The 550 Le Mans Limited Edition was built to commemorate the astounding GTS class victory achieved by the Prodrive built and run Ferrari 550 Maranello at the epic 2003 Le Mans 24 Hour race. The goal was to build a road car that resembled the race car to as large an extent as possible. The idea and concept of the car came from Frédéric Dor, owner of Care Racing who developed the Ferrari 550 Maranello that won the GTS class in the 2003 Le Mans. The car was built in conjunction with Esmotorsport in the UK.

Hailed in the motor press as one of the most exciting super cars of the year, only four were ever built. The car being auctioned is the first one built built - in 2004 - by Esmotorsport. A 1999 Ferrari Maranello 550 in mint condition was used as the donor car (the Ferrari 550 Maranello is no longer in production). The donor car had approximately 22,000 miles on it at the time. The pictures above from the October 2004 issue of EVO show the construction of the car with the new carbon fiber shell. It took £250,000 and five months to build this car. Only four were ever built and this was the first one and the one that is featured in all the news articles.

"My carefully practiced nonchalance evaporated the second I open the door to the photographic studio. There, in the middle of the studio floor, is the very first 550LM road car, its paint barely dry after leaving the paint shop a few hours earlier... Bloody hell, talk about wow factor, I've never seen a car with such a generous helping of the stuff," said Harry Metcalf in EVO October 2004, while in the next month's edition Jethro Bovingdon tested the 550 LM at Le Mans itself and reported: “Letting the 550 LM sing through second, third and deep into fourth along the Le Mans pit straight, the piercing V12 wail bouncing off the concrete wall then spiralling up and spilling over the empty grandstands and hospitality suites, is a once-in-a-lifetime buzz… If a standard 550 Maranello stepped into a phone booth this is the car that should emerge, ready to take on the baddest supercars on the planet.”

Meanwhile Tom Ford wrote in Top Gear magazine, "I'm going to be telling this story for years. The closest thing to a road-going Ferrari 550 Le Mans car that it's possible to get... in central London.... it's all a bit surreal.... this is a road car. Praise also came from Autocar, Chris Harris (writing in January 2005) said: “best looking-supercar of the past 12 months bar non… This car stopped traffic wherever we went in London… it looks sensational from every angle, but especially from the front three-quarters. From that vantage point there’s a strong case for saying that this is the finest-looking car on sale.”

The 550 LM Limited EDITION AND THE Gumball 3000 RALLY

Inspired by the liberating and infamous ‘Gumball Rally’ and ‘Cannonball Run’ films of the 70s, Maximillion Cooper attempted to recreate the spirit and fun of those classics by bringing together the worlds of film, fashion, music and sport for a 6-day ‘3000’ mile rally, punctuated by the wildest parties. The "Gumball 3000" has since captured public attention through celebrity participation and coverage on everything from MTV to Vanity Fair.

The seventh race started at Trafalgar Square on May 14, 2005. It went 3000 miles from London to Brussels, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, and then to Dubrovnik in Croatia. The cars were then transported by ferry to Bari, Italy, then lapped the old Targa Florio circuit in Sicily, before heading north to Rome and Florence, and finally crossing the finish line in Monaco's Casino Square prior to the F1 Grand Prix. Participants included Daryl Hannah, rock stars and supermodels such as Caprice, driving everything from Ferrari Enzos to Mercedes SLRs. First out of the blocks was Maximillion Cooper driving the 550 Le Mans Limited Edition, dressed up as the Dukes of Hazzard General Lee car.
 

CARE RACING AND THE HISTORIC LE MANS 24 HOURS VICTORY

Care Racing was created in 2000 to undertake the development, production, sale and racing of sports cars. The project began with a partnership with Prodrive in the UK for the development of the racing version of the Ferrari 550 Maranello to compete in the FIA and ALMS Championships. The 24 hours of Le Mans (24 heures du Mans) is the most famous sports car endurance race in the world. It is held at Circuit de la Sarthe near Le Mans, France, in the French Sarthe département. The race is run on a non-permanent track which is over 13 km (8.1 mi) long, using mostly normal country roads. 46 cars race simultaneously in a number of different categories and classes. Each car has a team of three drivers and the overall winner is the car that has covered the greatest distance in 24 hours of continuous racing. In 2003, the project enjoyed a very successful year and the Care Racing Ferraris really made their mark on the international sportscar scene, including beating the GTS competition at the 24 Hours of Le Mans to take the winners’ laurels.

CAR BUILDER - ESMOTORSPORT

Esmotorsport specializes in the manufacture, assembly, supply and repair of high performance cars. The company’s factory trained technicians have over 40 years accumulated experience specialising in Ferrari, Bugatti, Lamborghini and McLaren. In 2004, Roland Hall of esmotorsport teamed up with Frédéric Dor from Care Racing to develop the 550 Le Mans Limited Edition road car.

550 LM LIMITED EDITION NO 1 NOW BEING SOLD ON EBAY AUCTION WEBSITE

The 550 LM is currently being sold on giant on-line internet auction house, eBay. Listed as being in right hand drive format, fitted with a 5,474cc engine and first registered on 1st July 1999, it shows 34,401 recorded miles on the speedometer, and a factory assembly plate which lists its number as 33,732, and comes fitted with an Alarm, Alloy Wheels, AM/FM Stereo, CD Player, Central Locking, Electric Windows, Leather Seats, Navigation System, Power-assisted Steering (PAS), and a Rear Spoiler. Noted defects include a crack located on one of the front wings and burn marks on the bodywork directly above the rear exhaust outlets.

Being sold on eBay without a reserve price, after 34 bids (the first one was for GBP1.00), it currently stands at GBP75,100 with just over 7 days of bidding remaining (the auction closes on 13th November 2005 at 2030). Before then the 550 LM will be presented at the prestigious MPH05 Motor Show at the Birmingham National Exhibition Centre, where interested bidders can view the actual car and then log onto eBay and bid on the car live from November 10th, through to the final day on the 13th.

However, the big downfall for the 550 LM is that the Esmotorsport road-car conversion project was never recognised by the Ferrari factory in Maranello and as such it cannot carry the prestigious 'Prancing Horse' name, hence it being referred to as just the "550 LM Limited Edition". Without the factory's all-important blessing and terms of authenticity, the 550 LM's appeal to serious collectors is strictly limited, and as such the genuine Ferrari buyers who will spend serious money, are unlikely be attracted to owning this unique sportscar.