Morning people, I am currently on the look out for a 550 (are there many 550 owners on here from the uk ?) I have trawled through all the posts, done web searches, asked current members, and think I have a reasonable grasp of what the potential issues and running costs are. What I can't find though is anything to tell me what the original options were. I have seen a few posts that suggest they changed, possibly in 2000? If someone could enlighten me it would be most appreciated. Alternatively point me at the posts I've missed ;-) Many thanks in advance. Regards John.
Does this begin to help ? http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/456-550-575/334256-550-factory-options.html
One thing not mentioned in that other thread is a custom exterior colour, which my 550 came with. Also not mentioned is that you could choose either coloured carpet to match your exterior or not. For instance, there are Grigio Titanio 550's with all-red interior, but also with red seats and black carpets. I know a red 550 with completely beige interior, but my 550 has beige with blue carpets. Other than that, I think the list is pretty exhaustive. Boy, times have changed, you should see my 458's option list! Onno
One thing I do want to mention to the TS, is that you shouldn't hunt for the car with the perfect option set that you have in your head, nor the perfect colour. At least, not in my opinion. If you are flexible, you have more chance of finding a good one. And believe me, good ones are rare in Europe. I would not buy well over 70% of Maranello's I see. The most important thing is that it has a well known history, particularly in the past 3 years but better to have it from year 1. I would make sure it was driven regularly in recent years. Don't be afraid of mileage, these cars can take it easily. And in the UK that is especially important since low mile examples are much dearer. Mine has 50,000 miles (Dutch car) but is in prime condition. Interior of mine is still looking fresh - this is often not the case, so that is a good indication if people have looked after the car. If the leather is not torn or creased but it is darkened (on a tan interior), you can use it as a negotiating position as you can clean the leather up very well. Onno
The Scaglietti options were introduced on the 550, 360, and 456M around 1999 and the 550 options were similar to those on the later 575M. FHP, color brake calipers, carbon fiber interior trim, and others mentioned in the earlier thread, nearly all of which were carried over to the 575M in some form. Barchetta wheels became an option in 2001 when the Barchetta was introduced. Not sure whether Daytona seats and the leather rear shelf were earlier options or introduced with the Scaglietti options. Three paint options were available and again not sure when they were introduced. Standard palette, paint for which a code already existed, and paint to sample. Even the latter was only about $4-5K, compared to 4-5 times that much for some paint jobs on new Ferraris now. Anybody have a complete 550 option list from 1997 and 2000? Have not actually looked too much.
No problem, I believe it is 2000, but it does not have a date stamp so cannot be sure. I also have a copy of the Price list, which is dated 01-Oct-2000: Retail VAT Total 129,655.31 22,689.69 152,345.00 Paint Protection silver 547.65 95.84 643.49 Paint " gold 803.50 140.61 944.11 excluding delivery
Great info, thanks. The roll bar and four strap seat belts were not available in the US. I found a list on the 2000 550 that matches this pretty well, but you had to do a lot of reading between the lines and several things were missing. Now we just need one from 1997 or 1998 to see what options were available when production first started. Wonder if the sales brochure has any of that?
Thanks grey boxer, don't know how I. Missed that post ! Enz525 thanks, exactly the answer I wanted I do have a preferred spec, but am flexible on most of it. Daytona seats are a must, and i prefer beige or crema interior, but everything else is optional (pun intended ;-)). I tend to buy what I really want and then hang on to it for ages. I am not overly fussed about more miles as long as the condition is good and history is too. I do want to make sure I buy the right one for me though. The main thing at the moment is for me to know what I am looking at so I don't get sucked in by the first one I see / drive ;-) Thanks people. Most helpful. I will let you know how I get on. Been looking for most of this year so it could be a while... Cheers, John.
Judging from the fact the modular wheels are on the option list, that sheet is probably from about the same date as your price list (Oct 2000) since the Barchetta was introduced in late 2000.
Hey Taz, just wondering if you also have an original 575 option list you can post so that I can determine what was originally an option on my 575? Clyde
John, I was at my local dealer the other day. They had a cream colored Interior Maserati for sale. In passing the service guy mentioned how any abrasion from a dark colored item (e.g., a belt) would discolor the cream upholstery and eventually require an expensive fix. Others have their own experience but I thought I'd pass it on. He sees a lot more of these than me (they had a similar colored 599) and advocated a dark colored interior as a result. Good luck in your search Philip
Clyde- Go to the 575 Serial Number vs Assembly Number thread and there are multiple ones posted there. Mostly Danish and UK. Plus all the Scaglietti option sheets are posted there. You can also go to your dealer and have him print a build sheet for your car that will have all the options, colors, etc listed. Looks lke this: Image Unavailable, Please Login
At one time we could download the build sheet from the FNA website... Image Unavailable, Please Login
Barry- We lost a bit when the site got eaten by ferrari.com. You could also download any OM you wanted, not just the one for your model. I still get e-mails from FNA, but the website is not the same.
Thanks Philip. I have had a few cars with light interior, so know the potential issues, although I've never had a problem (so far). Maybe the Ferrari interior is more succeptible though ? It is only a preference, and the condition of the interior will be part of my assesment. You never know, I might see a car with tan or black and buy that as everything else is right. Or buy the first one and then trade up ! lol
Hi Terry, over the months I've been looking the crema ones either command a premium or sell real quick. Most of the cars currently for sale over here are black interior. Are there figures anywhere that give the number of each built ? i.e. how many in each colour and with what colour interior, and specifically rhd. I realise this could be a nightmare to determine, but it would be interesting to hear if crema is in the minority or just doesn't come to market as often. I see ferrari life has a partially populated registry (incomplete regarding details, and can't list by colour / interior, or just rhd). I assume it would be very costly to change interior, assuming it could be found, and would likely devalue the car as its no longer as built ? I saw somewhere that quilted rear decks wereavailable, which would be a nice addition.
When I was looking for mine another 550 owner gave me these figures for rhd cars. I believe UK only not including other rhd countries. Red 104 Blue 82 Grey 77 Silver 75 Black 29 Green 14 Light blue 7 Orange 1 That adds up to 389 but I believe about 480 were imported. So the figures can't be take as totally accurate. It doesn't include yellow of which there are at least 2, as I've seen them advertised by dealers. As red comes with cream, tan or black interior, certain colour schemes can be difficult to find. Also obviously some cars have been written off and others exported. The quilted rear shelf was an option as I have seen quilt and carpet. Mine has carpet.
Many thanks Mark. Interesting to see Red is so high. There seem to be loads of Grey and Silver ones on sale at any one time, and not many blue or red ones (blue is my second choice colour). The quilted looks nice but I guess is far less practical (as if i'm going to put stuff in the back ! lol). At least I know I can retrofit it if I really want it. How about Red carpets, anyone making those ?
Hi Taz, if my dealer is not an authorized Ferrari dealer but a dealer who only resales Ferraris and other exotics, would they still have access to the build sheet or would I have to go to an authorized Ferrari dealer? Sorry to trouble you. Clyde
Clyde- No, you have to go to an authorized dealer who has access to the factory MODIS system. John- The info Mark has is way better than anything I have seen, UK or US. The keeper of the records for the UK FOC, JT Remlett I think, may have more info. There were 457 RHD UK 550s imported, so color info on 389 is good, statistically significant information. Have not seen anything like that on interiors, I just know UK and Australian buyers like Crema. Rosso Corsa and Crema are resale heaven for y'all. Redoing the interior would likely not affect value, especially if the dash is in black like most of them are. Someone would have to have a build sheet to know it had been changed. Bradan in New York sell quilted "250" rear shelves for around $1200 and have made quite a few. A nice upgrade for the 550 or 575M. Cars were built with contrasting rear leather shelves, so that could be left black if you changed. Would be a lot of leather to change for a new color. Dash, door panels, A pillar panels, rear shelf trim, and rear window trim. Note the quilted leather headliner was a separate option, so no changes to the headliner would be required. Personally, I would just change the seats to crema with nero inserts and leave the rest in black. Would look great. Did that on my old Dino 246 GT, although without the Daytona inserts.
