Why are Ferrari 456s so cheap?

[gazchap]

I was taking a look at the Verdi Ferrari site earlier today and saw that they had 360s up for sale for the low-40Ks, F355s up from mid-30s to mid-40s, and a few 456 GTAs for mid-to-high 20s!

Why so cheap? Were they catastrophically bad or something? Made loads of them?

[Rawwr]

You missed two key words from your subject title:

1. to
2. buy

[Gizmo!]

Catastrophically expensive to run.

See also: Maserati Ghibli.

[gazchap]

Aah. Running/servicing costs up in the region of "stratospheric", eh?

[Rawwr]

Which do you think would be a more pleasant experience?

• A major service on a 456GT
• Being anally violated by large, cumbersome household objects, such as lamps and armchairs

[Parabola]

There was a dark green one at the Silverstone Classic.
Looked sublime, so classy parked by the acres of red Ferraris there.

[Wadeski]

But is the servicing worth owning one of the worlds great GT cars?

[007 VXR]

Rawwr said:

Which do you think would be a more pleasant experience?

• A major service on a 456GT
• Being anally violated by large, cumbersome household objects, such as lamps and armchairs

[stewjohnst]

I seem to recall a new backbox for the exhaust being in the region of £4,000?

I'd have one any day over the 550/575 given a chance, they're just gorgeous to behold. Who cares if it's the wrong side of five seconds to 60?

[ambuletz]

someone get a price check on how much a bonnet for a 456 costs...

[Tycho]

ambuletz said:

someone get a price check on how much a bonnet for a 456 costs...

Aren't they about £12k?

[Ozzie Osmond]

Are they any more expensive to run than any other Ferrari? Or do the bills just feel bigger because the car isn't worth a great deal of money?

[nickythesaint]

Rawwr said:

You missed two key words from your subject title:

1. to
2. buy

Rawwr said:

Which do you think would be a more pleasant experience?

• A major service on a 456GT
• Being anally violated by large, cumbersome household objects, such as lamps and armchairs

[stewjohnst]

Is it just me that's spent the last fifteen minutes googling running costs and somehow trying to justify them to myself?

[nickythesaint]

stewjohnst said:

Is it just me that's spent the last fifteen minutes googling running costs and somehow trying to justify them to myself?

Haha, I've just read about 3 buying guides on the 360 and had a look at auto/t and classifieds.

[Gizmo!]

Ozzie Osmond said:

Are they any more expensive to run than any other Ferrari? Or do the bills just feel bigger because the car isn't worth a great deal of money?

Unless I'm forgetting something it was their first front-engined car since the Daytona. It's a 12-cylinder from the early 90s, when the Italians still hadn't quite understood how to make electrics. And it had a very early generation of the now-common computer-controlled suspension. Any of these things could destroy the Sultan of Brunei's credit card

By comparison the 355 of a similar age is reasonably simple...

Beautiful car though.

[pidsy]

just google imaged the 456 (couldnt remeber which one it was) and a few pics popped up of and estate version...

really???

[R12HCO]

stewjohnst said:

I seem to recall a new backbox for the exhaust being in the region of £4,000?

Simple, stainless one from a local company (not a 6 inch jap can), just a replica of the orginial.

Bet it would cost about £500.

Thats the only thing i think i could justify, as to why you would buy one!

[CampDavid]

The Sultan liked the 456 so much he had estates, saloons and even, bizarrely, 2 seater coupe versions made.

As above, running costs are insane, though quite a few have been broken which may help. Bonnet at £12,000 and engine at £65,000 for example. Servicing is huge, though apparently the cambelt is quite a bit cheaper than a 355.

Another reason will be that the 550 isn't much more and a great deal better to drive, apparently, and that the market for these is small. It's not a weekend car as it has 4 seats and few people would ever be able to have one as a daily driver.

[Rawwr]

The price of the bonnet isn't really an issue; it's not like the bonnet is a weekly consumable and you won't find yourself having to stop at petrol stations to top up on 456GT bonnets every few days.

Scary costs aside, the 456GT remains to this day as the sexiest 2+2 ever created.