The Lovely but Forgotten Ferrari 456
The Understated, Powerful, and Unsexy V12 Ferrari 456
I remember owning a Ferrari 456 t-shirt. It must’ve been my junior or senior year in high school, which means it was either 2004 or 2005. Every extra penny I had was spent buying car apparel at Speedgear. I remember ordering a Ferrari Formula One t-shirt with the season’s calendar printed on the back, as well as the 456 one. That’s where my love for the V12 GT Ferrari began. And that’s why I so loved Petrolicious‘s recent feature on the car.
Ferrari has built its fair share of cars. Some raucous racers, some high-tech hypercars, and some convertible cruisers. In addition, Ferrari has built several GT cars, but none as forgettable as the 456 GTA. In fact, even current 456 owner Ben Clymer admits it’s forgettable.
“It’s massively understated, and even unsexy,” he tells Petrolicious. But, there are a few things it is not, such as uncomfortable, loud, and quick. Granted, Clymer says it’s fast on the top end, but not quick on the bottom end by any means.
Clymer admits to have been shopping for a 550 Maranello for a couple of years. Due to market conditions, the 550 has more than doubled in value, but the 456 has remained “affordable.” He says that 456s were in the $60,000 range three years ago, compared to $90,000 nowadays. In comparison, the 550 has gone from $75,000 to $150,000 bucks. Now that’s an investment.
CHECK OUT: What Forum Members Are Saying About the Ferrari 456
This particular 456 is a bit of a unicorn, as it features a gated 6-speed manual transmission. 90% of these four-seater prancing horses were built with automatic transmissions. And I mean fully-automatic transmissions, meaning no F1 paddle shifters at all. That alone makes strangers give on-the-spot offers for Clymer’s Ferrari.
This 450-horsepower beauty is bound to turn only the most connoisseur of heads, as most of the general public will confuse it for some Japanese or British creation. Furthermore, even most car guys don’t know it exists, and I wouldn’t really blame them.
See, I know of the 456 because of this cool t-shirt I wore in high school. Kids often looked at it and asked me if my dad owned one? When I’d answer “no,” they’d wonder why I wore the t-shirt to begin with. My dad actually owned a Porsche 911 and a BMW 540i at the time, but that’s a different story…
Photos [Petrolicious]