Ferrari 550 Maranello

We have been among those who have roundly praised the 550 Maranello as a GT car of supreme performance that is also easy to run and to own, assuming you have the necessary $222,434. But even its best friends would not describe it as the most beautiful Ferrari. The stylists at Pininfarina seemed to lose their sure touch with this derivative design; some initially compared it with a Toyota Supra.
But the 550 Maranello looks lithe and athletic alongside the bulky, aggressive Vanquish. Its interior is more delicately furnished, in this case in rich crimson leather contrasting with the gunmetal exterior. This car, from Ferrari U.K., was fitted with optional "Daytona" seats with ribs and perforations like those of the classic 1970s Ferrari of the same name. These are bucket seats in the original sense of the term, deeply curved and with a superbly comfortable, if tight, fit.
The instruments and the controls are traditional — clearly legible white-on-black dials hooded in black leather binnacles, with a row of toggle switches and simple knobs for climate control. There is not much ornamentation, and Ferrari doesn't see the need to install name tags all over the cockpit, as does Aston Martin. The yellow enamel badge with the black prancing horse at the center of the thin leather-rimmed wheel says quite enough, but lest we forget what makes Ferrari special, there is a little plaque celebrating "Campioni del Mondo 2000," a reference to Ferrari's winning the Formula 1 Grand Prix title last year.
The other distinctive feature of this and every other manual-transmission Ferrari is the signature metal "gate" that guides the shift lever into its six gears. The shifting effort is not as high as in some previous models, but the clutch pedal still needs plenty of effort and has a long travel. Many more modest cars have better and faster shifters, and the Aston's thoroughly modern robotized system further emphasizes the point.