By today’s standards, the 456 can be viewed as the last Ferrari to offer uncompromising styling and luxury interior comfort. The model was warmly received by press and enthusiasts alike, and although not produced in large numbers, was always gently in demand by silver-haired Ferrari owners before it was eventually replaced in 2004 by the 612 Scaglietti. The Maranello Concessionaires Archive confirms that just 141 manual 456 GTs were supplied to the UK. The 456's looks are smooth and understated, and distinctive external features include a small grille with fog lights on the outside, bonnet-mounted air scoops, a motorised undercarriage spoiler that begins its deployment above 65mph and pop-up headlights, making this the last Ferrari to do so.

The name 456 refers to the fact that each cylinder displaces 456 cubic centimetres and this was the last Ferrari to use this naming convention. Despite its supercar performance, 436bhp, 0-60mph in 5.2 seconds and a top speed of 188mph, the 456 has a relatively unstressed engine which has proven to be a very reliable unit. Developed during the Schumacher era, the 456's construction was ground-breaking, featuring composite and aluminium bodywork, cutting-edge body to chassis mating technology along with four-wheel electronically adjustable suspension, resulting in a super lightweight 1,690kg. The Ferrari 456 had no direct rival as it does today. The antiqued Aston Martin V8 was too bloated and the Porsche 911 was simply not special enough.

This lovely example was supplied new by Evans Halshaw Ferrari, Birmingham on the 15th August 1994 with a manual gearbox and finished in Le Mans Blue with a Crema hide interior to the first of just three owners. Our vendor’s late husband purchased the car 10 years later on the 19th November 2004 and maintained the car scrupulously through his own professional workshop, and in readiness for the auction the car’s timing belt is being replaced. Offered to auction with some 33,550 miles at the time of cataloguing, a fresh MOT, service book and invoices.

Very few cars at this estimate offer the combination of a Ferrari V12 engine mated to a 6-speed manual gearbox and the refinement of a Connolly leather interior. As such this 456 is probably among the finest of all its GT contemporaries in terms of colours, modernity and sheer indulgence.