550 GTC

Posted on January 20, 2022 by classiccarweekly

2003 Ferrari 550 GTC

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Paris, France | February 2, 2022

Ferrari turning their road-going cars into competitive race cars had kind of been a rare event since… well, the 1960s. Sure, they had “Challenge” race cars where 348s and F355s would compete against each other, but it’s not like they were taking them to Le Mans.

That sort of changed with the 550 Maranello. While Ferrari themselves weren’t outright building racing versions of the 550, some privateer teams were. The cars appeared in a few different classes/forms across a variety of series worldwide. We’ve already featured an ex-Le Mans GTLM version, and this is a GTC. The GTCs were “factory-built” in that Ferrari actually partnered with N-Technology to build two cars, both of which were constructed in 2003, after 550 Maranello road car production ceased. The other example is still owned by Ferrari.

Power is provided by a 5.5-liter V12. The competition history for this chassis included:

2003 24 Hours of Spa – 27th, DNF (with Philipp Peter, Fabio Babini, and Boris Derichebourgh)

The following year it won the Italian Speed Hill Climb championship in the GTM category. The engine was rebuilt in 2016, and the current owner bought it the next year. It’s been restored to its Spa livery and now carries a pre-sale estimate of $2,300,000-$2,850,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

Ferrari 550 GTLM

Posted on April 19, 2021 by classiccarweekly

1997 Ferrari 550 Maranello GTLM

Offered by Bonhams | Monaco | April 23, 2021

Ferrari’s 550 Maranello was a front-engine V12-powered grand tourer. And its design has aged very well. These were pretty hot cars in the late 1990s. But Ferrari never took them racing. Not officially anyway.

That didn’t stop some privateer teams from seeing promise from the quick car. This car was built by a French team called Red Racing, with Ferrari’s approval. It was the first 550 race car built and was campaigned from 1999-2002 in the Spanish and French GT championships along with some races in Italy. It was purchased by XL Racing in 2003 and modified to ACO LMGT specifications. Its competition history includes:

2003 24 Hours of Le Mans – 34th, DNF (with Ange Barde, Michel Ferte, Gael Lasoudier)
2004 24 Hours of Le Mans – Did not arrive

So it has Le Mans history, which is pretty cool. It’s had two owners since and retains a 600-horsepower, 5.5-liter V12. The estimate is $590,000-$830,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold for a shady and undisclosed amount.

Sbarro 550 Maranello

Posted on April 24, 2017 by classiccarweekly

2000 Ferrari 550 Maranello by Sbarro

Offered by Oldtimer Galerie Toffen | Toffen, Switzerland | April 29, 2017

Photo – Oldtimer Galerie Toffen

Introduced in 1996, the 550 Maranello was a huge step forward for Ferrari, as this was the replacement for the Testarossa-based F512 M. The 550 Maranello was replaced by the virtually identical 575M Maranello in 2002. It was a return to front-engined V-12 Ferraris.

But this is no ordinary 550. Sbarro, the Swiss car company that has done an array of things over the years, from building their own wacky cars to building replicas, was apparently trying to be to Ferrari what Ruf is to Porsche when they went to work here. Or something – I think these were designed for a wealthy client who wanted something special. The main difference here is that they slapped a racy body kit on it (which cost about €60,000 when new).

It’s still powered by the same 485 horsepower Ferrari 5.5-liter V-12 which means it’s still a 198 mph car. Sbarro built two of them, the other car was destroyed in an accident. It’s a nearly 60,000 mile car that has a rebuilt gearbox and has been fully serviced. If you want the rarest 550 variant (even if it’s aftermarket), here’s your car. It should bring between $95,000-$105,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.