Hi Harry, lovely first post. Welcome here. I must say your columns on the 550 were an inspiration as I was doing the research for 6 months before I took the plunge and bought my 550 Maranello in 2007. Thanks for writing those, they helped a lot. The love for the 550 is still strong - they are truly special and I hope never to sell mine. Glad you found a great Barchetta. Maybe I should find one as well to get a matching set? I missed you at the MMT (drove it last year and the MM this year) but hope you had a great time. How's your 330 doing? Onno
Thanks for the kind comments; it was an amazing experience to use a Maranello 550 as an everyday car, not sure if I could justify the fuel costs quite so easily now though! As for the 330GT 2+2, it's in regular use at home and I will be putting a video I did on the car up on the evo website very soon. Not planning any big trips in the car in the near future but I still love the way it delivers the classic Ferrari experience at a fraction of the cost of, say, a Lusso. Mille Miglia Tribute turned out to be a fantastic event to be part of and I've done a story on it in next month's evo, as well as one for Octane Magazine. Both issues should be out on the shelf in the next few weeks.
Great, look forward to reading it. Take the 330 on the MMT one day, I thought it was very special driving those roads in the GTC (shame you have to do the classification now, though). It's also great being one of the first cars and getting all the attention and yet another basket of olive oil - what is my brother looking at? Sorry for the hijack but it was such a funny moment when those girls stepped out from the blue smoke... Onno Image Unavailable, Please Login
MMT was a properly bonkers event, as you can probably tell by the picture posted by Jazzy0! It's tough on the cars, though but I also reckon it one of the greatest driving events you can ever take part in. Here are some pictures of my 550 Barchetta.. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
That is a big improvement! It's a similar roof to the Boxster Spyder...... Image Unavailable, Please Login
Yes, the replacement roof is very similar to the one on the Boxster Spyder. There is a solid plastic rear window as part of the conversion but I only use it if I know it's going to be very wet or for the security it offers. Image Unavailable, Please Login
By the way, I agree with one of the earlier comments regarding the roll over hoops being too high. This is clearly shown on this conversion.
I read this thread with great interest as a friend of mine recently acquired a Barchetta. We both live in SW FL where the winters are [generally] dry and the summers wet. I recommended he purchase a SuperAmerica rather than a Barchetta to avoid the angst that is created when you look up at the sky and see storm clouds. But he decided that he wanted a stick shift car. With no manual SAs on the market he went ahead and purchased the Barchetta. To this day he does not travel far from home with the Barchetta. I drove the car for a bit. It brought back my recollection of the 550 that I once owned. It may just be perception but there does seem to be a more raw feel to the 550 vs the 03 575 that I owned afterward. And the Barchetta combines this feel with the pleasure of the open top. However being a practical sort I still favor the SA. At the flip of the switch the top drops or closes. You get the open top feel without having to worry about the rain. And when I park somewhere I close the top so I don't have to worry about curious onlookers or having a pile of leaves collect on the underside of the glass roof. In my very biased opinion after owning a 550, 575 and now the SA the SuperAmerica is the best of the lot. While the overall style is somewhat compromised by the top design the practicality makes it my choice as the best of the Maranellos. I chose a black exterior as this color best blends the top with the body. Ferrari has come up with resolutions for the glass top issues [struts and delamination] so that concern is ameloriated. So as I did with my friend I recommend the SuperAmerica. Like the Barchetta it was built in limited numbers which seems to help it maintain value.
As an original Barchetta owner that remains in the garage, it still makes me smile when I drive it. I've had more than a few chats with the factory about the Barchetta, and they continue to believe it's still "the one to own" over the long term. But, of course, who knows? Several years ago, I was contacted by Pininfarina about converting it into a full topless 550 GTC racer. They were proposing a limited run of 10. The preliminary sketches included swept back roll hoops, which, I thought, improved it 100-fold. I took a pass when I was told the asking price, and I think the idea died on the vine. Although, I'd LOVE to resurrect the project... CW
I think that the proportions of the Barchetta make it one of the most beautifull ferraris made. I have seen first hand the limitations of the original hood and the conversion available would be a god send and make this marque a great solution for open car travel without the worry of a $25000 roof replacement for the Super america, plus a less computerised drive.
Maser- That top looks pretty good. I think what is needed is a removable plastic or fiberglass piece that forms a smooth curve between the roll bars. That would allow a normal roof line a lot like the Boxster Spyder's. Not too difficult to design or fabricate and the piece could have a hinge in the middle to allow storage in the trunk or behind the seats. If somebody here is a good artist or PhotoShopper, it would be easy to illustrate. Taz Terry Phillips
I was looking over the Pagani Zonda Roadster with Horacio Pagani recently and that car has a similar roof line to the Barchetta, with two bumps where its fabric roof stretches over the car's roll hoops. Horacio pointed out he didn't like the look to begin with but then realised these two 'bumps' had a similar appearance to a woman wearing a tight fitting top might have... after that conversation, each time I see the roof on my Barchetta, it makes me smile.
Domenic kindly took me for back to back rides on Saturday in his Barchetta and his 575 F1. Either his Barchetta is an exceptionally fast example or his 575 was a slow one, the Barchetta certainly gave me the impression of a much harder kick in the guts than the 575, certainly in my experience faster than a 111mph 1/4. The sound of the Barchetta was much nicer that the 575's, a scream vs a roar yet both apparently had Tubis installed. What was distinctly unimpressive to me was how the F1 threw me forward into the seat belts then backwards while he conducted a full throttle shift in Sport mode. The shift speed that is advertised must be for the shift only not the total interruption to torque interval. Domenic can shift at least as fast as the F1 was my impression. I also noticed some jerky part throttle shifts. If I were to bet money his Barchetta would stomp his 575. I believe Domenic agrees with me. The obvious question is what is wrong with his 575?? Also how can they sound so different? His Barchetta has an x-pipe while the 575 being a late model has straight pipes after the cats (Novitech's parts graphic) both supposedly feeding into Tubi mufflers.
Exhaust manifolds and catalytic converters are completely different on the two models and that accounts for part of the difference. No top makes a difference, too. If his 575 cannot kick the Barchetta's tail, there is something wrong with it, but you cannot tell by seat of the pants feel. Rear ends are uninstrumented. Minimum shift time is 220 ms for the normal 575s and 180 ms for the HGTC. That is in Sport mode above 6000 rpm. I did a lot of drag racing in my younger years, and I cannot shift as fast as my 575. Taz Terry Phillips
Tex- Here it is. Many more photos in the magazine version. http://www.roadandtrack.com/tests/car/2001-ferrari-550-barchetta-pininfarina Crud, I reposted myself. Taz Terry Phillips
Sorry guys I know I'm a bit late to this thread, but was interested to hear from Barchetta owners how much wind buffetting is evident with the top down-with or without the side windows down?
It definitely makes a huge difference if you have the side windows up while driving on the freeway. I usually drive with the windows up because I take my car on drives to the Rocky Mountains on the freeway. In the city, I drive with the windows down. There is no wind issue with me unless it is a very windy day here.......but it is a very non-windy interior with the windows up. I hope this helps.
For such a rare car there are four on ebay right now, including one with 709 miles. One of the ads says 448 made with only 70 in the us. Similar numbers for the SA? http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2002-Ferrari-550-Barchetta-One-Owner-Californian-/220894204910?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item336e5213ee http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2001-Ferrari-550-Barchetta-/180755895369?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item2a15e41449 http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Red-Calipers-Connolly-Racing-Seats-Shields-Modular-Wheels-/110773527159?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item19ca9de277 http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2001-FERRARI-550-BARCHETTA-11k-MILE-AWARD-WINNING-SHOWSTOPPER-STUNNING-OUT-/180745800140?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item2a154a09cc
Though mine is a chop top and the window is very slightly taller, I agree 100%. On the freeway, it's windows up. Buffeting from top and back is insignificant/enjoyable.
