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Car pictures of the week

In this week’s car pictures, we look at the highlights from our time with Prodrive’s legendary Ferrari 550 Maranello

4 Jun 2021

Following the collapse of Group C and GT1, a regulatory overhaul made the Ferrari 550 Maranello an ideal candidate to enter into the FIA’s GT Championship, and despite a rocky start, the short-lived Prodrive 550 became an icon in its own right. In this week’s car pictures we take a detailed look at one of the very best examples, but to read its story in full, pick up your copy of issue 286 in store or online now.

In response to the tumultuous rule changes FIA endurance racing was facing at the turn of the century, Turin-based Italtecnica developed the first Ferrari 550 racer, but with unreliability plaguing the model in its debut season, it was sent back to the drawing board to be redesigned entirely by British racing experts, Prodrive.

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Starting afresh, its original steel monocoque was strengthened and a dry sump setup fitted to allow for repositioning of its lightened 6-litre naturally-aspirated V12. Though regulations allowed for substantial modification, the 550’s fundamentals remained in place, with its transaxle gearbox, aerodynamics and double-wishbone suspension ideal for an all-out racer.

Though 12 cars were produced, chassis number 03 (pictured) is currently the finest of them all. Having started out as the road car Frédéric Dor took to Ferrari in efforts to kick start the project, it went on to compete in a total of five races, running in 2002, ’03, ’04, ’05 and ’06, including the time Colin McRae joined Rickard Rydell and Darren Turner in 2004.

This of course is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the history of this most magnificent of GT racers, so to read Adam Towler’s deep dive, pick up your copy of issue 286 in store or online via Mags Direct and subscribe now to have every issue delivered straight to your door.

Car pictures of the week: archive

Below are some of our favourite images from previous editions of evo car pictures of the week. Click on the pictures for the full galleries.

Gallery 1

Click below to see all the images of our first car pictures of the week gallery, here featuring the indomitable Bugatti Veyron Super Sport, mk1 Volkswagen Golf GTI, Ford Shelby Mustang GT350 and the stunning Porsche 911 re-imagined by Singer.

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Gallery 2

Here we dig further back into the evo archives where we pull out some iconic images of the Ford GT slightly out of context in the European Alps, a TVR Sagaris in central London, the Audi RS2 as well as one of our most iconic twin tests between the Ferrari 599 GTO and Lexus LF-A.

Gallery 3

The previous-generation Bentley Continental GT seemed to get better with age, a notion mirrored by the Jaguar E-type when in modern ‘lightweight’ form. Both of these British icons, as well as the Aston Martin Vantage GT12 feature in gallery three.

Bentley Continental GT V8 S - ferry static

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Gallery 4

Fans might have cried fowl when Ferrari decided to turbocharge the Ferrari 488, but it’s not like Ferrari don’t have a history with turbocharged V8 engines. Here the 488 co-stars alongside the stunning F40, while elsewhere in this gallery we take a Porsche Cayman GTS to Japan for a stunning mountain blast.

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Gallery 5

Italian twelve-cylinder supercars seem to be the main agenda in the fourth evo car pictures of the week gallery, here featuring four V12 Lambos and the stunning 599 SA Aperta limited edition alongside its 550 Barchetta predecessor.

Gallery 6

GT3s and GT-Rs are just the beginning for gallery number six, with the Noble M600, Aston Martin One-77 and a couple of McLaren flagships filling out our most amazing gallery yet.

Gallery 7

A gallery of new and old, here the McLaren 720S cemented its place as a truly great supercar alongside a daring night shoot with an Audi R8 LMX, pitch a Nissan GT-R and Audi Quattro against each other on Welsh mountain roads and drive the original 'Hakosuka' GT-R.