It’s the sort of story that makes car enthusiasts everywhere both weep and grin: in Newport Beach, California, an 88-year-old gentleman has decided it’s finally time to crack open his garage and let a few legends breathe. And by “garage,” we don’t mean a humble two-car suburban unit with a lawnmower in the corner. We mean a treasure chest where modern icons have been quietly slumbering, under a film of dust but otherwise frozen in time.
The headliners? A Ferrari 550 Maranello, a BMW M5 (E39), and a Ford GT. Not tatty, tired examples. Oh no. These are so pristine they make delivery-mile exotics look like rental cars from Miami Beach.
Ferrari 550 Maranello (2000)
Let’s start with the blue-blooded beauty. The 550 Maranello — Pininfarina’s long-nosed love letter to the front-engined V12 — looks as elegant today as it did in its 1990s heyday. This particular car is painted in the deliciously rare NART Blue, paired with a sumptuous brown leather interior. Mileage? 908 kilometers. That’s fewer steps than most of us take on a trip to the pub.
After a proper detail, the car’s lines once again glistened like liquid metal, the 5.5-liter naturally aspirated V12 promising its 485 horsepower symphony to a very lucky new owner in New York. Consider this: most Maranellos out there have lived the life of a true GT, storming across continents. This one has barely made it to the grocery store.
BMW M5 (E39, 2002)
Next up, the one that petrolheads will argue over until the end of time: the E39 M5, the sports sedan against which all others are judged. This Carbon Black masterpiece has covered a scarcely believable 6,838 kilometers in 22 years. It has never changed hands since new. And yes, it’s got the six-speed manual gearbox and the 4.9-liter V8 with 400 horsepower—the recipe for one of the purest driver’s sedans ever built.
Inside, black leather and wood trim remain untouched, like a Bavarian time capsule. Now in Colorado, its new custodian essentially owns one of the best-preserved examples in the world. Lucky sod.
Ford GT (2006)
And then there’s the American hammer blow: the 2006 Ford GT. A retro homage that didn’t just nod to Le Mans history—it bellowed, wheelspun, and blew the doors off contemporary Ferraris. This one is painted in retina-searing red with white racing stripes, and like the others, it’s barely been touched. Odometer: 1,159 kilometers. Registered? Not once. It’s as close as you’ll ever get to buying one brand new today.
Underneath that aluminum skin sits a 5.4-liter supercharged V8 with 558 horsepower, paired with a six-speed Ricardo manual. Back in 2006, this was Ford flexing against the Europeans, and two decades later, it’s still one of the most charismatic supercars America has ever built.
The Rest of the Stash
Of course, those three are just the tip of the iceberg. Peek further into the Newport Beach vault and you’ll find an eclectic mix of Americana and oddities: a 1973 De Tomaso Pantera, several generations of Chevrolet Corvette, a 1970 Dodge Charger R/T, a Dodge Viper GTS, a Plymouth Prowler, a Dodge Ram SRT-10, and even a couple of Bricklin SV-1s. It’s a museum masquerading as a garage.
Some of these machines are destined to go back into climate-controlled hibernation, while others will roar back to life on public roads, scattering pedestrians with noise and nostalgia.
Final Thought
Every enthusiast dreams of finding a forgotten barn, peeling back the tarp, and discovering greatness. In this case, the cars weren’t in a barn—they were hiding in plain sight, napping in a Newport Beach garage. And now, thanks to one man finally deciding to part with his collection, three of the finest machines of the last 30 years are back in circulation. Dusty? Sure. Glorious? Absolutely.
Source: Silver Arrow Cars