Anyone know about the 98 550 spyder on the dPR website? It is at Cohen's in LA, looks like a car photographed in Europe pre-Barchetta. Here is link: http://www.dupontregistry.com/search/srDetails.asp?itemid=132926&sessionkey={6FE83C3E-1765-440C-B227-221CEF96A55F} Says one of 2, the pic of another was an automatic too, IIRC, ex-(who else) Sultan car. Lee
they dion't exactly suggest WHO made the "two" cars. they don't say that FSpA did the cut. maybe pavesi has only done two cuts. i am wholly unaware of FSpA doing any cut 550s. that'd be interesting data. doody.
"this is what the 550 Barchetta should have been" I think that they are right. It looks amazing. You can actually have the top up and not have it look ridiculous.
the pic of the "second" that you are referring to, most likely is the the sultans car (actually, it belongs to a family member). it is black with an automatic transmission and a power hard top. the well known pic was taken by a ferrarichat oldtimer in monaco, i beleive. this car shown, is of no relation and was most likely cut by straman or euro-coach works, or one of these such shops. the sultans car is a pininfarina custom job that has sparked all kinds of speculation over the past couple of years. the engineering cost of the hard top must have been excessive, so why would pininfarina let the design go to waste. as of yet, no ferrari convertible hardtop has come to light. this car also has a much different back end, presumibley to allow for the storage of the hard top in the trunk.
Yes, I've seen the black auto. trans. retractable hardtop example belonging to the Sultan's son, and this car is quite different. I too wager that it was cut by Straman or someone like that, as opposed to the genuine PF black car.
Nice but his price is crazy, if its not a Sultan car it should go for less than a regular 98 550, not more
Doody: how many inquiries have you sent by now? I'm sure this made your hear skip a beat... I wonder who did the cut. Anyone ask yet? --Dan
i actually didn't inquire. his price is totally on drugs. you could buy a 550 here to nearly your exact specs (red-tan ain't my cup of tea); ship it to milan for pavesi to convert; fly to milan first-class two months later; enjoy it in europe for a few weeks; ship it back; and fly home first-class --- and STILL have money left over i'd assume it has NOT had its major done, for which it is due. i think it'is worth maximum (IMO) $160K. also, it's not listed on their web site, which is odd. clearly a car like this needs lots and lots of data for a prospective buyer. doody.
I agree about the price / color, but what a hassle it would be. Flyign to milan, driving a 550 in italy...Doody...I am disappointed my friend. --Dan
Where the top comes into the rear end - that looks like the 456 Straman conversions that I've seen, so maybe they did this one too...
"this is what the Barchetta should have been" i dont agree with this, becuase the point of the barchetta is to make a truely open air convertable. like the 166 barchetta. i think that its cool that they actually went all out and made a production car thats doesnt have a practicle top. the 550 barchetta is suppose to represent the 166...front engine, V12, open air. considering that the 550 is the first front V12 that ferrari had in awhile, its cool that they did it up like they did with the 166.
i totally agree scuderia47, but i think they left a lot of money and opportunity on the table by not doing a Maranello Spider. in fact, i'd go out on a limb and suggest that the quite lackluster 575 sales (with no replacement in sight yet - yikes!) might not be where they are if they had a spider rounding out that model line. doody.
