Ferrari 550, 1 owner, only 109,000 miles FSH.Well would you?
Discussion
billybob69 said:
''Maintained to aircraft standards and always warmed up properly, it has only ever been driven smoothly by myself, a Police trained Class 1 advanced driver''
really? aircraft standards... bs
''a Police trained Class 1 advanced driver'' what relevance does this have to the price of rice in china?
Dont see this as a selling point.really? aircraft standards... bs
''a Police trained Class 1 advanced driver'' what relevance does this have to the price of rice in china?
Police are trained to drive the car with no real consideration for wear and tear, just pushing the machine as far as they can. s
t like sustained rev gear changes are gonna ruin a Ferarri clutch in around 90k miles!Soov535 said:
Mario149 said:
Soov535 said:
Megaflow said:
A 550M for £25k...
If it was in the same blue as yours, I was slightly more crazy I could be persuaded that was a good idea!
What a car.If it was in the same blue as yours, I was slightly more crazy I could be persuaded that was a good idea!
Come one, someone buy it.
Hi PHAB
I just found this thread, and have much enjoyed reading it. Last year I bought a high-mileage 550 Maranello in TDF blue with beige from a seller in the UK and brought it out to New Zealand. The mileage was around 72,000, and it had ten previous owners, but lots of history and a full compliment of stamps in the service book...main dealers until the warranty expired and a mix of main dealers and specialists thereafter. The previous owner kept the car for six years and used it very regularly. I have detailed records of, and receipts for, all the work that he had done on the car. All my research had pointed towards choosing a car that had been frequently used over one that had been largely polished and stored...provided all the mechanicals were well-maintained and/or regularly replaced.
I agreed what I think was a realistic price for the car in late 2013 (it was due a big service plus belts etc), having had it fully inspected by Dick Lovett in Swindon (The Ferrari 194-point check), and knowing that a significant amount of routine work was required to bring the car back to 100% mechanical order. Some of this work done by Dick Lovett before bringing the car to NZ, and the balance of the work has been carried out by the Ferrari main dealer here, Continental Car Services. My focus now is on enjoying driving it, when I get the opportunity, and over time taking care of some cosmetic improvements, mainly around the interior...which also benefits from the full factory carbon fibre trim package.
In order to make it more suitable for NZ roads, I have replaced all the UK gauges withe a full set of original km/celsius versions from a car in Australia, and have also fitted upgraded halogen headlamps...for much-improved night vision. The aircon system has been fully overhauled and the engine cooling fans renewed. I've also replaced the cigar lighter/ash-tray with a very neat carbon-fibre cupholder from the US which just allows for a small-size coffee to be safely carried without fouling the gear change. The latest items to be replaced are the carbon cannister recycle filters which are on order from Italy.
The car looks absolutely stunning, and I have to agree with you that TDF with beige is the most desirable colour combination. Driving impressions are equally favourable: The ride and handling are both those of a smaller, lighter, car (many suspension components having been replaced), and the steering is sublime. I haven't yet fully exploited the available performance, but according to the dealer, all 485 ponies seem to be present and correct. Fuel consumption seems in line with other PHs experiences.
I'll aim to add updates after any significant trips: I had originally hoped to do a round New Zealand trip with the local FOC shortly after the car arrived, but a last-minute compliance issue scuppered that. This is being rescheduled for later this year...it is likely to be a trip of around 4000km, so similar in length to your European trip...although probably without the Quattroporte chaperone!
Edited by ramjet22 on Friday 9th January 17:53
![](http://thumbsnap.com/sc/oMdyE5WX.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="http://thumbsnap.com/D9Jm38zX" Target="_blank">[img]http://thumbsnap.com/sc/D9Jm38zX.jpg)
Thread revival!!
For anyone out there still interested .....S50 GTB has not been sitting idle in the garage for the past 13 months. After a few months of tinkering and fettling the car made another great journey around Europe this summer - a similar but not quite identical route to the previous year. For those of you fancying a laugh it was not without its dramas.....a totally dead car in the middle of Cannes at 2pm on a Saturday was not on the intinerary...but also a lot of great moments too.
I will be writing a full update over the weekend on the work that has been done since the last post and also a brief blurb on the 2,500 mile road trip.
For now just a picture from somewhere in Beaujolais to whet the appetite!
For anyone out there still interested .....S50 GTB has not been sitting idle in the garage for the past 13 months. After a few months of tinkering and fettling the car made another great journey around Europe this summer - a similar but not quite identical route to the previous year. For those of you fancying a laugh it was not without its dramas.....a totally dead car in the middle of Cannes at 2pm on a Saturday was not on the intinerary...but also a lot of great moments too.
I will be writing a full update over the weekend on the work that has been done since the last post and also a brief blurb on the 2,500 mile road trip.
For now just a picture from somewhere in Beaujolais to whet the appetite!
Looking forward to the write up!
Thanks for the interest! Right so........
In March this year S50GTB was woken from hibernation and checked over before its MOT and retaxing. It had become apparent during the fortnightly starting / moving back and forth rituals that the car had a small waterleak – not because of any puddles on the floor but because whenever it was started a bit of steam would slip out from under the bonnet. Water pressure and temperature was fine and the level barely dropped so I didn’t worry too much – just added it to the list of items needing addressing before any long trips.
After further investigation it transpired that there was a fair amount (a few tablespoons) of water leaking within the V of the engine, underneath the intake manifold...as the engine warmed up it was boiling what water had leaked onto the top of the head. Hence the steam.
Having removed the intake manifold and injection the culprit was discovered to be the gaskets / washer gasket on a pipe (sorry I cannot be more specific as I still cannot find the pipe on any Ferrari diagrams!) that runs along the V underneath the main connecting hose between the water pump and the manifold. This diagram illustrates it best. It enters the head at part number 28.
Intake manifold very carefully placed on the ground (on a few cloths!). NB All openings were taped and sealed straightaway to prevent any ingress of crud.
We have been here before.... the hoses were all like brand new still so were not replaced. NB all openings again blocked straight away after this was taken.
The snowball began to roll when the cooling system was drained though and it became painfully obvious that 110,000 miles had really taken their toll on the radiator setup – water rad, oil rad and aircon condenser, in fact it was a miracle that I hadn’t had some sort of cooling issue on the previous European trip given the state of things underneath the radiator cowling.
|http://thumbsnap.com/TYqSXKqm[/url]
This just about demonstrates the tiredness of the rads, rad mountings and associated pipework here. Also note the headlights are out...more on that later.
Close up of radiator and pipework issues. Not how Ferrari in their wisdom (like many others) mount the extremely restrictive air con condenser infront of the water and oil rads....this coupled to a very small grill (see above) does wonders for engine cooling...not.
Fan cowling was pretty tired too. This demonstrates the oil cooler / radiator setup.
So having finished the work in the Vee, the stripdown of the cooling system took place. I should note here that the waterpump is still like brand new having been replaced in February 2012 along with the main hoses (the blue armoured ones in the pictures above). Otherwise I would have replaced both when everything else was stripped back – the intake manifold removal and refitting is a long job and the hose is a cheap part but it was still as new so I didn’t.
The water radiator was sent off with the oil radiator to Kempston radiators who pressure tested them and advised to re-core the water radiator and simply do a light restoration on the oil cooler. Kempston did a wonderful job and both came back like new - saving a small fortune over replacing them with new parts.
During the strip down, anything that was looking tired or rusty was wirebrushed, kurust'd and repainted. All nuts, bolts, and jubilee clips etc were also replaced. The fan cowling also received some TLC to bring it into line with the rest of the work.
[url]
At this point we decided (largely in the name of saving money I must admit) not to replace or recore the airconditioning condenser. This was because the system wasnt leaking and also because the pipework attaching the airconditioning condenser was as good as seized/welded. Replacing the aircon condenser as well as the pipe work would have brought that job alone to near £1k for parts only, so it was left for another day.
The welded/rusty joint to the aircon condenser. Elected to leave it be but renew and recondition just about everything else - including the steering fluid cooler which I dont have many pictures of. It runs in a coil infront of the airconditioning condenser.
A good picture of the new radiators re-installed in the car, rebuild almost complete.
A rare bit of Spring sunshine....next to another troublesome V12 !
Job finished, steering fluid cooler visible infront of aircon condenser. The radiator cowling covers the radiators and guides the airflow. Definitely something to remove and inspect all thats hiding beneath on any prospective purchase.
In March this year S50GTB was woken from hibernation and checked over before its MOT and retaxing. It had become apparent during the fortnightly starting / moving back and forth rituals that the car had a small waterleak – not because of any puddles on the floor but because whenever it was started a bit of steam would slip out from under the bonnet. Water pressure and temperature was fine and the level barely dropped so I didn’t worry too much – just added it to the list of items needing addressing before any long trips.
After further investigation it transpired that there was a fair amount (a few tablespoons) of water leaking within the V of the engine, underneath the intake manifold...as the engine warmed up it was boiling what water had leaked onto the top of the head. Hence the steam.
Having removed the intake manifold and injection the culprit was discovered to be the gaskets / washer gasket on a pipe (sorry I cannot be more specific as I still cannot find the pipe on any Ferrari diagrams!) that runs along the V underneath the main connecting hose between the water pump and the manifold. This diagram illustrates it best. It enters the head at part number 28.
Intake manifold very carefully placed on the ground (on a few cloths!). NB All openings were taped and sealed straightaway to prevent any ingress of crud.
We have been here before.... the hoses were all like brand new still so were not replaced. NB all openings again blocked straight away after this was taken.
The snowball began to roll when the cooling system was drained though and it became painfully obvious that 110,000 miles had really taken their toll on the radiator setup – water rad, oil rad and aircon condenser, in fact it was a miracle that I hadn’t had some sort of cooling issue on the previous European trip given the state of things underneath the radiator cowling.
|http://thumbsnap.com/TYqSXKqm[/url]This just about demonstrates the tiredness of the rads, rad mountings and associated pipework here. Also note the headlights are out...more on that later.
Close up of radiator and pipework issues. Not how Ferrari in their wisdom (like many others) mount the extremely restrictive air con condenser infront of the water and oil rads....this coupled to a very small grill (see above) does wonders for engine cooling...not.
Fan cowling was pretty tired too. This demonstrates the oil cooler / radiator setup.
So having finished the work in the Vee, the stripdown of the cooling system took place. I should note here that the waterpump is still like brand new having been replaced in February 2012 along with the main hoses (the blue armoured ones in the pictures above). Otherwise I would have replaced both when everything else was stripped back – the intake manifold removal and refitting is a long job and the hose is a cheap part but it was still as new so I didn’t.
The water radiator was sent off with the oil radiator to Kempston radiators who pressure tested them and advised to re-core the water radiator and simply do a light restoration on the oil cooler. Kempston did a wonderful job and both came back like new - saving a small fortune over replacing them with new parts.
During the strip down, anything that was looking tired or rusty was wirebrushed, kurust'd and repainted. All nuts, bolts, and jubilee clips etc were also replaced. The fan cowling also received some TLC to bring it into line with the rest of the work.
[url]At this point we decided (largely in the name of saving money I must admit) not to replace or recore the airconditioning condenser. This was because the system wasnt leaking and also because the pipework attaching the airconditioning condenser was as good as seized/welded. Replacing the aircon condenser as well as the pipe work would have brought that job alone to near £1k for parts only, so it was left for another day.
The welded/rusty joint to the aircon condenser. Elected to leave it be but renew and recondition just about everything else - including the steering fluid cooler which I dont have many pictures of. It runs in a coil infront of the airconditioning condenser.
A good picture of the new radiators re-installed in the car, rebuild almost complete.
A rare bit of Spring sunshine....next to another troublesome V12 !
Job finished, steering fluid cooler visible infront of aircon condenser. The radiator cowling covers the radiators and guides the airflow. Definitely something to remove and inspect all thats hiding beneath on any prospective purchase.
Edited by PHAB on Sunday 6th September 14:29
Edited by PHAB on Sunday 6th September 14:51
As a side note, I also took the plunge and restored the headlights. They were removed, wet sanded through the grades, then rotary polished up through the grades, starting with a wool cutting disc and ending with the blue 3M pad and polish. The results were very pleasing and nearly as good as new. I will get a picture of the finished product up when I have one to hand.
The main under-tray also saw some TLC where a few of the vanes had broken. We chose to remove all of them and replace them with an aluminium vent cover. In an ideal world I would have replaced the entire tray but it seemed like an overkill and the solution we implemented works well.
Once all the work was completed the car was given a full service - oil change, coolant change, steering fluid change, brake fluid change, air filters, fuel filters. Before the next long trip the plugs will be changed and the high tension cables may need to be replaced as they are beginning to perish slightly with age. Ive noticed having looked at quite a few 550s this year that this problem seems to be age related and not dependent upon mileage.
As a final item in preparation for more than 2000 miles around Europe the tyres were also changed. The rears (Michelin Pilot Super Sports) were just about slick and the front right was showing signs of having been driven on flat in its lifetime. All four were changed to Bridgestone Potenza RE050A which I was a bit worried about but within 100 miles I was delighted with and would recommend to anyone looking for an alternative to the Michelin or Pirelli on the 550.
Next the 2000 miles in Europe!
The main under-tray also saw some TLC where a few of the vanes had broken. We chose to remove all of them and replace them with an aluminium vent cover. In an ideal world I would have replaced the entire tray but it seemed like an overkill and the solution we implemented works well.
Once all the work was completed the car was given a full service - oil change, coolant change, steering fluid change, brake fluid change, air filters, fuel filters. Before the next long trip the plugs will be changed and the high tension cables may need to be replaced as they are beginning to perish slightly with age. Ive noticed having looked at quite a few 550s this year that this problem seems to be age related and not dependent upon mileage.
As a final item in preparation for more than 2000 miles around Europe the tyres were also changed. The rears (Michelin Pilot Super Sports) were just about slick and the front right was showing signs of having been driven on flat in its lifetime. All four were changed to Bridgestone Potenza RE050A which I was a bit worried about but within 100 miles I was delighted with and would recommend to anyone looking for an alternative to the Michelin or Pirelli on the 550.
Next the 2000 miles in Europe!
Edited by PHAB on Sunday 6th September 18:35
Edited by PHAB on Sunday 6th September 18:39
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