CARS OF THE WORLD

Ferrari 550 GT.

The history of the Ferrari 550 GT racing coupe, which could not have been: only two have made such.

Auction house RM Sotheby’s has announced another interesting auction — this time under the hammer will be sold a rare racing Ferrari 550 class GT1.

Interestingly, the latter was developed not by Ferrari itself, but by the Italian company Italtecnica.

The fact is that the serial front-engine coupe Ferarri 550 Maranello had quite solid dimensions, and the company considered that the release of a sports version of this model was inappropriate.

However, the racing team «Team Rafanelli» saw great potential in the two-door with a powerful twelve-cylinder engine and in 2000 turned to the aforementioned company Italtechnica, ordering them to manufacture two cars.

The latter were based on the usual Ferrari 550, which received a more developed aerodynamic body kit made of carbon fiber.

In terms of technology, the tuners have seriously modified the 5.5-liter V12 engine.

The engine volume was increased to 6.0 liters, while the unit also received an original intake system with individual throttle valves.

As a result, its output increased to 585 hp. at 6,250 rpm and 750 Nm available at 4,700 rpm. Italtecnica also ditched the standard gearbox in favor of a Hewland racing sequential drivetrain.

Plus, they managed to reduce the weight of the sports car to 1,100 kg. By the way, this is 590 kg lighter at once than the original donor car.

The racing Ferrari 550 for sale with body serial number «ZFFZR49B000115811» took part in just 16 races.

In the debut season of 2001, Italian pilots Mimmo Shiattarella and Emmanuele Naspetti performed on this sports car, and then the car had a scarlet color of the body.

Driven by these riders, the two-door finished three times in fourth and fifth places. The following season, the car was purchased by the Italian team «Dart Racing».

The supercar was repainted in blue with the Red Bull logos and further refined by JAS Motorsport specialists.

In 2002, in the FIA ​​GT series, a duet of racers consisting of Italian Luca Riccitelli and Australian Dieter Kester competed in the FIA ​​GT series, but the car broke down at all three stages in which they took part.

Then the sports car was at the disposal of the French team JMB Racing, but the 2003 season in the FIA ​​GT series was again not particularly successful for him — he managed to reach the finish line only at one stage out of six.

However, in the Italian GT championship, things went much better: in 2003 and 2004, six victories were won by car at once.

The organizers of the auction note that a few years ago the two-door was restored, and the blue livery of the 2002 model was returned to it.

The auction itself will take place in mid-June 2021 at a special event in Milan.

It is expected that the twenty-year-old Ferrari 550 GT can go under the hammer for about $ 2.1-2.6 million (from 158.0 to 195.6 million rubles at the current exchange rate).