The 456GT was the best-looking car Ferrari made in the 1990s. Discuss down the pub, with these scintillating images of one of Pininfarina’s best efforts to hand.
The Maranello manufacturer and the styling house really were on a roll at the time but I reckon they’ve struggled to top the clean lines and understated beauty of this Ferrari for the family man. The F355 is undoubtedly the supercar with the extrovert, want-one factor, but this V12-engined grand tourer is the one that really woos you.
This particular car is the later 456 M - as in Modificato, for modified – which makes it even better. This 2000, 42,000-mile executive express has all the nuggets of brilliance that helped give the 456 a shot in the arm back in 1998, so it’s got foglights integrated into the radiator grille, the bonnet scoops from the earlier cars have been removed, and the V12 underneath has a different firing order to make it run more smoothly.
The tidal wave of power it offers up, luckily, is unchanged – prod your right foot into the carpet and no less than 436 stallions charge straight towards the next Alpine switchback, hauling you along with them.
Forget the allegations that Hyundai may have cribbed off the 456’s striking lines when it introduced its Coupé MkIII back in 2002. Remember instead that this is the last Ferrari ever to be offered with pop-up headlights and the last front-engined offering from Maranello to get it just right on the looks front.
The 550 Maranello might be more exciting to drive and the 456’s modern-day descendant – the FF – might be a lot more practical. But we challenge you to come up with a Ferrari from this period of history that’s as beautiful as this one.