Introduced in 1996 the 550 Maranello is a true Pininfarina styled front-engined V12 Ferrari - raw power and performance. The Ferrari 550 is the descendant of the 275 GTS, and the 275 NART, 365 California and Daytona. The V12 dual overhead camshaft engine produces 485 horsepower, the car is comfortable and secure on the road at 300 kph; It sucks the doors off most of its competitors, and does it with style, grace and panache. The 550 Maranello was considered by Ferrari a suitable car to represent the Factory at the Le Mans Twenty-Four Hours and in international GT racing.
Chassis number 10556 has been extensively developed from a very low kms.(6,000)1996 German Registered Left Hand Drive road car into a competition version. The development period was over three years, with money no object. At least £150,000 has been invested for the initial development over and above the original cost of the car. In the following period another £60,000 has been spent with much of the testing and development being done by top international racing driver Ian Flux. Although the standard engine is utilised, the car has been substantially lightened – Perspex is utilised instead of the original glass and lightweight panels and fibreglass bumpers have been used.
The suspension has been heavily revised with new springs and Penske three way adjustable shock absorbers. AP racing discs of 390mm diameter and six pot brake calipers are used; a new pedal box is fitted, with the servo and ABS removed. A brake bias control has been fitted. The car has a custom roll cage by Safety Devices, a bag tank from Premier Fuel Systems. The air conditioning has been removed, and racing seat and harness fitted along with complete fire system, stainless racing exhaust and racing cats.
The car has new anti roll bars and a racing differential. The uniqueness of this car has resulted in it being the subject of an extensive article by Auto Italia Magazine.
10556 is eligible for several racing championships including the current UK Maranello Open plus hill climbs and demonstration events and has been successfully campaigned in the Pirelli Maranello Challenge, achieving some good qualifying and race results. They include: 9th Oulton Park, 7th Castle Combe, 7th Donington Park and 6th Donington Park. The car has suffered no serious accident damage and is unique and desirable . Further development has taken place in the hands of Ian Flux. The car now has the potential to be a winning car in the current UK Maranello Open .
A large spares package is included. This includes: 4 Speed Line wheels with wets, two specially manufactured Compomotive wheels, spare racing seat and harness, Stack unit/lap timing beacon, spare springs, complete clutch , four racing discs, spare engine e.c.u., Lambda sensor and a temperature sensor.
Detailed set up information is available for most UK circuits.
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