456M Is V12 Grand Touring Excellence In Elegantly Understated Costume

The 456 used to be the fastest four-seater in the world when it came out in early ’90s and Maranello’s second most powerful road car after the F40.

Its 5.5-liter V12, also found on the 550 and 575, churned out 442 PS (436 HP), enough to catapult it to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 5.2 seconds and up to 302 km/h (188 mph).

Pininfarina worked its magic on the body and Ferrari, in 1998, launched the revised 456M (Modificata) with improved aerodynamics and cooling and some tweaks made to the cabin such as Connolly Leather, new seats and other conveniences.

This particular example was manufactured in 2001, comes with an auto gearbox and had three owners throughout its entire lifetime. Its odometer indicates 24,900 miles (40,072 km), out of which 10,000 miles (16,093 km) were in the hands of its last owner in the past 10 years. The grand tourer was properly serviced by Ferrari specialists and features an Alpine entertainment system with monitors for the rear passengers.

It will go under the hammer at SilverstoneAuctions on May 20, and is expected to fetch anything between £50,000 and £60,000 ($71,000-$85,000).