It's funny what time can do to the way we view a car. Take this Ferrari 550 Maranello for example; when it was launched it wasn't exactly derided as plug-ugly, but few were taken by its looks at the time.
Today, however, looking at this silver example from our classifieds you might say that the years have been very kind to it. Then again, that perception might have something to do with the fact that the vendor has just reduced the asking price of this Schumacher-era, V12, 200mph (well...ok, it's only really good for 199mph if you want to split hairs) GT to just £40,000.
These things are, reportedly, pretty damn good to drive. Schuey himself was involved in the development of the handling, the 5.5 V12 was heralded as one of the finest available, and you could even get a full set of golf clubs in the back. Although why anyone would want to stop driving one in favour of playing golf (...or anything else for that matter) escapes us.
Proof of the car's fast-touring ability can be found here
where one was used to cross America in 31 hours and 59 minutes by Dennis Collins and Richard Rawlings.
Suffice to say that this one is loaded with goodies and at just 53,000 main-dealer-serviced miles represents pretty strong value for money. If you had forty grand to spend and fancied a bit of a cross-continental thrash-athon with a few laps of the 'Ring in the morning then cutting a dash on the Cote d'Azur that same evening, surely this would take some beating. (Blimey! You can get European breakdown cover for the Nurburgring now..? Ed.)