458 Speciale - Pre Production example

[M3E30rulezz]

Hi all,

I’m looking to get acquire a 458 Speciale in the next months / year and I came across an interesting example but learned that it was a pre-production example and curious whether that is something to be careful with.

Key points:
- Sept 2013 production date
- In Feb 2015 (with some mileage on it) bought by the Dutch official Ferrari dealer directly from the factory, unclear what exactly happened with the car between Sept 2013 and Feb 2015
- Ferrari dealer sold it as Ferrari Approved to Dutch owner. Dutch Ferrari dealer is listed in service book as dealer who delivered the car new
- Ever since dealer maintained
- It does not have navigation, which I believe is standard on 458’s so that is probably 1 aspect of being pre-production


Any thoughts on pre-production in terms of quality/issues and what that means for the first part of the car’s life is welcome!

Thanks a lot

[Gnevans]

I would want all of this in writing from Ferrari before considering it. It sounds very odd to me.

[av185]

Interesting case for sure.

Wasn't aware manufacturers could sell on pre production cars for use on the public road and for obvious reasons not least warranty and insurance compliance.

Porsche for example scrap the majority of their pre production cars irrespective of value. Seem to recollect the 4.0 GT3 RS I drove at Silverstone PEC was pre production and despite only 28 UK cars being manufactured and a current value of c £500000 it was scrapped.

Imo it would always cast a shadow over the car and its value similar to a Category # insurance marker.

[MDL111]

av185 said:

Interesting case for sure.

Wasn't aware manufacturers could sell on pre production cars for use on the public road and for obvious reasons not least warranty and insurance compliance.

Porsche for example scrap the majority of their pre production cars irrespective of value. Seem to recollect the 4.0 GT3 RS I drove at Silverstone PEC was pre production and despite only 28 UK cars being manufactured and a current value of c £500000 it was scrapped.

Imo it would always cast a shadow over the car and its value similar to a Category # insurance marker.

I think there are plenty of McLaren XP (or whatever the classification is) cars for sale and I think those are pre-production - I see them popping up on a regular basis - anything from 675 to P1
I think with proper documentation (and if it is road registered) it would be quite cool and in the long run possibly worth more than a standard car due to the rarity, makes the car more special imo (but beware of spec as not all might have the final spec of the production car).

I think this is a pre-production car
https://suchen.mobile.de/fahrzeuge/details.html?id...

[av185]

MDL111 said:

av185 said:

Interesting case for sure.

Wasn't aware manufacturers could sell on pre production cars for use on the public road and for obvious reasons not least warranty and insurance compliance.

Porsche for example scrap the majority of their pre production cars irrespective of value. Seem to recollect the 4.0 GT3 RS I drove at Silverstone PEC was pre production and despite only 28 UK cars being manufactured and a current value of c £500000 it was scrapped.

Imo it would always cast a shadow over the car and its value similar to a Category # insurance marker.

I think there are plenty of McLaren XP (or whatever the classification is) cars for sale and I think those are pre-production - I see them popping up on a regular basis - anything from 675 to P1
I think with proper documentation (and if it is road registered) it would be quite cool and in the long run possibly worth more than a standard car due to the rarity, makes the car more special imo (but beware of spec as not all might have the final spec of the production car).

I think this is a pre-production car
https://suchen.mobile.de/fahrzeuge/details.html?id...

Yes I did consider the rarity aspect but tend to think it could well take quite some time to reap the benefits and really could go either way so it really depends what sort of a gamble the OP is prepared to take and how long he intends keeping the car.

[MDL111]

av185 said:

Yes I did consider the rarity aspect but tend to think it could well take quite some time to reap the benefits and really could go either way so it really depends what sort of a gamble the OP is prepared to take and how long he intends keeping the car.

yeah I agree, by long run I meant probably in like 20-30 years .... and then likely only worth more to a collector at auction

[jtremlett]

It is not unusual for Ferrari to ultimately sell pre-production examples. Note that there is a distinction with prototypes. Ferrari also sometimes sell prototypes but they are rather different and not all can be road-registered. Pre-production cars may have some differences to production examples and, if considering purchasing one, it is probably worth establishing what they might be. But otherwise consider exactly the same things as you would with purchasing any other car (i.e. condition, mileage, history, price etc.).

[MDL111]

jtremlett said:

It is not unusual for Ferrari to ultimately sell pre-production examples. Note that there is a distinction with prototypes. Ferrari also sometimes sell prototypes but they are rather different and not all can be road-registered. Pre-production cars may have some differences to production examples and, if considering purchasing one, it is probably worth establishing what they might be. But otherwise consider exactly the same things as you would with purchasing any other car (i.e. condition, mileage, history, price etc.).

I remember the Enzo engine prototype for sale (for not that much money) 15ish years ago. Was an extended 355 or 348 from memory - crazy looking car

Edit: found it
https://www.classicdriver.com/en/article/ferrari-m...

[WCZ]

Worth posting this on fchat imo

[maura]

MDL111 said:

I remember the Enzo engine prototype for sale (for not that much money) 15ish years ago. Was an extended 355 or 348 from memory - crazy looking car

Edit: found it
https://www.classicdriver.com/en/article/ferrari-m...

Pretty sure Carrs of Exeter have the 458 with La Ferrari Engine Protótipo in their dealership. Crazy looking thing indeed.

[jonamv8]

maura said:

Pretty sure Carrs of Exeter have the 458 with La Ferrari Engine Protótipo in their dealership. Crazy looking thing indeed.

Do you have a link??

[maura]

I saw it in the flesh Sept 2023.. but here it is, someone did a video.. car on the right.

https://www.tiktok.com/@supercarseurope/video/7099...