Shakedown – Reawakening the very first Ferrari 550 Maranello Prodrive

Genesis. The first born. Chassis CRD01 is where the extraordinary tale of the Ferrari 550 Maranello Prodrive begins – the first precious fruit of the relationship between Prodrive and Frédéric Dor’s Care Racing Development outfit.

It’s also the chassis which scored the 550 Maranello Prodrive’s maiden race victory – the first of 69 accumulated by the model between 2001 and 2008. And the first pole position! In what was a pivotal moment in the programme, CRD01 also undertook testing duties for Ferrari at the Prancing Horse’s legendary Fiorano test-track, where it was driven by the Scuderia’s Formula 1 test-driver Luca Badoer.

Following its period competition career, this car remained hidden away from public view for almost 17 years. That’s until the summer of 2022, when, having joined forced with DK Engineering, we were able to source CRD01 for an important client looking to add one of these twelve-cylinder titans to his collection.

As part of the process of preparing CRD01 for the 2023 historic motorsport season, we were able to reunite it with Peter Kox, the man who scored this car’s first win back in 2001, for an especially memorable shakedown at Donington.

Video: Tom May / Salterns Media