1997 Ferrari 550 Maranello review from UK and Ireland

Outside temperature gauge failed.

Minor seat wear on driver's side outer edge.

Water leaking into the foot-well due to blocked air con pipe outflow.

Superb car to drive, the V12 engine provides effortless performance in any gear.

The clutch and gearbox were easy to use, although the clutch felt like it needed replacing soon when I sold it at 20K miles.

Changed the standard rear silencers for some Tubi Sport tubes, the standard exhausts are too quiet in my opinion, with the Tubi's you could hear the V12 much better!

Fuel consumption was approx 15mpg, although up to 20 mpg was possible if driving sensibly, oil consumption was negligible.

Servicing costs were high, but not unexpected, I had one service at a cost of £1750 at a main agent. Tyre wear was excessive, I did 3 pairs of rears and a pair of fronts in 6000 miles! No track days, but quite a few swift getaways!

The car seemed very well built, it never let me down and the paintwork was superb. Depreciation was OK, I paid £60K for it and sold it for £55K 18 months later. The first owner parted with £160k for it though.

Disappointments were the aforementioned standard exhaust, the stereo had poor sound although hardly high priority on a car like this, and the general abuse from other drivers when driving a Ferrari, something I've never encountered driving Maseratis.