550 Referred to as Modern Daytona

That's a good question, Robb. Certainly there are more styling cues from the 275 GTB 4 in the 550 Maranello than there are from the Daytona, eg. covered headlamps, engine bay vents and rear quarter panels. The 550 is often referred to as the "Modern Daytona" as it was the first front engine V12 produced by Ferrari since the Daytona. I'd like to hear some other views on the subject from members of this forum.

Barry

 

I share that thought with you. In many ways it really has a common ancestry and styling to the 275 GTB, and even as far back as the 250 Lusso. It certainly is part of that same family branch and V12 GT look.

I guess the linkage to the Daytona is its presence, and as you say, because it has that front engine. Specifically it has long, extended "nose" and massive V12 engine upfront. But most importantly, it has a deep elegance, grace and yet an aggressive shark like impact. it is a beautiful 2 seater GT. To me, having had both the 550 and 575, each has a common beauty, and yet unique traits which I equally like. They are both beautiful in their unique details.

While talking to a friend who owns a significant Ferrari Dealership, he sees another parallel in that the Daytona, for a period, was completely forgotten, and declined drastically in value. Nobody really wanted them. They were big and old...Everybody wanted the latest model. Sounds familiar, right?

Then, the turning point happened. People realized what they were missing, how special, how iconic the car was. The stylish and elegant lines, its sound, the engine smoothness and the thousand details that make the car special and distinctive.

I feel that now, the F12 is exactly in the same vein. The F12 seems to be the latest reinterpretation and in fact has similarities, especially the side view and some common flowing lines towards the tail and rooftop flow, to the Maranello. From a styling standpoint, the F12 seems to be much more of an evolution and linked to the Maranello than to the 599, which has its own personality and unique qualities, of course. So the F12 will continue the specialness of that deep DNA look of the best iconic Ferrari, including the Maranello.

Finally, it is a car with a very special model name: "Maranello". The true place of Ferrari. It will be the only one with that name. It could not be better than that Ferrari gave it by choice, like the Daytona. They are both a statement of purpose.

Let's start restoring and cherishing the Maranello before parts become hard to find.

In future years they are going to look more and more spectacular with their beauty.


_M A T T H E W_

 

The 550 is far more reminiscent of the 275GTB, with the side gills, covered headlights, rounded grill opening and ducktail. I think the Daytona, with its concealed headlights, slit grill, windows aft of the b-pillar, has more in common with the 456, especially at the rear end:

http://www.google.com/imgres?q=ferrari+365+daytona&num=10&hl=en&tbo=d&biw=1377&bih=894&tbm=isch&tbnid=i4xJCf-zjiWyEM:&imgrefurl=http://cimbeon.com/ferrari-365-gtb4-daytona.html&docid=VSPH2KDuyaf6sM&imgurl=http://cimbeon.com/data_images/ferrari-365-gtb4-daytona/ferrari-365-gtb4-daytona-12.jpg&w=797&h=409&ei=z4jmUPaBBeTsiwK_2IAY&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=2&sig=113626372424695355562&page=1&tbnh=136&tbnw=266&start=0&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:9,s:0,i:117&tx=768&ty=370

http://ferrariw.com/ferrari-456-gt-2/

 

If you were to drive a 275, a Daytona, and a 550, you would understand why. The 275 is a nervous, light, high revving racy car. The Daytona is heavy, torquey, and has long legs. The ancestor to the Daytona was the 330GTC, although it is lighter and not as powerful, it was a sporty GT with a much torqueier engine than the 275.

Yes, gentlepeople, these cars are more than styling alone. Driving some of the classics makes you understand the newer cars better. The more I experience different models, the more interesting the Ferrari story becomes for me. Someone want to lend me a '62 GTO?


Onno

 

I take JazzyO's point....unfortunately I haven't had the chance yet to drive the old classics (apart from the 330GT 2+2)...but from a styling perspective I totally agree with Allan: the 456M resembles the Daytona much more than the 550...especially from the rear.
Cheers
Chris

 

People don't say "the 550 looks like a modern Daytona". They say "it really IS a modern Daytona". The OP was asking why they say that. It is because they are not referring to the looks but to the concept.

The 456 can never be called a spiritual successor to the Daytona. It is more the succesor to the short-lived 365 GTC/4, its 2+2 sister.

FWIW, I think the presence of the Daytona is much more akin to the presence of the 550 than the 456. The 456 looks more beautiful than mean, the 550 looks beautiful because it looks mean. And the Daytona has the same aggressiveness. The short overhang at the rear, the cabin moved far to the back, the long nose, it is all shared by the 550 and Daytona. The 456 has a round butt, the Daytona a sharp and crisp one. The 456 has more rounded front fenders than the 550, the Daytona has a sharp crease.

But ultimately these cars are, styling wise, all very different. And so they should be, almost 25 years apart.


Onno

 

The 456 is a styling masterpiece, Stunningly beautiful 4 seats room for golf clubs
and still look like a Ferrari, I have owned many cars only my E type gets the same
reaction I get for the 456,And then 12 cylinders.

 

I think that the 550 is the new Daytona as the Daytona was the new 330/365GTC as these were the new 275 series etc. The evolution of front engined Ferrari V12 Berlinettas from the 250 s to the F12 is 50 years plus of ever improving and complex road cars with race track capabilities. Some models like the Daytona maybe more appreciated than others but the tradition lives on majestically in the 550/575. As to the future value of the 550, I bought my 250 GT Pf in 1972 for $3500. I bought my fully restored 330 GT in 1996 for $45k. I bought my 330 GTC a few years later for $65k. Each of these cars is now worth many times what i paid. However I sold each of those cars after about five years of ownership for just a bit more than I paid. I know that production numbers of the 550 is much greater than the Enzo era cars but there are now many more prople than before in the hunt as there are many more folks that can afford to buy and maintain these cars. The lesson here from a purely economic point of viewis that certain Ferraris will over time dramatically increase in value. I think that the 550 will be in that group. I recently saw and sat in the F12 at F of Ft Lauderdale. While it is very very nice, at 330k base price I am very happy with my 550 at less than 25% of that price.

 

First, I must admit that ever since I was six years old I have lusted after the 250GTL especially the closed headlight version one -off. The Lusso is pure rolling sculpture absolutley "right" from every angle. It screams of one man and one woman going some place rapidly that the rest of us were not invited to.
At a certain time in my life I figured out that I could actually buy a Lusso. I have been a latent Tifosi for many years and knew that I would have to obtain a front engined V-12 Ferrari made before the Fiat buyout. I had to make a choice: 365 GTC, 250 GTL, 275 GTB/4,
or 365 GTB/4.
As an old campaigner with vintage cars, my rose colored glasses got put in a drawer long ago. I did a lot of homework and looked at quantities built and spares availability and driveability, bla, bla, bla.
So why did I buy a Daytona instead of a Lusso? Simple. My neighbor's 17 year old daughter and her minivan. The modern minivan will cream just about any '60's classic. A young girl blabbing on her cellphone and humiliating a cosciencious classic car operator at will is gruesome to think about.
The Daytona was legendary on the track right out of the box. The Lusso - not- so- much. Styling on the Daytona berlinetta is iffy, but they are chuckable and long-legged. I feared no minivan.
I didn't buy the Maranello as a replacement Daytona so much as a surrogate Lusso.

 

For me, the Ferrari 550 is a modern day Daytona. That is, the long-awaited return of the front-engine V12 design.

The 550 is a special car to me because I vividly remember when they first came out in the magazines, and then later, seeing one in person in a showroom.
Most of us back then thought that the front-engine V12 Ferrari would never be made again.
We had years of the Boxers (356BB, 512BB, 512BBi) and Testarossas (Testarossa, 512TR, 512M) to convince us that the 12-cylinder Ferraris would always be mid-engine from now on.
Then, the 550 Maranello was announced and it was the first modern interpretation of the long-hooded fastback two-seater V12 Ferrari.

Here is a quote from one of the magazine articles back then:

.

 

Ron,

Those performances are with a stock maranello. Simple tweeks greatly improve its racy capabilities but at a reduction in gt-ness.

 

I purchased my 550 because I loved the styling from the first time I saw one. However the more i learn about Ferraris . I made the final decision to buy it now because it has the making of a classic it has timeless styling and is the modern day Daytona in that it is the next generation of front engine V-12 GT same as the daytona similarly to the daytona and very significant is it was the last Ferrari (V-12)that was designed and built with only the gated shifter in mind like it or not I personally like it . SO the styling is timeless and it is the first or last of a significant item (i.e. gated shifter) so it has the making of a high dollar vintage car. Of course only time will tell .
just my 2 cents
Larry

 

Robb I am not familiar with a closed headlight 250GTL. I bought one in 1996 sight unseen from a "reputable" dealer but sold it with out titling the car because when it was delivered I saw that its floorboards were so rusty that I could see the road through them in spots. I dreaded thinking about were else rust must be. I also did not much care for the 4 speed which like my my US version E-Type revved way too high at highway speeds due to the differential gearing. In truth it was beautiful but handled like a truck. The 330 GTC which came a bit later was a much better driver. I sure would like to see a closed headdlight 250 GTL. Can you direct me to a source? Thanks.

 

Closed headlight 250 GT Lusso.

I've seen only one car that might be such a Ferrari.
It was displayed at the 2010 FCA Annual Meet in New Jersey a few years ago.
It's history was verified as being a factory-original special edition.
Looked like a 250 GTO front end put on the Lusso body.
It won a platinum award in the FCA concours.
Very nice looking car overall.

Here are a few pictures of it that I took at that event.
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Thx. Have not seen her before

 

I did some web searching and found the Serial Number (#4385) for that one-off 250 GT Lusso Special Edition.

Here is the info:

"The Scaglietti Road Car Award for the best Scaglietti-designed Ferrari Road Car went to Lee Herrington’s unique and beautiful 1963 250 GT Speciale Berlinetta (S/N 4385). This car looks like a 250 GT Lusso from behind and a 250 GTO from the front. The one-of-a-kind car came about when a wealthy Italian friend of Enzo Ferrari wanted to buy a 250 GTO. At that time, Ferrari was inundated with such requests for his highly successful 250 GTO and insisted that it only be sold to 20 proven race car drivers. As a compromise, Enzo agreed to build a special car for his friend. He personally wrote on the build order for this car that it should have a steel body like a 330 LMB only shorter and a Lusso engine. When the car was completed in 1963, Ferrari’s friend was involved in a much publicized sex and money scandal and fled Italy before taking delivery of the car. To save the embarrassment of being connected to his disgraced friend, Ferrari sold the car to a buyer as far away as possible, in South Africa. It re-emerged in San Francisco in 1978 and was thought to be a modified Lusso. It wasn’t until the new owner asked Piero Ferrari about the car in the 1990’s that the true story of this unique Ferari was discovered."

Source: http://www.velocetoday.com/ferrari-club-of-american-national-meet-2010/#.UOhqbndorls

With another picture of the car from that article:
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funny thing. even with gto nose clip i prefer the styling of the original. the closed light gtl looks similar to the 330 lmb imho.

 

Very true nothing beats the 550 really. And many more people in the world now. 3,000 cars is nothing

 

The 550 is clearly the modern 275gtb. You can clearly see it

 

I think the "modern Daytona" moniker comes not so much from a styling similarity standpoint, although there is some of that, but more from the fact that the 550 was Ferrari's first new front V-12 two-seat GT car since the Daytona ended production some 20 years earlier.

Styling-wise, to my eyes the 550 combines various design cues -- some almost literal, others more modern interpretations -- from a number of "classic" road and race Ferraris, including the 275 GTB, 365 GTB/4 Daytona, 365 GTC/4, 250 GTO, 750 Monza, 250 GT California.

 

My 550 likes to think of itself as a Modern Daytona...


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Le Mans 24 Hours 1972


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Pocono Raceway - June 27, 2010

 

The 550 is a mix of both cars I think… here’s my car next to a 275 GTB for comparison. The covered headlights, smiling face, side “gills” plus rear haunches 275 GTB-like, while the rear end as well as the canopy is more Daytona-like.

To my eyes, the 456 takes much more cues from the Daytona than the 550 does.


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