550 Barchetta Hardtop

Munich, March 2, 2002

The owners of the 448 examples of Ferrari�s last limited edition model, the 550 Barchetta Pininfarina, are probably used to fulfil their wishes and desires whenever they want � as they did with the purchase of this super-exclusive sports car. But there had been one �option� which was unobtainable although there had been a big demand for it: a hardtop.

The hardtop for the 550 Barchetta Pininfarina will be available in April for 18.500,-€ net plus freight charge and will be sold via Helmut Nossek�s DMS GmbH,
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For the American market, there are currently talks in progress to market the hardtop exclusively via one franchised dealer yet to be named.

Andreas Birner

The 550 Barchetta Pininfarina is topless driving at its best. But as soon as the weather or other circumstances force the driver to use the small softtop which is standard on the Barchetta, the joy of this extraordinary motorcar suffers. Despite of the fact that the standard softtop is simply ugly because it has to cover the two roll-bars as well and hence sports a rather bulky roof line, its usability is very limited: Ferrari guarantees its functionality only up to a speed of 120 km/h (about 75 mph) � a speed level which is not really the level at which this kind of car usually �lives�. The conclusion had since been that this softtop was definitely designed for the use in an �emergency weather change� only and that the 550 Bachetta Pininfarina is actually meant to be driven topless only. But not all of the 448 examples are located in the South of Spain or Southern California where precipitation
only exists in fairy tales. So there are many owners in central Europe and elsewhere who developed the desire for a hardtop that would provide an immense addition to the 550 Barchetta�s all-day usability.

One of them was Helmut Nossek of Munich/Germany. Being the owner of 550 Barchetta Pininfarina #007/448 (s/n 123679), he had decided very early for himself that he would like to equip his example with a fully functional hardtop. Talking with fellow 550 Barchetta owners, it turned out that Mr. Nossek wasn�t the only one interested in a hardtop, and so the idea was born to make the planned hardtop available to anyone. An ambitious program was started to design and produce a top which provides both weather-independent usability and stylish looks. The renowned faculty for �Transportation Design� at the advanced technical college of Pforzheim/Germany was entrusted with the development of the hardtop.

The designers� aim was to create a hardtop which needs no changes to be made on the car itself to fit � the result is a high-tech product that looks like if Pininfarina had it originally designed for the car. The hardtop combines an outer and an inner shell, each consisting of several carbon fibre layers. The two shells are fixed by an interlayer filled with PU foam. A rear window made of tinted safety glass has been integrated in the hardtop. Body-protective seals guarantee a perfect fit of the top. The hardtop uses the standard guide of the A-pillar to be locked at the front, while a hinged lock mechanism on the roll-bar fixes the top to the rear. The weight of the hardtop is less than 20 kg. Its colour depends on the choice of the customer, which should naturally be linked to the car�s colour. The hardtop�s functionality and safety has been approved by the TÜV, the German technical inspection agency which is famous for being very strict and rigorous. With the hardtop on, the 550 Barchetta Pininfarina may be driven up to its top speed.