GATED MANUAL FERRARI 612 SCAGLIETTI

Hello and thanks for looking at my 612, sporting a gated manual transmission in the finest Modenese tradition. Resplendent in Avus Bianco over Grey Sabba leather, what this car isn't however, is a car for the Ferrari purist.

This is a car that I have owned since 2017, and has been cherished for every mile that I've owned it. The one thing that frustrated me from the day I bought it though, was the clunky and inept F1 transmission that it originally came with. What was formula 1 inspired technology of the 2000's, now seems hopelessly clumsy and unfinished when compared with your average dual clutch gearbox found in any number of humble hatchbacks of 2023. This failing was rectified in 2019 however, when the car was retrofitted with a manual gearshift and clutch pedal - note that the core of the gearbox is unchanged - it's just the robotic selctor mechanism that was kicked to the kerb. Whilst the gearbox was out, the clutch and bearings were replaced at the same time "whilst I was in there". The electronics were correctly reconfigured, and the car has operated perfectly ever since. It is honestly hard for me to convey how much of a character shift the change brought over the whole driving experience. What I can tell you is that shifting gears in a naturally aspirated V12 is a rare and privileged experience. All of the original F1 parts have been neatly stored in a plastic box since the conversion, and of course will be included with the car.

For an independent review of how the car feels to drive compared with its F1 brethren, have a look on YouTube for JayEmm's manual 612 video where this specific car was featured. If you do watch this video, you will also see that the car has been further augmented with the fitment of the intake system from a 599. The 599 uses much wider inlet tracts and correspondingly larger mass air flow sensors. By a happy coincidence, these parts all bolt onto the 612 in a very neat fashion, very much as if they were always intended to go there. Whilst technically they weren't, the platform sharing between the 612 and 599 means that they bolt in delightfully. Whilst anyone could accomplish this, the really tricky part is in making them work correctly. This is where the legendary 360Trev comes into play with his novel splicing of the 599 MAF calibrations into the 612 ecu firmware. Along with a host of other calibration changes, this 612 is now significantly more urgent in character than a regular 612. The ethos of the changes, which compliment the manual transmission, is to remove the layers of latency that Ferrari implemented between throttle pedal and torque delivery, meaning the character of the engine is much more akin to a cable throttle, even though the car still runs the original wide-band Me7 fuelling/ignition system. (N.B. the engine mapping has been refined since the JayEmm video was shot.)

Aesthetically, the car has also evolved through its lifetime; having started out as a silver car, the 2nd owner was hell bent on owning a white 612, and so commissioned Joe Macari Ferrari to carry out a glass-out, bare metal colour change of the car to Bianca Avus. Photos are available that were taken by JM Ferrari to validate the work that was carried out. At the same time the original old-man split rims were replaced with the 20" monolithic wheels you see now.

Worldwide, only 199 manual 612's were ever made, of which 27 were in right hand drive. Avus is also among the most rare of 612 colours. As such, this is an exceptionally rare beast.

In my ownership, the car has been serviced every year regardless of mileage. In its last service, just a few weeks ago, a full belts service was completed (with Hills bearings used, naturally), along with various suspension ball joints fitted. In fact nearly all of the ball joints on the car are now stainless steel, so will offer significantly improved longevity compared with the plated OEM parts.

The car will be supplied with all of its original ‘F1’ gearbox components, intake, MAFs

and back boxes, as well as a Ferrari-branded battery charger in a tan leather pouch,

Ferrari-branded tyre spray, the toolkit in a tan leather pouch, all the owner’s manuals in a tan leather wallet, two keys, the stamped service booklet, photos taken during the manual conversion, and a shit-load of maintenance and parts invoices.

Service stamps at:

27 Mar 2008, 8,579 miles at Charles Hurst Ferrari

 1 Feb 2011, 13,010 miles at Dick Lovett Sporting Limited

 20 Feb 2013, 20,358 miles at Dick Lovett Sporting Limited

 21 Jul 2014, 23,639 miles at Verdi Ferrari Specialist

 4 Apr 2016, 32,612 miles at Ferrari Stratstone

 9 Feb 2018, 35,569 miles at Scuderia Ecosse

 14 Feb 2019, 37,202 miles at Scuderia Ecosse

 17 Apr 2020, 39,417 miles at Scuderia Ecosse

 8 Jun 2021, 41,919 miles at Graypaul Ferrari Edinburgh

 30 May 2022, 42,454 miles at Graypaul Ferrari Edinburgh

 9 Mar 2023, 43,255 miles at The Supercar Tech Ferrari & Maserati Specialist

This clearly isn't your average 612. If you are a serious buyer, then please get in touch with me where I can answer any questions you may have. I have deep confidence in the car, and as such any PPI is welcome.