Car of the Day - Ferrari 550 Barchetta Pininfarina

Car of the Day - Ferrari 550 Barchetta Pininfarina

Ferrari had a lot to celebrate in 2001. A hat-trick of Formula 1 Constructors Title wins, the first time since the mid 70’s as well as the 50th anniversary of the their most famous collaboration with Pininfarina. It was also the year of Pininfarinas 70th anniversary and in honour of the event Ferrari produced the 550 Barchetta Pininfarina.

With just 448 examples built and numerous significant changes over a standard Maranello, the 550 Barchetta is indeed a special edition.

The Barchetta is very much a sun lovers car with no more than an occasional removable roof panel and softtop for weather protection. This solution is very much in keeping with the original Barchettas of the ‘50’s where creature comforts were at best rudimentary. In exchange for the sometimes inconvenient solution a Barchetta owner gets the open air aural delight of the V12 and a classically styled front-engined open top Ferrari.

The 550 frame received structural bracing to ensure the loss of the roof did not damage the dynamics associated with the superb Maranello. Rigidity remained close to that of the Coupe with torsional rigidity at 10,850lb-ft/degree, and flexional rigidity at 69lbs/inch..

The most visible change to body-chassis assembly besides the obvious removal of the roof and new rear deck with headrest humps is the cut down windscreen frame. Four inches were removed from the height of the frame, the top of which is painted matt black to further give the “Barchetta” feel. The reduction in height to the frame results in a stronger structure in the event of roll over. At the other end of the cockpit further rollover protection is provided by twin hoops above and behind each passenger seat.

Power is provided by the same 5474cc 65 degree V12 as the Coupe. The engine produces 485 bhp / 362 KW at 7000 rpm and 569 Nm / 420 ft lbs of torque at 5000 rpm.

The engineers managed to keep the overall weight to the same as the coupe. The added structural bracing was balanced by the removal of the roof and the simple lightweight temporary top solution. Unsprung weight was lightened though and the Barchetta gives an excellent overall dynamic balance.

The 550 Barchetta Pininfarina’s also received distinctive Ferrari badging on the wheelarches plus two-piece alloy wheels and a unique aluminum fuel filler cap. The car was available in any colour in the Ferrari range.

Rod Halligan