The F50 Thread

Sorry for the late response, it's been a hectic week focused on you-know-what!

IMHO the 'talking down' of any F50 is unnecessary, they are all different, and some people just want a driver to enjoy, for which they'll pay vastly less. That said, the discoloration of the air intake component is as a result of aging, light exposure and most significantly, heat-cycles caused by usage.

For example, the car in the image I posted above to which you refer is enjoyed regularly on the road, my posting of that image was only to show the original finish of the headers and the muffler boxes, and make the point that in modern times, when these components are refinished, the result is different from the finish the cars left Maranello with.

No offense to anybody's cars but in 30 years of messing around with these cars I have learned, just when you think you've seen the best, there's always another more virgin, more truly original example somewhere, and I personally have seen truly well-preserved cars that have existed in an optimal climate that have had no cosmetic refurbishment whatsoever besides routine service work.

By the way your comment that cars that have had some kind of refurbishment sell for less money is not necessarily true as we all know, it depends on what type of refurbishment, why it was needed, and who did the work, sometimes, refurbishment adds value.

There's a fix for everything, my amazing local affiliate dealer Ferrari of Newport Beach has refinished F50 air-intake boxes for us, the unit was stripped, polished and re-clear coated. Here's a 2,000 plus miles USA F50 we sold not long ago, it needed a detail and you can see the discoloration is starting to happen in patches, it didn't deter my client from buying it.

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Another F50, in most we have handled, the passenger side intake plenum gets the worst of the discoloration.

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The latest price-point is $4,240,000 all-in rmsothebys.com

 

I saw it, I remember 4972 showing up at Castle Combe circuit in the late 80s with it's then-owner Hew Dundas, it was right-hand-drive having been converted from LHD to RHD by Graypaul Ferrari in the UK, when Jay Kay owned it 20 years later it was still RHD, later converted back to LHD in Italy, surprisingly good result.

 

Yellow F50 in the service department at Ferrari of Central FL today 288 GTO as well

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1995 US-spec #103921 coming to RM Monterey next month.

https://rmsothebys.com/auctions/mo24/lots/r0206-1995-ferrari-f50/

Photo Nathan Deremer ©2024 Courtesy of RM Sotheby's
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Yeah fire up the DeLorean, we will buy them all.

 

F50 in Banff from @hijoflacko on IG.

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Great color! Never seen Azzuro California on an F-50 before.

 

A great Car & Driver magazine article for enthusiasts & students of the model (prospective judges too!) as it contains images of what the cars looked like when new https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/a45821868/1997-ferrari-f50-archive-drive/ including this image of the engine bay showing original finishes, materials and textures.

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We're experiencing a European invasion over here in the USA, this one (already spoken for) has to be one of the nicest I have encountered that's used regularly.

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Non-original color.
Repainted several times.

Marcel Massini

 

Painted Azzuro California and then back to Rosso Corsa both times by Ferrari of Houston.

 

Interesting that the estimate doesn't seem to reflect a discount for the repaint(s)... That wasn't the case when the car last sold.

 

After it last sold, the car has displayed at the Cavallino Classic in Palm Beach in 2023 where it received another Platinum award, perhaps they think that adds value?

 

Depending on the event, there may also be a reduction in value.

Marcel Massini

 

Very true, I was suggesting that Platinum possibly adds value in good humor, I knew you'd understand.

 

In the last four years or so several formerly well established and renowned Concours in USA (but also in Europe) sadly have turned into mickey-mouse shows or simple lifestyle events lacking more and more serious judging and certain shows are run by rather incompetent people.

Marcel Massini

 

I was once at an esteemed show (which shall remain nameless) where one of the judges was asking me (a non-judge) what was correct for the car he was judging! What does that say about the integrity of the judging, and the overall results?

 

A beautiful 2,000 miles USA F50 we have sourced for our client who's on the Board of Directors at Ferrari, a gentleman and a dyed-in-the-wool Ferraristi, we've also sourced him a 288 GTO (the Turin Salon Show Car), an 1,800 miles F40, and a 2,800 miles Enzo.

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Something I have thought about for a while regarding the F50 is the Goodyear Eagle F1 GS Fiorano tyres , anyway I know that in relation to tyres the issue with special tyres is the machine fabrication downtime regarding set up and the small production run, will drive up the end retail price and the prime example is the eye watering cost of Bugatti tyres ( as well as development costs being recouped).

My question is, now the world is a smaller place and a lot of F50 owners know a lot of other F50 owners and people like Joe Sackey and James at DK Engineering selling so many cars often, could you all not get together, and do a club buy for these tyres.

Just with so many cars being preserved now and returned to as stock as they can surely the only thing that lets down a car from a preservation point of view, is the variety of tyres used and original tyres are unavailable or now very old, I’m sure a lot of owners would love the idea of a new set of fiorano’s.

I mention this as I recently saw a set advertised for £4K so £1k per tyre for a tyre that really isn’t road worthy and only suitable for display purposes and shows, and surely a club buy plus Goodyear making a few extra could bring the price down quite a bit if enough people had enough time get on board.

Or is it simply that with the advances in tyres and compounds, that the Fiorano tyre is now too old now, for those that want to use the car and better tyres are readily available. ?

 

You mean like Pirelli is doing for the Enzo

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Ferrari has also issued official approval for the use of P Zero and P Zero Corsa System tyres in the Collezione range already offered by Pirelli as aftermarket products for the F40 and F50.
The P Zero Corsa System tyres of the Collezione range for the 1995 Ferrari F50, in the sizes 245/35 R18 (front) and 335/30 R18 (rear), were also subject to development testing at Fiorano to ensure they respect the performance of the original tyres in terms of handling characteristics and feel.

https://www.ferrari.com/en-EN/articles/ferrari-announces-new-tyres-for-the-enzo-ferrari-supercar