550 World Speed Recoord

All

I am in the process of purchasing a 550 WSR. Do you guys know of any additional information regarding this 550 edition?

Thanks in advance for your advise.

Regards

Anjum

 

For some reason I am thinking it has a different sized gas tank, I pretty sure it's bigger. The cars are to commemorate the world record the 550 set back when it came out.

 

What was the record? Thank you.

 

From what I've researched

The 550 used was equipped with the Carozzeria Scaglietti sports kit, stiffer shock absorbers, helicoidal springs, modified steering, an infra-red tyre temperature control system, a special OMP roll cage, sports seats with four point harnesses, an automatic fire extinguisher, rapid refuelling system and an additional electronic pump in the event of failure of the power steering or brake servo. To celebrate, 33 commemorative replicas were built between 1999 and 2000, these World Speed Record editions having been the hottest front-engined cars you could buy from the factory.

 

Here is one for sale....

www.verdiferrari.biz/stock.asp?s=219

 

Here is a review of it:
Reviews
Ferrari 550 WSR
by Damon Hill

......Based on the Ferrari 550 Maranello, it has the trimmings of a genuine endurance racer without complete loss of comfort and practicality. Originally available in 1999 (ours is a 2000), it is not a typical P1 car in that it is not brand spanking new, but we felt the driving experience was sufficiently unique to warrant its inclusion.
The WSR was built partly because Ferrari s standard 550 Maranello was starting to look a little long in the tooth and inviting epithets like the gentleman s express . The slightly sluggish handling and bulky body weight did little to counter the insult.
But essentially the beautiful 550 still had the ingredients under the skin to make it a highly desirable proposition. So they decided to give it a shot in the arm by sending a slightly souped-up one to an oval test track in Columbus, Ohio, and getting some poor motoring journalists to go round and round in it as fast as they could, for as long as they could, before they either crashed or broke the car.
By some amazing stroke of luck they didn t crash, and in fact scored three new world records for incredibly expensive touring cars.
These were: covering 100 miles at an average speed of 190.2mph, driving for one hour at an average speed of 184mph and covering 100 kilometres at 188.9mph. Bizarrely, this seems to prove that mph are faster than kph (another world record for Britain). It also demonstrates that if there were a banked lane exclusively for Ferraris on the M25 you could do a lap in less than 40 minutes. Write to your MP.
The limited-edition 550 WSR that Ferrari went on to sell was based on this record-breaking car. Only 33 WSRs were ever sold worldwide, with 10 coming to Britain. All were in Grigio Titanio (titanium grey) with Bordeaux interior.
The precise technical differences over the standard 550 are pretty small. The Fiorano handling pack gives it stiffer suspension, carbon-fibre bucket seats, racing harnesses (totally impractical), suede steering wheel and leather-trimmed roll-over bar. The latter amuses me because when skimming along on the roof after an improperly executed roundabout manoeuvre I imagine you ll be fairly indifferent to that leather trim. The WSR has also been put through a kind of Atkins diet to shed some of its bulk.
All of these little details are a mere aperitif to the main course that is the WSR, yet they remind us of the heritage of this great marque, one founded on racing and endurance testing.


VITAL STATISTICS
Model Ferrari 550 WSR
Engine type V12, 5474cc
Power 485bhp @ 7000rpm
Torque 420 lb ft @ 5000rpm
Transmission Six-speed manual
Suspension (front and rear) independent, triangular wishbones, gas shock absorbers with coaxial coil springs, anti-roll bars
Dimensions 4550mm length; 1935mm width; 1277mm height
Tyres (front) 255/40 ZR 18 (rear) 295/35 ZR 18
CO2 n/a
Fuel n/a
Top speed 199mph
Acceleration 0 to 60mph: 4.3sec
Price 157,867 (when launched)

 

Never heard of it... Pretty cool 550!

 

33 in total, 23 LHD, 10 RHD
All were Grigio Titanio with Bordeaux leather, CF Sports Seats, SF Wing Shields, Alcantara dash and steering wheel, leather covered roll cage, CF Kick plates, FHP fitted as standard...

That's it - pretty standard car with a few trinkets, they command a very small premium of the standard cars but not what dealers would have you believe !

Argento

 

Agreed. I've owned a few 550's before - and they just work. You can rack up miles in them (and I was, all over Europe!) - and you arrive refreshed.

Since then I've been in several Lamborghini's - and they're just great too - but for different reasons.

The 550 I'm buying (I hope) is the one advertised - and I think that the extra bits just work. The mechanical grip afforded to the big GT is mighty impressive - I think FHP is just great. The seats are great - but I'm not keen on the harness, frankly.

Anjum

 

Looks like I'll be picking the car up on the 26th of May - and will be going to Spa for a track day on the 31st of May - and whilst we're there we'll be off to the Nurbergring on the 1st of June.

Should be a hoot!

Cheers

Anjum

 

The three records are for production cars. A production car is defined by the FIA as over 500 units per year.

The records are:
Fastest 100 km
Fastest 100 miles
Furthest travel in a one-hour period of time including a change of drivers.

The car must be stock. Only safety equipment can be added.

The 550 Maranello is the fastest production car of the second millennium.



12 cylinders or walk

 

Guys

A couple of shots of the car around SPA, one on the downhill straight to eau rouge and another at blanchemont (I think??). There are a couple of others to boot.

Cheers

Anjum
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It sounds like the engine, exhaust, transmission, and ECUs were unchanged from the stock 550, true. Aside from the FHP, I don't see any performance advantage, did I miss something?

Thank you

 

Just browsing around and saw this thread....WOW! Before I owned a Ferrari I had a ZR-1 Corvette. And for a few years the ZR-1 held a few world speed records. But then I remember seeing on one of the TV car programs where Ferrari had taken an almost completely stock 550 and beat the ZR-1's records. I was kinda miffed at the time....and a little envious too. But I never knew there was a specific "special edition" type of car to commemorate this event. That is very cool and I'm sorry to say I've never heard of it before! Again, all I can say is WOW!

 

nice: how do you set up to qual for that track, if you don't mind spending some time.

Did you enhance anything on your WSR, like diff. tyres, exhaust, air-intake/filters ??

 

Cool.......never knew that special model existed.

 

I came across one of these for sale in the UK at Lyndhurst, I think, during my own quest for a 550, about a month ago. Is it that car?

CONGRATS on a great car, it's beautiful. Can you post some pics of the interior? I'm curious to see how it is different than the regular 550's.

I'm committing to my first Ferrari today - a 2000 550 in Porsche Nachtblau (original colour - special request by the first customer)! I also plan to take it across Europe like yourself, it will be a great summer.


Onno

 

Does anyone know how many cars were prepared for the actual test? Was there only one? How many are in the US? What kind of premium would they bring? 72k pounds doesn't seem too bad. How does that compare to current UK values for similar 550's. Does anyone know when and where the testing was done/records were set?

Thanks for the help.
-Ed

 

And I think I remember Road and Track breaking some similar records in 02 in a Murcielago. Is that correct?
-Ed

 

Does anyone know anything else about these cars? What are US versions worth? How much would the actual car that they used to do the testing be worth? Obviously it has been abused but would it bring a premium?

 

The car at Verdi's is extremeyl over-priced in the UK market...One sold 2 weeks ago which was in better condition and with only 11k miles on it for less than £65k.

As fro your other questions - 5 cars were prepared by hte factory for the Record attempt, 23 LHD Worldwide, with approx 14 in the US...They do command a small premium over the std cars, but only £5-10k Max.

Argento

 

Thanks for your input. In your opinion, how much would one of the 5 record attempt cars be worth? The car I am considering is in the US so please reference prices to other similar year/mileage cars if you can.
Thanks,
Ed

 

Don't you think you can do some of the work yourself? Someone is kind enough to give you some price information on a recent sale - look up some similar UK cars, compare that price to a US example and draw your own conclusions.

I'm gathering that the car you are looking at is NOT a 550 WSR (as in, the ones that were built to commemorate getting the record, such as the ones in the UK), but actually THE 550 that broke the record. Nobody can say how much that thing is worth except the current owner. What they want for it is what it is worth. What you will be getting when you sell it again later is a whole different story again. You may get less than you think it is worth but what that actually means is that you just couldn't find anyone who thought it was worth what you had in mind. That's the trouble with unique cars - you can't estimate their value with comparing them to other sales.

I suggest you figure out how much of a premium YOU are willing to pay on top of a normal 550, and then pay it if the car is in the condition you're expecting/hoping. Speaking for myself, I would not pay a single cent premium for any of the commemorative WSR car over a normal 550 as I fail to see the significance. As for the actual record breaking car, I would certainly not buy it as it will have been driven little but very hard. But I buy my cars to drive, not for the novelty or history value. If you have different motives that is fine, of course.

In the end, it's up to you. Sorry if this doesn't help, but to me you're asking a question that only you can answer.


Onno

 

Onno,
Thanks for the response. You are correct. I am looking at THE 550 that broke the record. I would be buying the car to drive and I understand how hard it was probably driven. To me it is a car that is special and should demand a slight premium over what a beaten down maranello would normally bring which is probably somewhere in the neighborhood of a good driver's car with average mileage. This car is something that I first heard about here and was interested in so I did some research and found one. I understand that the value of something like that is very subjective but the input from this board is always very helpful. Thanks for your thoughts and have a great day.
-Ed

 

You too, Ed, and I hope you get to look at that driveway soon with a satisfied, smug look on your face


Onno