For some time now, I’ve been a big fan of performance cars from the turn of the century. In the late nineties and early noughties, manufacturers were becoming rather good at factoring refinement and general usability in to their cars, without sacrificing the mechanical feel of the machine. The Ferrari 550 Maranello is a perfect case in point. It has a naturally aspirated 5.5 litre V12 engine out front which sends its power rearwards through a six-speed manual gearbox and a limited slip differential. Tactile oily bits aside, Ferrari’s GT car can also cover long distances in comfort and is perfectly usable day-to-day thanks to a reasonable boot and quiet road manners. It’s a “get yourself a girl – or boy – that can do both” type of car, and one I’ve been eager to drive for some time.

When I realised that The Car Crowd had one on their investment platform, I asked nicely if they would let me have a go. This particular example is a perfect car for their investors to get involved in. It’s now proper classic car age at 25 years old, and the combination of V12 engine and manual gearbox make it highly desirable, especially as increasing numbers of electric vehicles get rammed down our throats. This isn’t financial advice, but with examples popping up for £85,000 plus, the 550 is a car that likely has headroom to grow in terms of value. Australia is also a booming market place for 550s as they never received an allocation from Ferrari when the car was in production. At the time, seven examples were rumoured to have been imported in to the country, but since then, our friends from down under haven’t been able to get their hands on it until recently, when it finally became an official classic vehicle. Fun fact about this particular car: it’s part of a special collection that The Car Crowd have curated with Jodie Kidd and you can find extra content for this vehicle on her YouTube channel ‘Kid in a Sweet Shop’.

Needless to say, David and the team were happy to chuck me the keys for the day, so off I pranced in to the late autumn sun. Ferraris of this era were much simpler than today’s offerings, not just in terms of the mechanical platform, but the interior and general operation of the vehicle. There’s no push to start and no touch sensitive screens or haptics; just dials that require twisting and buttons that work with a simple press. The key turns in the ignition, the manual handbrake goes down and the transmission is pushed in to gear. Simple.

The first thing that strikes you is the weighting of the pedals, particularly the throttle which requires a solid push before you can get moving. However, you soon become accustomed to it and the extra heft helps you modulate the brake and throttle for more precise inputs. I also thought it would feel like a heavy car to navigate given the kerbweight is 1,716kg and it has hydraulic steering, but to my surprise it felt light and was easy to thread through the village I encountered on my travels. It also rides well although some of the suppleness does fall away when you encounter broken tarmac. Still, the vibe is of a car that can cover big distance in genuine comfort and it even boasts a 100 litre fuel tank.

But it’s not until you find some open road that the 550 really comes alive. The V12 engine puts out 478bhp at 7,000rpm and 415lb ft at 5,000rpm meaning you need to rev the motor to get the best from it, and when you do that, my word does it charm you. At low speed it’s rather muted, but this is a car that sings its way to the red line once you unlock the upper reaches of the rev range. I found the gearing to be quite long, but when you keep your foot in, you’re rewarded with a beautiful, orchestral sound as twelve cylinders do what they do best. The power delivery is smooth and linear, and offers up a 0-60mph time of 4.3 seconds and a top speed of 199mph – not quite a 200mph car, but who cares when you have an engine as sonorous as this one?

And to top it off, the powertrain is mated to Ferrari’s famous open-gated six-speed manual gearbox. Usually, the pause in proceedings caused by lifting off the throttle and engaging the clutch are an annoyance, but in the 550, the momentary break from the engine tone is filled with the satisfying click-clack of the gear stick being rowed around the ‘box. Not only does it sound wonderfully metallic, but it feels rifle-bolt in its action and creates a direct connection between you and that glorious V12 ahead.

Now, you would assume that a 25 year old GT car with a big engine would be a bit of a blunt instrument when presented with twisty roads, but you would be wrong. The 550 benefits from double wishbone suspension and adjustable damping with a Sport mode. It also has an aluminium body, as well as magnesium wheels and aluminium brake calipers to help keep unsprung weight down. The result is a car that feels agile and does a fine job of resisting roll in the corners, even if it’s not as hunkered down as a modern grand tourer, which is to be expected. You turn the wheel and the light steering weights up as you apply lock which builds connection with the front wheels. Most impressive, however, is the front engine rear-wheel drive chassis which feels balanced and rotates around you. It’s not a car that you would want to manhandle, instead it responds better to calm and well-judged inputs, and when you treat is as such, it flows down a twisty piece of road. Point-to-point, a modern car is faster and I did uncover some understeer, but it’s easy to see why motoring journalists raved about the 550 when it was released and why many still consider it one of the great Ferraris – it’s an absolute honey to drive.

Unfortunately, as the afternoon went on the poor weather came in and dampened my proceedings. Not wanting to prang a classic Ferrari that more than seventy people have invested in, I decided to calm things down. I suspect given its age, a major limiting factor concerns the brakes and subsequent stopping distances should one need to anchor down in a hurry. As the drizzle continued, the roads became increasingly wet and a moment of over-confidence in the throttle pedal while in second gear caused the rear to break traction. It was at that moment I realised it was time to return the Ferrari 550 back to The Car Crowd. Besides, there was no AC which made the windows difficult to demist when the rain really got going.

Back at the unit, I spent a little extra time pouring over some of the visual details. In my opinion, the 550 is a gorgeous car that harks back to a period when car designers were interested in elegance, not how angry they could make a performance vehicle look. It’s not surprising that the underlying architecture is from a 456 although the 550’s wheelbase is around 4 inches shorter than its four-seater stablemate’s. If you look at the body shape, you can see it’s been inspired by the Daytona, while the air vents on the side take inspiration from the 275 GTB. Finished in classic Rosso Corsa over Nero black leather, it really is a thing of beauty.

At the top of this article, I explained why I’m currently enjoying cars from this era and the Ferrari 550 does nothing to change my opinion. I love driving modern supercars – the performance is mind bending, dynamically they’re superb, and they’re now easier to live with than ever. But in most cases, they’ve lost a considerable amount of the engagement and character that older cars possess. Don’t get me wrong, my dream garage wouldn’t be filled with classic cars only, of course I would drive their modern equivalents, but given limited space there would certainly be room for a couple of models from years gone by. They truly don’t make them like this anymore, and as the world leaves behind big displacement, multi-cylinder engines and ‘antiquated’ manual transmissions, the want to own a slice of the past only grows stronger.