Ferrari 456 (1992 - 2003) - Model history

Ferrari 456

Ferrari 456

Back to the top of the GT class by restoring the classic concept with the engine forward

After the 1989 Ferrari shut down the 412, the latest version of the long-lived, and not particularly beloved, design, they no longer had a single engine up front. Brand prestige was not a problem, but they were practically behind competitors. In parallel, classic brand models were breaking auction records and it seemed logical to offer a new model on the classic trail.

Ferrari 456

Ferrari 456

And what a model! As a 2 + 2 coupe, it was supposed to be the least sporty car with a prop horse, and instead a polished beast arrived with a new 5.5-liter V12 engine of 442 hp, which could run up to 302 km / h. New GT class standards have been set, and the model has proven to be excellent, well assembled and very durable.

Ferrari 456

Ferrari 456

With this model, the classic engines, constructed in the 1940s, were finally abandoned - but the 'new' V12 was actually created by merging two not very conceptually younger V6 Dino engines with cylinders at an angle of 65 °, whose roots date back to the mid-1950s. them! The 'Bastard' proved to be unexpectedly good in terms of performance and durability, and was also used in the 550, 575M Maranello and 612 Scaglietti models.


With one redesign (456 M from 1998), it not only brought it back Ferrari to the top, but also served as the basis for other models of the brand, which even on the big two-seater after a 20-year hiatus returned to the classic: engine forward, rear drive. In addition to the manual transmission models, there were also automatic ones, marked with the letter A in the model name. 3289 were manufactured (456 GT 1548, 456 GTA 403, 456M GT 688, 456M GTA 650).

Ferrari 456 GT

A little more curiosity: Lorenzo Ramaciotti and Pietro Camardella are the two Pininfarina designers who shaped it. Some convertibles and caravan conversions were made for the Sultan of Brunei; Mike Tyson and Shaquille O’Neal had open remakes. The prices of the models have been rising a bit for a long time, but they have not yet, if we speak in the values ​​usual for this brand, become unreasonably high, perhaps partly because there are relatively few of them in bright red.

Author: Dino Milic Jakovlic
Retrieved from: autoportal.hr

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