Matt Farrah asked me couple months ago if I knew then that it would take 2+ years, would I have still followed this path. I said yes, without a doubt. A converted 599 remains an incredible value. I know it's cliche, but it's a different car with this upgrade.
And a second 2003 575 F1 now live... https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2003-ferrari-575m-maranello-5/
The nice looking red 550 20k miles at Silverstone Auctions in the UK sold for £100k at the weekend. Think it was mentioned somewhere above.
Interesting..... Who did your conversion? I am on the fence with my 599 and I am going to be making my decision end of next week.
EAG, formerly in San Antonio, now in Austin. I also considered a shop in NJ who has done a couple, but EAG specializes in Ferrari conversions and the team is very accessible and open to questions. Once they finalized the design and starting making the 599 kit, my car took about 10 days maybe a week. The big surprise is the software. I'm still getting used to how responsive it is now, and if you want it adjusted (take a little edge off) they'll do it. If you do this, I recommend visiting the shop, meeting the team, let them put your face to your car, and then when it's done plan an extra day in Austin to cruise around and decide what - if any - adjustments you'd like made before you head home,
Congratulations on your 599 conversion. If I did the conversion it would only be OEM style as Ferrari intended. Keep us posted on how you enjoy the car! Perhaps you can post some videos of driving her too? May the Horse be with you
My insta is @billpowered, pretty sure I posted a quick vid of my wife at the wheel. Let's see what I can post in next few days.
Nice one! I just checked it out… did you see my little blue car when you were at Dugan Enterprises?? May the Horse be with you
As an occasional contributer and being interested but not yet fully committed to buying a 550 (or perhaps 575 F1) in the UK, and thinking that I may have missed the boat, I've read the posts in the last week or two with interest. My thinking on where the market is headed is influenced more by macro factors than the obvious attractions of the cars themselves. 1) US buyers will continue to pay more for modern classics than European and that price gap will increase. US economic and stock market performance will inexorably widen the income and wealth gap with Europe. 2) Normalised financing costs, and the opportunity cost of cash tied up in cars, is here to stay. This is upending the mass lux segment of the market, new and used. Collector grade cars will continue to fetch strong prices but driver grade, for want of a better distinction, will drift because financing costs are more likely to influence what these buyers can afford. 3) It is getting harder to enjoy these cars in Europe. Low emission zones are being created and expanding at pace (200 cities now, Spain alone will have 150 by year end). Euro 3 (550/575) cars will be banned from many central urban areas from 2024, and Euro 4 (599 except GTO) from ~2028-2030. I expect restrictions will in time apply to toll roads and tunnels. Impacted cars will become increasingly niche propositions to actually drive. 4) Because of all the above, there is likely to be a good trade (hobby business?) in buying Europe LHD cars nearing or past 25 years for export to the US - those stranded in a depressed UK market first as pointed out previously. All this leaves me wondering whether or not I'd really be able to enjoy a 550/575, for city to city trips across Europe, while not seeing any good alternatives (from 599 they just got too big imho). It's frustrating. Thanks for hearing me out.
My obsession with the 550 started in 2001 as a youngish banker in San Francisco. For me it wasn’t a matter of “if” but “when”. If you have always been drawn to a Maranello then I agree with mrp_e and “just do it”. For me, COVID and the insanity of people way too young passing away lit a fire under my rear end to increase the intensity level of my search and get after it because life is too short. Buy one now…maybe focus on an early 575 (?) and enjoy it for at least a few years and a few thousand miles and then it could always go on to the next guy?…maybe like you mentioned the next guy is an American as the early 575’s approach the 25 year mark.
The only thing macro factors tell me is that climate change is slowly phasing out the human race and that only one terrifying "civilisation" which is not the West might stick its head out of a mess that even the most pessimistic have not yet managed to grasp. In my case the loss of close ones played a part in purchasing a 550 as it made me aware that life was unfathomably fragile and when I will be ready to kick the bucket there will be images and feelings of me driving my dream car that I had always thought I could never afford, an experience that billions of people who struggle to make ends meet on a daily basis will only ever be able to vaguely dream of. If you are lucky enough to be still in the position to worry so much about the future and can afford your dream car whilst still living your first life (the second one usually starting when we realise we only have one and that things can go very wrong in a snap), then don't think too much or you will only end up like the best in class who was so worried about his future that his present turned into his past without notice, with only a stock pile of regrets to think about before reaching the end of the line. This is my rationale for spending much of my heard-earned into something totally irrational.
Your obsession? Whodathunk?! Ha! Hey, you made it happen Eric, so good on ya! It's trite to say, but YOLO. That's how I roll! Okay, I know what you're saying, but who needs a rationale? I bought my 550 because it's gorgeous, it's fast, it's the ultimate (IMO) Ferrari GT car, and I really, really wanted one and had the cash to buy one. No other rationale needed. And why worry about all this crap, anyway? I mean, c'mon, we all know where this all ends for each of us, right? I don't think too much about any of this stuff. All the purveyors of all of this doom and gloom "we're all gonna die" BS about climate change and civilizational collapse...I have zero tolerance or respect for these idiots and the utter crap they spew, it's all BS. Yes, of course we're all gonna die. Each one of us, at some point. So what? That's just the end stage of life and we can't change it. I'm 63, and at this point I just want to enjoy my life, my family, my friends, my interests, all while I can. We all end up dead, so make the most of your life, whatever that means to you, including owning a Ferrari. As with anything, YMMV.
I am not worrying per se, I was just replying to TwoMinds to say that there may be far worse factors than the ones refraining him from jumping in the train, which seem to preoccupy him more than the factors you mention yourself, which I believe got all of us attracted into these cars in the first place. I was just saying that in my case macro factors helped me to pull the trigger. (BTW, where I live I experience civilisation collapse first hand every day, which started with the Maastricht treaty 31 years ago... apologies for the slightly political drift)
Thanks for your replies and encouragement everybody. Living in central London and feeling that these are cars which I shouldn't street park (unless anybody thinks that would be OK), my annual running cost budget is ~£10k plus another ~£4k opportunity cost from the cash tied up in it. Realising how quickly low emission zones might limit my enjoyment gave me pause for thought. Guess I just need to pull on my big boy pants and get on with it.
Logically (U)LEZ should boost businesses managing secure parking spots in the outskirts of larger cities.
Big $$$ 19k-Mile 2003 Ferrari 575M Maranello 6-Speed for sale on BaT Auctions - ending September 5 (Lot #119,335) | Bring a Trailer
super impressive result!….especially with no service records for 10 years despite “collector ownership”
