There appears to be visible corrosion on the screw heads on the gate of this 550, visible despite the very dark photography - and now we know why it's so dark. I have never seen that before. Has anyone else? It must have been in a very damp part of Japan. If those are rusted, what will the bits we can't see be like? https://www.historics.co.uk/buying/auctions/2017-11-25/cars/ref-59-2000-ferrari-550-maranello/#&gid=1&pid=7
Yes that is pretty strange. Those wheels 19" too and not 18" as said by the advertizer. However, this car is really a fine example with this color combination. I was fortunate enough to have the same color combo on my 456M. It looks really cool though it take some time to swallow the first time.
.............. Is the 575 better than the 550? My view: http://www.lux-mag.com/2017/05/04/best-modern-classic-ferrari/[/QUOTE] Many thanks, Darius; I hadn't read your LUX review before and truly it says all one needs to know. IMHO I'll also have to check mechanical timepiece threads on F-Chat; a month ago I got back from full service the Gruen Precision Verithin Pentagon pocket watch I inherited forty years ago from my dad who bought it new in the late 1920's or early 1930s. I've been checking it for several weeks and it uniformly gains about 3 sec/day that puts it in chronometer accuracy. Also have an Omega Constellation chronometer I bought in Zurich in Jan 1956 for $95.US. It was on my wrist two weeks later as I sailed home to New York on board Andrea Doria, then two years as an OOD on U.S.S. Intrepid, so a sea-faring watch in its infancy!
That is a great story, Seth. Watches witness the ups and downs of our lives like nothing else, not even cars. Omegas were the business in the mid C20. I inherited my father's, which he bought in 1943; my father in law's (1961) and another family member's (1979). And I think those classic designs go very nicely with Maranellos, particularly our blue ones!
I didn't realize that the Allies had liberated Switzerland in 1943 enabling your father to acquire his Omega A propos blu TdF Maranellos, when I went searching for a 575M I wished to find a 3-pedal, and did, in grigio titanio/nero and was about to make an offer when my blu TdF/cuoio FHP F1 turned up, very modest mileage, fully serviced from new and I couldn't not. Well my old 412 was and the new one is blu sera, F355 blu scuro micalizzato, Maserati Spyder blu nettuno tbus I succumbed to F1. In these eight years I've discovered that F1 really does make one a better, faster driver. Why? because when cornering, thus by definition having to shift down, rather than having some part of one's attention diverted to: brake, declutch, manipulate gated shifter, throttle, off brake, off clutch (attending to both feet dancing, one hand on wheel, the other on shifter), without removing hands from wheel one simply brakes, steers, taps the left paddle as needed and then accelerates. Meaning one's full attention remains on locating far more exactly the apex and hitting it precisely. My Tdf blu/cuoio 575M made me recall something else I learned long ago: the color of our automobiles' interiors should be more important to us than the paint. Why? because that's all we see when driving, which is most of the time we are with our cars. And for me cuoio is far, far more liveable than nero. But what do I know? I drive blue Ferraris..............
I agree completely about interiors. I like the lighter tones. And I love the TDF exterior on my 575, although I set out to buy the best car I could find and would have taken it in (almost) any colour. So it was just good fortune. My father bought his Omega in London in 1943. He could, I guess, have bought it in Switzerland, which of course as a neutral was never occupied and so never liberated. But getting in and out of there might have been tricky.
https://inventory.driversource.com/vehicles/266/2002-ferrari-575-maranello?utm_source=Master&utm_campaign=ce64a5fcb9-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_12_07&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_50c64f7da7-ce64a5fcb9-710463205&mc_cid=ce64a5fcb9&mc_eid=95253add72
Reviving this thread (why not) and here's a Maranello that is not going to disappear sonically, for sure. I wouldn't buy it myself, but if you're a DJ.. https://auction.catawiki.com/kavels/17137905-ferrari-550-maranello-1997
I had my first run in with another maranello this weekend, was really cool. I was driving my 575 and there was ANOTHER red 575 at the light across from me. So I know there is at least 1 other red 575 in miami besides mine so they are definitely not disappearing lol.
Nice looking 550, up at auction today. 47000km, good condition, will be interesting to know the result. http://www.coys.co.uk/cars/1999-ferrari-550-maranello
Back to the OP's OP... Bored on a Sunday morning, so what better thing to do than a quick check of U.S. 550 (and 575) listings in a few of the usual places: eBay: 13 Hemmings: 12 DuPont Registry: 23 RM Sotheby's: 1 Looking at 575 listings: eBay: 14 Hemmings: 19 DuPont Registry: 30 BaT: 1 Mecum: 1 Some observations, FWIW: 1. This is only a snapshot of what's listed on a few popular sites at this moment, not a comprehensive list (didn't check CL, or individual Ferrari or indie dealer sites, for example). These sites represent only a portion, though maybe a significant portion, of the U.S. market for these cars at any given time, particularly for dealer listings. Also, a certain number of cars are listed on at least two or more of these sites (and possibly elsewhere). For example, of the 23 listings on DuPont, roughly half appear to be also listed on Hemmings, and most of those also listed on eBay (and vice versa). 2. Most are dealer listings, mostly indie dealers, though DuPont has some Ferrari dealer listings. There are very few private seller listings. Thus it follows that asking prices probably skew higher than might be the case with more private sale listings. 3. Interesting that there are more 575 listings than 550s. 4. Asking prices still cover a fairly wide range, with overall asking prices reflecting the flat to somewhat down market for these cars over the last year or so. Price ranges appear to be stratified primarily by the combination of mileage, condition and documentation, with color combo and options probably also factoring in. Asking prices seem to equate roughly with the following mileage ranges (probably no big revelation here): <10k 10K-20K 20K-30K >30k Not trying to do a detailed analysis of the current market for these cars, just provide a few quick observations from a quick look online to update the OP's thread. One thing that seems to be certain is that the overall market for these cars waxes and wanes from year to year based on a variety of supply/demand factors. And that, as always, generally the lower the mileage and better the condition/documentation, the higher the value (or asking price) within the current market.
Thanks Dave. Is your impression that asking prices in the US are generally higher than they were when the OP gave his two examples, almost exactly 3 years ago?
Geez, how could I forget? Right here on Ferrari Chat there are currently four 550s listed for sale, all by private sellers (or so it appears). So we can add these to the current 550 market "snapshot". I don't see any 575s currently listed in FC.
Geez, how could I forget? Right here on Ferrari Chat there are currently three 550s listed for sale, all by private sellers. So we can add these to the current market "snapshot". Hi Darius, Without knowing the details of each of those cars, hard to say exactly where they would fit today. That said, my own anecdotal/non-expert observation of the market is that it has moved upward overall in the last 3-4 years, with some softening over the last year or so from a peak maybe sometime in 2016. The OPs particular 550 would today be more toward the lower range of the current 550 market in the U.S., but at the time maybe more in the middle? The 575 (assuming it's an F1 car) was probably in the higher range three years ago (I'm guessing here), but today would be about right in the middle, maybe upper-middle.
As somebody else nicely made the suggestion or comparison here earlier, the 550 is destined to be forever legendary like a [321] man on the moon Speedmaster. Tech and engineering will continue its rapid pace of evolution with every new car launch and the 550 will only become more appreciated as the best of the 'classic' manual front twelve experience. I boldly predict... a 10% bump in values with every million views this vid gets, and... became a hundred times more proud to have a silver one too (with straight pipes. and lusso parcel shelf. and 19 in 575 modulars... [GRIN]). Derek Bell, two very big thumbs up.
Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login In Los Angeles I see a lot more 575s in comparison to 550s due to inevitable traffic you are bound to encounter. The 575 is definitely preferred for concentrating on high speed driving in the twisties canyons by far.
This is an interesting collector piece 550 (2000 km/around 1300 miles) up for auction in Monaco next month. It will be interesting to see how much it goes for. The estimate is reasonable, a year ago estimate would have been 50% more I think and it would not have sold. Sorry if someone has already posted this. http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/24953/lot/144/?category=list&length=10&page=6
