My Ferrari collection

[mrm]

I am one of those rare hybrid collector/builder type of guys. I enjoy enormously building plastic model kits, but I take no lesser joy from collecting some good quality die cast models. And a lot of times I blend the two by modifying my diecast models to bring them up to desirable spec or quality. 

I will divide my collection in two topics. This one would be Ferrari only and the other one would be everything else. 

Let's start where Ferrari started. Winning at LeMans.

 

 

Edited August 6, 2022 by mrm

[mrm]

FERRARI 375 PLUS - José Froilán González/Maurice Trintignant - Winner 1954 LeMans - BBR

Edited August 6, 2022 by mrm

[mrm]

By the way, all models are 1:18 scale unless otherwise noted. 

Edited August 6, 2022 by mrm

[Gramps46]

Gorgeous!!  Anxious to see the next one.

[cobraman]

What a sweet replica.

[mrm]

How about a Legend? The beginning of  a legendary name. The birth of a legendary motor. 

1957 FERRARI 250 TESTA ROSSA - cmc 

 

 

[mrm]

8 hours ago, Gramps46 said:

Gorgeous!!  Anxious to see the next one.

 

7 hours ago, cobraman said:

What a sweet replica.

Thank you both guys. 

[Gramps46]

18 hours ago, mrm said:

I am one of those rare hybrid collector/builder type of guys. I enjoy enormously building plastic model kits, but I take no lesser joy from collecting some good quality die cast models. And a lot of times I blend the two by modifying my diecast models to bring them up to desirable spec or quality. 

 

 

 

Michael, you are not alone.  There are several of us here like you who build and collect so welcome aboard.

Gary

[mrm]

Where everything began, back in 1947!

 

Ferrari 125 S - Mattel Elite

[mrm]

Some truly special machines were early Superamericas. Those were the most exclusive of all Ferraris at the time and some of the most expensive cars in the world. They were all custom build for special customers and were basically the factory hot rods. 

FERRARI 410 Superamerica (1955-'590 - Mattel Elite

[mrm]

And here is one more of the same Superamerica, but build slightly different per it's owner's request. Kuddos to mattel for releasing the models with their subtle differences. 

 

1957 FERRARI 410 Superamerica [1955-'59) - Mattel Elite

[mrm]

Here are the subtle differences between the models. 

The comparison

[mrm]

Perhaps everyone prefers more modern Ferraris. So keeping the Superamerica theme, here is one from the beginning of the century. 

 

2005 FERRARI 575 SUPERAMERICA - Mattel Elite

Edited August 8, 2022 by mrm

[Gramps46]

Your photos are very enlightening and appreciated as I had not seen them in this scale.  Thank you for sharing them.

[mrm]

2 hours ago, Gramps46 said:

Your photos are very enlightening and appreciated as I had not seen them in this scale.  Thank you for sharing them.

You're quite welcome. Lots more to come. 

[mrm]

Here is the same Ferrari 575 Superamerica in blue. Quite striking in this color, which Mattel got pretty darn close to Ferrari's Tour De France Blue.

[mrm]

And we are going to head backwards....

The car the 575 Superamerica was based on.

 

FERRARI 575M - Mattel Elite

[mrm]

I can't really judge how much interest this generates, but I am going to continue to unravel Ferrari's family tree. 

So the Ferrari 575M (which stands for Modificata) is an evolution of it's predecessor the 550 Maranello. 

The 550 is a very special and important model in Ferrari's line up. Back in the '60s the 365 GTB4 Daytona (which actually has never been the official name of the car) was King of the hill. It was Ferrari's flagship model and believe it or not, faster and better in pretty much every way than Lamborghini's ground braking Miura. However that last car changed the face of the proverbial supercar for ever. As the rear engined wedge shape became the standard image that popped up in everyone's head when supercar was mentioned. Ferrari followed suit to please the money people. So the following flagships became the various 365/512s, followed by three generations of Testarossas.  The 550 Maranello was the return of the classic Ferrari with its V12 motor in the front of the car, making for a great new Grand Touring flagship. It's design by Pininfarina also evoked the shape of classic Ferraris of the past, incorporating many details from the Daytona and the 250 GTO. To make things even more special for me, I was living in Chicago at the time and was at Continental Motorsport when the first one was delivered tot he dealership. it was all red with the classic black on tan leather interior and it was so beautiful that it hurt. To this day Ferrari's flagship models have kept the 550's formula - front engined V12 Grand Tourers with classic Ferrari shapes of the past. 

Several model makers make a 1:18 diecast model of it. Bburago, Maisto, Hot Wheels..... But the best of them all is the now defunct UT models. These can still be found for a reasonable prices and worth every penny. 

FERRARI 550 MARANELLO - UT Models

Edited August 10, 2022 by mrm

[mrm]

The classic red on black and tan 550 Maranello holds a sentimental value to me, but my favorite color combo for this car is definitely silver on black and red. 

Manufacturer is UT again. 

[mrm]

The 550 Maranello also starts a trend in Ferrari production that is still going strong 'till today. That is to release a new model and then follow it with a limited edition variant based on it. Such was the case with the 550 Barchetta. Now that is a name associated with the car that put Ferrari on the map by winning LeMans - the 166MM. The little open car was nicknamed "Barchetta", which in Italian means "little boat". Ferrari Took the roof off the 550, chopped the windshield and called the exclusive series of only 448 cars  "550 Barchetta". 

 

FERRARI 550 BARCHETTA PININFARINA - Mattel Elite

[mrm]

Mattel made this model in their Elite series in black also. The black ones still can be found for reasonable prices and look gorgeous. I would highly recommend getting one if that's your type of car. The cream interior on the black paint looks delish.

 

FERRARI 550 BARCHETTA - Mattel Elite

Edited August 14, 2022 by mrm

[mrm]

The 550 family.

 

[mrm]

The 550 Maranello may have brought Ferrari's old ways to the company, but the 575 was the better car. Not visually IMO, but still. his led to way more cars being based on the 575 than the 550. 

One such car was the very small series, I believe only six were made, of the bespoke 575Z. The Z standing for Zagatto, who designed the new body. 

[mrm]

The story of this car is very interesting. Andrea Zagato inherits the company, which has very rich history with Ferrari. For quite some time the company was waiting for the right time to release a Ferrari based model. In 2006 right before the 50the anniversary of Zagato's first Ferrari, the company received an inquiry from a Japanese collector - Mr. Hayashi, if they can build him a custom 12 cylinder Zagato bodied Ferrari. Andrea Zagato puts the wheels in motion, fully aware that there is huge difference between customer bought Ferrari that has its body changed and an official limited Ferrari model. Eventually he gets Ferrari's permission to use their name and badges and the car is given the green light as an official Ferrari product under one condition. Not to be shown at the Geneva Auto Salon the same year, as Ferrari was debuting their 575 replacement the 599. The car is met with great approval from both Ferrari and Mr Hayashi and actually represents the last series from the 575 family. 

 

FERRARI 575 GTZ sn127394 - Mattel Elite

[mrm]

The coolest thing about Hayashi-San is that not only he had the drive and means to get Zagato to make the cars, but he actually ordered two of them. The two-tone grey one was for his personal collection to admire and polish in private, while a second black example was made for him to drive and enjoy on the road. Later on the black one was sold and I believe subsequently repainted, but the very first one made, the two-toned one is still in his collection to this day with pretty much no miles on the odometer. 

FERRARI 575 GTZ - Mattel Elite