and park it – without fear.

And, if you do decide to refurbish it you’ll be doing so in the knowledge that you’re adding value with every job you tick off the (short) list.

As to value, we estimate it’s going to sell for between £70,000 and £90,000 but as it’s being offered with no reserve, it’s going to sell no matter what.

So, why not have a cheeky bid and see what happens?

Viewing is always encouraged, and this particular car is located with us at The Market HQ near Abingdon; we are open weekdays 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’.