Aerial view of a Red, 2001, Ferrari 550 Barchetta, on display at the 2020 London Classic Car Show
The Ferrari 550 Maranello is a front-engine V12 2-seat grand tourer built by Ferrari from 1996 to 2001. The 550 Maranello marked Ferrari's return to a front-engine, rear-wheel drive layout for its 2-seater 12-cylinder model, 23 years after the 365 GTB/4 Daytona had been replaced by the mid-engined Berlinetta Boxer. In 2000, Ferrari introduced the 550 Barchetta Pininfarina, a limited production roadster version of the 550, limited to just 448 examples. The 550 was replaced by the upgraded 575M Maranello in 2002. Ferrari introduced a roadster version of the 550 at the Paris Motor Show in 2000 to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Pininfarina. The 550 Barchetta Pininfarina was a true barchetta with no real convertible top provided. The factory did provide a cloth soft top, but it was intended only for temporary use to protect the interior from rain as using the top above 70 mph (113 km/h) was not deemed safe. Aesthetically, the barchetta featured a more deeply raked windshield than the coupé for improved aero dynamics, roll-over hoops behind the seats for the driver's safety and a longer rear section than the coupé to complete the smooth overall design resulting in more cargo space than the coupé, even when it was less practical. Other changes included new 19-inch alloy wheels specially made for the barchetta. A total of 448 cars were produced, four more than initially planned 444 cars due to concerns of superstition in the Japanese market about the number 4. The 448 cars were preceded by 12 prototypes numbered P01–P12 on their interior plaques. To an observer the prototypes and production cars are indistinguishable. The mechanical underpinnings of the car remained the same as its coupé counterpart but the engine was given the F133C code mainly for differentiation. Performance figures differed significantly as compared to the 550 Maranello due to the loss of a roof, with 0–62 mph (0–100 km/h) acceleration time increasing to seconds and top speed reduced to 186mph.
Size: 5616px × 3744px
Location: Olympia Exhibition Centre, West Kensington, London, W14 United Kingdom
Photo credit: © John Gaffen / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., 2-seat, , 448, 550, 2001, 2020, , aerial, barchetta, car, cars, classic, convertible, drive, f133a/, ferrari, front-engine, grand, layout, limited, london, pininfarina, produced, production, rare, real, rear-wheel, red, roadster, sergio, show, tipo, top, tourer, true, v12, version, view
