If you have one of your dream cars in your garage, think back to before you bought it. Way before, when you were a kid. Did you have the Hot Wheels or a 1:18-scale diecast model version of it? There’s a good chance the answer to that question is “yes.” Those miniatures are not just nice to look at on a shelf. They can serve as motivation to get the real thing one day. If you’ve been waiting to get the full-size version of a certain wedge-shaped 1990s Ferrari you looked at every day when you were a teenager, now is your chance to do it: Our Pick of the Day is a 1999 Ferrari 550 Maranello posted by a Florida dealership on ClassicCars.com.
First shown to the public at Germany’s Nurburgring in July 1996, the Ferrari 550 Maranello had several heritage-inspired design cues, such as twin fender vents, which visually linked the two-seat GT car to the 250 GTO, and quad round taillights, which recalled the 365 GTB4, aka “Daytona.”
But the 550 Maranello wasn’t a relic of yesteryear. It was a major departure from its immediate predecessor, the F512M, which was an evolution of the Testarossa that came out in 1984. Gone were the side strakes and the mid-engine layout, replaced by a cleaner, sleeker profile and a front-mounted 5.5-liter (hence the name 550) V12 that produced a significantly higher 485 horsepower and 419 lb-ft of torque.
Ferrari paired that with a more modern six-speed manual gearbox (with a gated shifter, of course), which replaced the F512M’s five-speed unit. Those updates enabled the 550 to hit 62 mph in 4.4 seconds (an improvement of 0.3 seconds) and top out at 198 mph (a three-mph increase).
According to the selling dealer, it has maintained this particular 550 Maranello for over 20 years. In fact, it recently installed new belts, oil, filters, gaskets, and spark plugs as well as a new brake master cylinder. Service history is always great for a Ferrari. So is low mileage, another thing this Prancing Horse has; over the past 26 years, it’s only galloped 17,493 miles.
Someone needs to make their childhood dreams come true and let this stallion loose on the road. If you want to be that someone, be prepared to spend $229,900. That’s a big chunk of dough, but it’ll turn that “One day…” you used to envision as a kid into today.
Click here to view this Pick of the Day on ClassicCars.com
