456GT Initial Impressions

Until I picked up the car from the importer I had never seen a 456 in the flesh. And there it was, my 94/95 456GT! I became obsessed with the 456 after seeing on a US auction site last year. The idea of a front engine V!2 Ferrari I could own well south of $100K was appealing to me. Why are the values so relatively low on these cars? Had to be the exterior styling right? From certain angles the car does look bulbous and bland, especially looking down the side from the front. Seeing it though, in person, was a revelation. More low slung than I thought, wider in the rear, impossibly long slab of hood. When I washed the car I discovered all these supple curves on the rocker panels, below the decklid to the spoiler, the slant of the windows. Overall, the car transitions from round shapes in back (most prominently on the beautifully swept C pillar) to straight lines at the front without much curve on the front fender to the flat hood. I am quite pleased with the shape of the car and find its design growing better each time I see the car, like a good movie, or a good wine, they are better each time you see it, or drink it. I am so happy with the Blu Swaters Metallic paint. Dark blues with hints of gray in the shade, sparkling medium blue in indirect light, and strong purple glitter in the direct sun. I am a sucker for dark blue or black paint that has notes of purple in it, and to date my all time favorite color was the Panther Black on the Audi RS5. Not any longer! The dark blue color seems to suit the 456 so well!

Interior. The 5 gauges on the 456 hooked me when I saw that car on the auction site. I love gauges! And these are in Celsius so even cooler. Very impressed by the seats, comfy and supportive. Love the overall ergonomics and the non airbag steering wheel, though the spokes totally cover the headlight and wiper stalks. Surprised by how good the visibility is, lots of greenhouse, and visibility out the rear is good even with the C pillar. Set up for racing the pedals are close together and many times my big feet touched the gas when braking so I have to angle my foot a little. The accelerator pedal is quite firm as is the clutch. I thought my Porsche had a firm clutch, but it is nothing compared to the 456. The Ferrari clutch with its short travel is awesome to use. Why are not all clutches like this? Shifting the car, now we get to some potential controversy. I am not a fan of this gated shifter. Looks cool as hell but it is far from easy to use (how did racers use this). I am a mediocre stick user I will admit and likely part of the problem is my lack of precision. Rather than the "snick snick" sound mine is more "clang clang" and not very satisfying to row gears in. I tried to shift slowly putting the shifter into neutral then shifting rather than trying to go right into gear. Better but not great. When I take the car in for a shake down my mechanic will ensure it is working properly.

The V12 is so unstressed. On the few times I buried my foot on the accelerator the car pulls so hard so smoothly like only the best NA engines can. On roads it is so hard to enjoy the full power of this engine, but I will certainly try. I am amazed at how quiet the motor is even under load. For me that is fine as I like quieter exhaust notes, and it suits this car perfectly. Handling is better than I thought for a cage of this age and weight. Love the steering, so much feedback. The brakes seem weak and I suspect my car needs pads. The pedal travel is short but does not inspire confidence so I have been careful to leave a lot of space between cars. The body feels so solid and vault like. Love the thunk of the doors, trunk, the thickness of the glass, and the stainless steel gas cap, all the wonderful details of an uber expensive car. My wife commented that the ride seems "harsh" and while I did not think so, I did notice the tires thwacking a lot on highway expansion joints. I have no idea how the suspension should feel and did not notice any difference in the damper settings. Not surprising if this car needs some new rubber in the suspension.

Driving the car home across the state and a little around town, about 4 out of 5 people don't give it a second look but the 1 out of 5 that do, really stare, turning their heads, pointing at it. It is the ultimate sleeper and best suits the type of car I love to own, understated elegance, big power, reasonable cost. My wife, who is not a car person, and has tolerated my obsession for so long, and has seen many of my cars come and go, remarked about the 456 yesterday, "that is a really sharp car". Big deal coming from her!

Thanks for reading this and welcoming me to the 456 community! Now where can I get florrmats?

 

Nice! I looked at their site. The dark blue and tan would look good with my interior.

 

Duh my car has the floor mats! Driver side is dirty. I might still get extra mats and store the factory ones.

 

I like that! Going to order now.

 

Car going to my local indie tomorrow for a good shake down. I’ve put about 700 miles on it since I picked it up 3 weeks ago. Some observations:

Clutch is firm but smooth. The clutch “whines” until the car warms up.
I’m getting better at rowing the gears. Still more clunky than snickety. If that is a word.
Engine pulls so hard. Once checked out by the shop I will be more willing to thrash it. So smooth such a locomotive.
So impressed with the build quality and granite like body feel.
I have fallen in love with the lines on this car.
Number one comment I get is how much people love the color. Blu Swaters!
Car warm idles at 850. Feels a tad too high?
Speedo starts at 10 mph. Wrong correct?

I spent the day cleaning the interior and admiring it. God I love that center console and the 5 gauges.

What a wonderful sleeper, sexy beast this 456 is.




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It is an aftermarket navigation system. See the plug peeking out under the center console? Unit is attached to the back wall of the trunk. Somebody put a lot of time and money for this. Eventually I will take it out and return the center vent to a vent.

 

In my case, I trusted the dealer right away with the amount of information shared and quick responses. Obviously, a thick folder of bills and receipts for maintenance is crucial. The dealer sent me everything they had and I translated all the bills from Dutch to know what was done. I was concerned about originality and having somebody put eyes on the car to inspect the frame, paint, suspension, etc. I don't think it makes a difference whether you are looking at a 456 across the country or in Europe. I was looking at a 456 in California for a while and until the PPI was done I had no idea that the car had been resprayed and badly. Could not tell from the photos. I also looked hard at two 456s both in France. In one case the dealer was being cagey, not responding quickly, so I punted, and in the other case, the dealer took the car for a PPI but then never got back to me with the final report.

I used autoscout and one other search engine by typing "456 GT for sale europe" and had a solid list of cars to pick from.

https://www.autoscout24.com/lst/ferrari/456?sort=standard&desc=0&ustate=N%2CU&size=20&page=1&atype=C&

Then I sent out inquiries and the dealers who did not respond quickly, thoroughly, or were being dodgy were out. I would not hesitate buying from an individual again depending on the responsiveness. Get the records and the PPI done. With the PPI, I sent a list of questions that I wanted answered particular to the 456 that a generic one might not cover, like checking the accumulators or rear spoiler. This added to the cost of the standard PPI.

Days before my car was to be picked up at the dealer, after I fully paid for it, the right engine bank would not fire. Turned out to be a bad board. The dealer spent $3K to replace the board at the dealer. I got lucky finding a great dealer to work with. You can tell right away from your first conversation about how honest they are.

Sending money is not easy either. That's an entire process. I sent full payment and had to hope the dealer would deliver the car. Pretty scary. Again, you have to have full trust, or know somebody in the country who can take possession.

I learned a lot about shipping and insurance. I wasted a frustrating month trying to figure out importing from a local referral. I finally found an importer who was awesome, knowledgeable, and handled all paperwork and teed me up with a freight carrier in Holland. This freight carrier does container shipping only (stay away from RORO), picked the car up from the dealer via a closed truck and staged the 456 in the container at the port. They provided the manifests and Bill of Lading and once the container arrived in New York, the importer got it through customs and put the 456 on a truck to their warehouse in New Jersey for inspection and confirmation the car came back fine and runs. From there, they could have shipped to my house but I chose to fly to Jersey and drive it home.

Insurance during transit until it arrives in the US is a major pain in the rear. I secured auto insurance for the 456 from Hagerty (great pricing) but only once it landed in the States. You need a separate policy to cover it in the foreign country and in transit to the boat and while on the boat. I found a company who wrote me a policy covering the car in Holland and on the ship until it landed in New York. I am obsessed with having insurance.

Figure overall shipping costs, fees, import costs, and insurance will add about $8K more to the cost of the car that you import rather than buy in the states. Good luck! . Let me know if I can help. After going through this process I would definitely import again.

 

A lot of variety in these 456s for sale in Europe. Many drivers with lots of miles as you noted!