1999 Ferrari 550 Maranello

Whilst many remember the ‘good old days’ of founder Enzo Ferrari, the man all Ferraristi need to thank is Marquis Luca Cordero di Montezemolo. Born into an aristocratic Italian family in 1947, and with a career in law beckoning, his love of cars meant this one-time rally driver needed up working for Fiat. They installed him as Enzo Ferrari’s assistant, and soon he was managing the F1 team, bringing world championships for Niki Lauda in the mid 70’s. He went on to rise up the ranks of the Fiat group, and in the mid 80’s was manager of the planning committee for the Italia 90 football world cup.

Lured back to Ferrari after the death of Enzo, above all the Ferrari 550 Maranello was testament to his vision of what Ferrari should be. He bought organisation and direction to the company, and transformed car manufacture from being thrown together with chewing gum and duck-tape in ramshackle sheds on the outskirts of Maranello to precision engineering in steel and glass temples. And rather than Schumacher or Ross Brawn, it was di Montezemolo who was mainly responsible for Ferrari’s first F1 driver’s championship for 21 years.

The F355 was the first Ferrari designed and engineered under the di Montezemolo guidance, and as even the staunchest Ferrari fan will concede, the car was a massive step up both in build quality and performance. Gone were all the excuses for Ferrari’s ‘idiosyncrasies’, in were reliability and ergonomics. Whilst the F355 was in some ways an evolution of the 348, di Montezemolo’s next planned car was a rewind of Ferrari iconography – back to the 1968 Daytona.

Accepted wisdom in the mid 90’s was that the correct place for the engine of any rapid car was the middle – as with Ferrari F355, 360M and F430. This had been so since the mid 70’s, and the world greeted Ferrari’s announcement of the range-topping 5.5l V12 2 seater as front-engined with some surprise. However, once the pundits had driven it, all fears quickly evaporated as it was revealed to be a true future classic.

Designed to be beautiful and driven every day, this was a 485bhp monster capable of 199 mph and a 0-60 time of 4.2 secs. Round Ferrari’s Fiorano test track, the car was an astonishing 2.5 secs quicker than the F355 sports car! But it was comfortable enough, and sober enough to use every day, drive to work, and go to meetings in. Di Montezemolo certainly did! However, at a cost of over £160,000 this was an extremely exclusive car, and with less than 400 in the UK, one which will remain rare and desirable. Join our club and you can join the exclusive club of Ferrari 550 drivers!