2002 Ferrari 360 Spider F1

If there was one car manufacturer whose image was inextricably linked to one colour it has to be Ferrari. However, it would be vaguely interesting to see what proportion of Ferraris produced were actually not painted in Rosso Corsa.

The significance of the choice of red by Enzo apparently lies with the emergence of  ’country colours’ in the early days of motor racing. Green for Britain, blue for France, yellow for Belgium, silver for Germany and of course red for Italy.  But yellow is the colour for Modena and hence the background colour of the Scuderia shield and don’t Ferraris look nice painted in Giallo?

Anyway with enough money and kudos you can have the factory paint your new car in any colour you wish (within reason and as long as Enzo did not consider it tasteless). Eric Clapton is one of those people that is well known in Modena. Not so much for his guitar-playing skills but he just loves Ferraris and he doesn’t always order one in Rosso Corsa.

Take the 360 Spider that we are selling on behalf of the current owner. The shade of metallic grey (grigio) on this car is unusual because it wasn’t a standard colour for the 360. Eric decided he liked the colour so much from a previous Ferrari he had owned that he asked for his new 360 Spider F1 purchased in 2002 to be painted with the same colour and the factory duly obliged.  The following year he bought an Enzo painted in yellow, so there!

Today the same car is up for sale and has now done just over 30k miles. The interior is finished in Beige leather and the service history is impeccable. Lancaster’s have just carried out the 31k service and the cambelts have been changed at the same time. Give us a call on ++44 1474 854490 or click here for more details.

In the meantime click here for a slideshow of images.

1999 Ferrari 355 GTS F1

We’ve decided a Ferrari doesn’t have to be red. We have just added a gorgeous 355 to our portfolio and it is a complete stunner. In our humble opinion the 355 in any other colour than red almost looks like a different car. Maybe a metallic hue shows off the subtle detailing of the curvy shape rather more than a solid colour. This particular 355 is finished in Tour de France Blue. Take a look at the images by clicking here. The car looks classy and very slightly understated. It still makes a great noise though! The tan interior contrasts perfectly with the blue exterior and the overall condition of this 355 is highly original and unmolested. As with any Ferrari the service history is vitally important and this one comes with a comprehensive mix of main agent and specialist provenance. The last service was done by Verdi very recently and the car has also had a new clutch fitted. The cambelts were checked for wear by Verdi and they were given the thumbs-up too. If you have ever thought about buying a 355 don’t leave it too long. These are getting more sought-after than early 360’s and the way they are holding their values suggest that there won’t be any bargain-prices in the future. Click here for more details of this lovely blue example. Here’s an interesting independent review of the F355 featured on Pistonheads.

Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano for sale

Sounds like a mouthful to us Anglo Saxons but ‘599 GTB Fiorano’ makes a lot of sense to our Italian cousins. The easy part is 599. This is the size of the engine minus the last 9cc. GTB stands for Gran Turismo Berlinetta which gives us a clue to the body styling i.e. it’s a Coupe. And finally Fiorano is the handy little ribbon of tarmac just outside of Maranello which is great for pushing Enzo’s finest to their limits. Maranello must be a great place to live! The 599 has a lot to live up to though. Built as a replacement for the 575 Maranello it had to look good and from an engineering point of view it had to move the game on. Well Pininfarina did the styling under the capable hands of Frank Stephenson who’s cv includes having a hand in the New Mini, X5, F430, Maser Quattroporte, 612 Scaglietti and pretty little new Fiat 500. He then went on to Alfa to replace our friend Wolfgang Egger who then went on to Audi. There must be something in the wine in Northern Italy to produce such an abundant crop of styling gurus! Is the 599 beautiful? Not in a pretty way perhaps but in a dramatic way it succeeds. It certainly looks like a Ferrari. And the mechanical bits? If speed is the benchmark (and it invariably is) then a 0-60 time of 3.5 seconds recorded by Evo Magazine suggests that the boys with the spanners and computers at Maranello have been putting in some overtime. Some tests have recorded even closer to 3 seconds for the same sprint which places the 599 way near the top of the league for high-performance exotics. Want to buy one? Well give us a call on ++44 (0)1474 854490 because we know of a cancelled order for a 599 that is going to be ready towards the end of 2008 and there’s still time to change the spec!

The name’s 7…DB7

Penned in the Early 90’s by Ian Callum, the DB7 is widely considered to be one of the most beautiful and charismatic of automotive designs. We’ve mentioned in a previous post the late appreciation of the DB7’s second cousin, the XK8, which now looks like it came from the same womb as a separated twin. It all makes perfect sense of course given that Callum had spent so much time in Ford’s maternity unit. It’s all in the genes as they say. The impressive part though is how Ford managed to fill the shoes of the AM V8 and the XJS with a pair of cars that moved the game on so well for their respective brands.

Sublime Supercar Slayer…

A Very welcome addition to the fleet, the New BMW E60 M5.

This car has to be every Ferrari owners worst nightmare. You can imagine it now, the ‘Barbie and Ken’ couple in the Rosso Red F360 Spider, the lift of the sunglasses, that glance over the shoulder at the traffic lights…The recognition of those M5 side vents…That ‘oh no’ feeling kicks in…’I could be made to look seriously silly right now’. A competitor that really is a genuine wolf in sheeps clothing. A civilised understated executive hack, capable of over 205 Miles Per Hour and has recored figures as low as 4.1 seconds during its 0-60 mph sprints (Road & Track magazine ‘06). With figures like these, things could indeed look bleak for Mr Ken.

When Ferruccio met Enzo…

So the story goes Ferruccio Lamborghini, who made tractors, told Enzo Ferrari his clutches were rubbish. Enzo got miffed, punched Ferry on the nose and sent him back to ploughing his potatoes. Mr Lambo decided that the only way to get even with the man who was building the most charismatic cars in the world was to ….and the rest is history as they say. 

New cars….

Over the past year we have been asked on an increasing number of occasions whether we can supply new versions of sought-after or long-waiting-list cars. Well the time has come when we can emphatically say ’yes’. Through our contacts in the trade we have access to a comprehensive range of models from Audi, Ferrari, Land Rover, Bentley, Rolls Royce, Maserati and Lamborghini all of which we will be highlighting on the website as and when they become available. Because of the high demand of certain models it may be a case of first come, first served since the supply situation can be very fluid and even prices can change on a daily basis. Nevertheless if you have a purchase in mind it will be worthwhile getting in touch to see if we can help.