1995 Ferrari 456GT 'Manual' Coupe

Description

The Ferrari 456 is a front-engined grand tourer produced from 1992 to 2003, at the time replacing the long defunct 412 model as the company’s V12-engined four-seater. Designed by Pietro Camardella at Pininfarina, the 456 was named from the fact that each cylinder displaced 456 cubic centimetres. Available in GT and (from 1996) GTA forms, the former with a six-speed manual transmission, while the latter had a four-speed automatic developed in partnership with FF Developments. It was only the fourth automatic transmission ever offered by Ferrari. Power came from a 5.5 litre 65 degree V12 engine which was derived from the Dino V6, rather than the more conventional 60 degree V12s used in the 412 and Daytona. It produced 325 kW with four-valves per cylinder and Bosch Motronic M2.7 engine management, changed to Motronic M5.2 management in 1996. The V12 could push the 1690kg 456 and four passengers to 302 km/h, making it the (then) world's fastest production four-seater. It was also the most powerful road car ever developed by Ferrari to that point, aside from the F40. The 456 used a tubular steel space-frame chassis clad with a one-piece composite bonnet and aluminium body panels. These were welded to the chassis by using a special "sandwich filler" called feran that, when laid between, allowed the steel and aluminium materials to be welded. The updated 456M (introduced in 1998), which was the last Ferrari model to use pop-up headlamps, was replaced in 2004 by the 612 Scaglietti.