Saturday 4th November 2017

Ferrari 456: Spotted

Give the gift of joy to your fellow man this Christmas, buy a Ferrari

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One of the most charming on road encounters I've ever had occurred earlier this year as I was crossing Belgium en route to the N24. As I merged onto the E42 near Liege, a Blu Scozia Ferrari FF came up alongside me. Behind the wheel was a man in his early 40s, in the passenger seat next to him was his young son, and behind them sat the boy's mother and sister. They were all looking across admiringly at the Bentley Continental I was lucky enough to be driving at the time, waving hello with broad smiles painted across their faces. Then, as quickly as they had appeared, the father nodded his approval, dipped his right toe, and they all went screaming off into the distance. If I'd had a Ferrari brochure to hand, that beautifully specced car, and seemingly perfect family, could have driven right off the page.

Of course, the £150,000 that similar cars currently command makes recreating that scenario at home a rather difficult prospect. Once you start looking further toward the horizon in Ferrari's rear view mirror however, things become decidedly less expensive.

Which brings us to today's Spotted. And in the ranks of "you can have this... for the price of a..." motoring, it has to score rather highly indeed. For at £40,000 the list of alternatives is as long as it is broad, and none of them sound as appealing as that naturally aspirated V12 would.

Having said that, the 456 is no FF, having always been one of Maranello's more surprisingly divisive creations. The definition of a sleek, simple GT to some; a bland, gappy-wheel-arched lump to others. Whether or not this seems as much of a bargain to you will obviously depend on into which camp you fall. Objectively though, it's hard to argue against. Especially in this spec of beautiful Tour de France Blue with black brake calipers and Nero interior, it's difficult to think of a more sophisticatedly understated combination.

And there's that engine, again. The 5.5-litre V12 develops 442hp, plenty even by today's standards, and enough to make the 456 the world's fastest production four-seater when it launched in 1992. Yes it'll be expensive to maintain, no it probably won't ever become a classic; but this is PistonHeads, and such considerations are superfluous to the irrational joy that cars like this have the power to instill, both in us and in those of a similar mindset who get to see them. So you could spend the money on a BMW 640d, or you could buy this, and give people like me anecdotes they'll be recalling for months to come every time you take your family to the shops.

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FERRARI 456 GTA
Engine: 5,474cc, V12
Transmission: 6-speed manual, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 442@6,250rpm
Torque (lb ft): 406@4,500rpm
MPG: N/A
CO2: N/A
First registered: 1996
Recorded mileage: 27,112miles
Price new: N/A
Yours for: ££59,995

See the original advert here

[MOTK]

Such graceful cars, if I could..
But it would have to be manual.

[dobly]

Is the low mileage / 22 years age compatible? Will a lot of things need changing out due to inactivity or could you drive the thing for a year or so before anything needs doing?

[John Galt]

As much as I love Ferrari....this looks like a Ford Probe.

[rodericb]

John Galt said:

As much as I love Ferrari....this looks like a Ford Probe.

Yep, and the 355 looks like a MR2....

[to3m]

I agree with the Ford Probe comment, but it's not like the Ford Probe is super ugly or anything. If the worst thing you can say is "looks like a Ford Probe" then that's not bad going. Now you might ask whether one shouldn't aspire to higher things, this being a Ferrari and all that, and, well - you're in luck, because this car looks like a Ford Probe, only a lot better. Please tell us what more you want!

Though I still prefer the 365/400/412 myself.

[ReaperCushions]

That color needs a tan interior for my money.

[sidesauce]

article said:

So you could spend the money on a BMW 640d, or you could buy this

I'm confused - there's a £20k difference between the BMW and the Ferrari. At this price point, that's a massive difference! And that's just the purchase price; would you run the 456 everyday and not have big bills to deal with (whereas that wouldn't really be an issue with the 640)? Not to mention the fear of some scrote damaging the car if you left it in a carpark? I don't really think it's a good comparison to be honest.

[heavylanding]

My brother has one. Grigio with Rosso interior. He researched very carefully before he bought it, and felt he found a ‘good one’. He has a very good ‘indi’ service place, but even so the first service he did came to more than five figures. The fact of the matter is that some Ferrari specialists don’t want to stock them because the costs to prepare them for sale make them uneconomic. Perhaps this will change as the rarity pushes their value up, despite the lack of parts and cost of servicing.
My brother adores his but in my view his 348 GTS was a way better car.

[Numeric]

I've always been really confused by the cost of Ferrari maintenance.

Were the things so shockingly badly designed that topping up the oil requires the removal of the suspension, is it that because it says Ferrari everyone adds 1000% to their charges or are Ferrari just very big and even worse built Alfas, fine for 5 years but then reach for the brave pills, but you don't scap them because they are still worth something?

I would love one and a 456 is right up there, but while maintenance on a V12 XJS could be very high, a good specialist could make it bearable, but these things seem extraordinary for their ability to chew money yet are no dissimilar in concept and likely build quality!

[Unexpected Item In The Bagging Area]

sidesauce said:

article said:

So you could spend the money on a BMW 640d, or you could buy this

I'm confused - there's a £20k difference between the BMW and the Ferrari. At this price point, that's a massive difference! And that's just the purchase price; would you run the 456 everyday and not have big bills to deal with (whereas that wouldn't really be an issue with the 640)? Not to mention the fear of some scrote damaging the car if you left it in a carpark? I don't really think it's a good comparison to be honest.

Just a thought but perhaps he meant a second hand BMW.

[Jimmy Recard]

Unexpected Item In The Bagging Area said:

Just a thought but perhaps he meant a second hand BMW.

Just a thought; perhaps the previous poster meant a used 640d at around £40,000

[Jimmy Recard]

Strela said:

Six figures! Is that a record for a service?

Could be seven for all we know!

[Bobajobbob]

He said more than 5 figures so £10k+ I guess. A friend of mine had one of these and he sold it for the same reason. Maintenance was shocking.

[BFleming]

Pistonheads said:

FERRARI 456 GTA
Engine: 5,474cc, V12
Transmission: 6-speed manual, rear-wheel drive

So it's a manual GTA? Got to be one of a kind right there, especially with the sequential selector as seen in the picture:

Jimmy Recard said:

Unexpected Item In The Bagging Area said:

Just a thought but perhaps he meant a second hand BMW.

Just a thought; perhaps the previous poster meant a used 640d at around £40,000

As in the one linked in the article for £40k?

Edited by BFleming on Saturday 4th November 08:33

[67Dino]

I’m firmly in the camp that thinks this is one of the most beautiful cars ever made. Having hankered after one for a long time but been put off by the many stories of enormous running costs, I finally bit the bullet 2 years ago. My take is...

Pros:
- It IS beautiful, in a classy, discrete way
- The V12 is awesome: powerful, smooth and sonerous
- It handles with incredible poise for a car of this size and weight
- The auto box works brilliantly, and suits the car
- The interior looks every inch of the 200k it was new, with Prada handbag leather everywhere
- When you drive it you feel like a sauve Milanese businessman heading off to your Tuscan palazzo for the weekend.

Cons:
- Huge servicing costs
- The servicing costs are huge
- Did I mention the cost of servicing? It’s a lot. Really.

I absolutely love mine, and think they are hugely underrated. Plus, very conveniently, you get to pay the rest of the £100k+ price tag they should be worth in instalments (that’s my rationalisation anyway, and I’m sticking to it)

Edited by 67Dino on Saturday 4th November 08:59

[don logan]

I once saw one with a set of 599 wheels, it took about 5 minutes to work put why that 456 looked so much better, they didn't stand out as being too modern for the car, it just looked much better!

[sidesauce]

Unexpected Item In The Bagging Area said:

Just a thought but perhaps he meant a second hand BMW.

The link in the article shows a car for just under £40k, the Ferrari pictured is just under £60k.

[V8RX7]

My Dad (a classic car dealer) had one a few years ago and I drove it to a couple of shows, I was really underwhelmed and if you check my garage it's not like I drive Ferraris everyday.

It is a big heavy car - it drove like a bigger Supra - very much a GT car

His was an Auto and was deceptively quick - again great for crossing continents but not much fun, I was shocked to find loads of people taking photos of it as I arrived at the shows, I wouldn't swap my RX7 for it.

Oh and if you're crossing continents - you'll need a healthy credit rating - never mind the servicing costs - the mpg is appalling.

It took Dad almost 3 years to shift it for around £20k IIRC - a year later the prices went silly.

[F355GTS]

Numeric said:

I've always been really confused by the cost of Ferrari maintenance.

Were the things so shockingly badly designed that topping up the oil requires the removal of the suspension, is it that because it says Ferrari everyone adds 1000% to their charges or are Ferrari just very big and even worse built Alfas, fine for 5 years but then reach for the brave pills, but you don't scap them because they are still worth something?

I would love one and a 456 is right up there, but while maintenance on a V12 XJS could be very high, a good specialist could make it bearable, but these things seem extraordinary for their ability to chew money yet are no dissimilar in concept and likely build quality!

General maintenance is not silly, my 599 was the same price for an annual as our Discovery 4 at a little over £600 (both main dealer). There can be some shocking costs though if something even fairly insignificant fails, eg around £5k for new front struts on a 599, £600 for an aircon pipe on a 355

[dazwalsh]

It does look a bit dated on its original wheels, however that can be resolved