- Delivered across Sydney
- Bond and fees shown before you pay
- Never swapped to a lesser car
The 456M GTA is the Ferrari for people who want the V12 without the theatre. Front-engined, automatic, two seats in the back and a long bonnet drawn by Pininfarina, it was built to cross a continent in a day rather than set a time around a circuit. It is rarer on Sydney roads than any mid-engined Ferrari, and it is confirmed by request, so tell us the dates before you plan the drive.
Check 456M GTA dates
Send us the dates and the destination. We confirm whether the car can be secured and the full price before you pay.
Specifications
| Model | Ferrari 456M GTA |
|---|---|
| Years built | 1998-2003 |
| Engine | 5.5-litre naturally aspirated V12 |
| Power | 325kW |
| 0-100km/h | About 5.2 seconds |
| Layout | Front-engine, rear-wheel drive |
| Gearbox | Four-speed automatic |
| Seats | 2+2 |
| Tier | Supercar |
The number that matters least here is the sprint time, and the number that matters most is the
cylinder count. A 5.5-litre V12 in the nose of a long-bonnet coupe with a torque-converter
automatic is a completely different proposition from a mid-engined V8, and the table should be
read as a description of a grand tourer rather than a supercar. The M in the name marks the 1998
update to the original 456, and the A marks the automatic; the GT with the same badge is the
six-speed manual.
What It Is Actually Like in Sydney
A V12 in the front changes how the whole car behaves
Every mid-engined Ferrari puts the mass behind you and asks you to manage it. The 456M puts
twelve cylinders ahead of the windscreen and drives the rear wheels through a long transmission
tunnel, and the result is a car that settles rather than darts. Turn in and the nose takes a
moment to load up, the long wheelbase steadies everything, and you drive it with the shoulders
rather than the wrists. On the M1 towards the Central Coast at a steady 110km/h it is one of the
calmest cars with a prancing horse on it that you will ever sit in.
The engine does not need revs to be interesting, which is the practical difference from a small
V8. From 2,000rpm there is a deep, even push, and the sound is a low twelve-cylinder note under
the bonnet rather than a shriek behind the head. Open it up on an empty stretch and it hardens
into something serious, but the everyday experience is refinement first and speed second.
The automatic is the honest reason to choose the GTA
Ferrari sold this car with a gated six-speed manual as the GT and a four-speed automatic as the
GTA, and in Australia the automatic is the one you are more likely to find. It is a conventional
torque-converter unit rather than a paddle-shift, so there is nothing to learn: put it in drive
and it behaves like a large luxury car. Changes are smooth and a little slow by modern standards.
Kick down for an overtake and there is a pause while it gathers itself before the V12 takes
over.
Purists will tell you the manual is the one to have, and for a mountain road they are right.
For a car that is going to spend half its hire on the M5 or crawling over the Harbour Bridge on a
Friday, the automatic is the better choice and the more relaxed one. It is also the version that
makes the 456M usable by a driver who has never touched a Ferrari before, which matters when the
booking is a gift.
Four seats, of a kind
The rear seats are the feature that separates this car from every two-seat Ferrari of its era,
and it is worth being precise about them. They are proper leather seats with proper belts, and
two children or two adults on a run across town fit without complaint. Two adults for three hours
to the Hunter will complain by the second hour. The boot behind them is a real boot, shallow but
long, and takes two soft bags and a garment bag laid flat.
What that adds up to is a Ferrari that can do a dinner for four, a school run for the sake of
it, or a weekend for two with luggage that would not fit in a 360 or a 458. That is a genuinely
rare combination, and it is the reason this car exists.
Sydney distances suit it
The car makes the most sense on the kind of drive Sydney is good at: two or three hours out
and two or three hours back. The Southern Highlands via the Hume, the Hunter via the M1, or the
Blue Mountains up Bells Line of Road are all within its natural range, and on any of them the
456M feels like it is doing what it was designed for. It is quiet enough to talk over, the seats
are supportive for a long stint, and it does not fidget over coarse-chip country bitumen the way
a stiffly sprung supercar does.
A realistic weekend is delivery on Friday evening, a run down the Hume to Berrima on Saturday
with a long lunch, and the return on Sunday by the coast through Wollongong and over Sea Cliff
Bridge. That loop is roughly 400 kilometres, and the car will cover it without a moment of strain
on the driver, which is not something you can say about a 360 or a 458 over the same distance.
The kilometre allowance for a trip like that should be raised at booking, because it is exactly
the sort of drive that uses a standard allowance up by Saturday night.
Things You Should Know
It is not quick by the standard of the badge
About 5.2 seconds to 100km/h was serious in 1998. In 2026 a well-specified family SUV matches
it and a modern Ferrari halves it. Anyone booking this car to feel launched will be
underwhelmed, and it is better to say that here than after the deposit. What the 456M offers
instead is effortless pace: the ability to sit at any speed the law allows with the engine barely
awake, and a wave of V12 torque available for an overtake without changing down.
On a road like Macquarie Pass it is a big car with a long nose, and it prefers flowing corners
to tight ones. Drive it with the rhythm of a grand tourer and it is deeply satisfying. Drive it
like a hot hatch and it will feel every one of its kilograms.
Age, heat and the cost of the small things
This is a car from the late 1990s and it has late-1990s systems. The air conditioning copes
with a Sydney summer but does not dominate it, and a black leather cabin left in the sun at
Bondi will need a few minutes to become comfortable. There is no reversing camera and no parking
sensors, and the long bonnet takes a little judgement in a car park until you have calibrated
where it ends. Switchgear is analogue, the instruments are dials, and the audio is a radio and a
CD player.
Running costs are real. A V12 uses fuel at a rate that surprises anyone used to a turbo four,
it takes premium unleaded, and the kilometre allowance on a long-trip booking should be sized to
the itinerary rather than assumed. Tell us where you are going when you enquire and the allowance
is set accordingly.
This is a discreet car, and that is the point
A 456M does not draw a crowd the way a mid-engined car in red does. Most people will not
recognise it, some will assume it is an Aston Martin, and only the ones who know will know. For
a wedding entrance or a formal that is a disadvantage. For a client lunch, a quiet anniversary
weekend or a long drive where the pleasure is yours rather than the audience's, it is exactly
the appeal.
Colour is part of that. Many 456s were ordered in dark blue, silver or green rather than red,
and the shape suits those colours; a dark 456M on a quiet street reads as an expensive coupe
rather than a Ferrari until the badge is close enough to read. If red is what you want for the
photographs, say so in the enquiry, and we will tell you honestly whether a red one can be
found.
It is offered from $1,100 a day, which places it below the 360 Spider despite the extra
cylinders, because the market values the mid-engined shape and this car is bought by people who
value the drive. It is confirmed by request only: there are dates we cannot cover, and we tell
you which before you pay rather than after.
Who Books This Car
The typical enquiry comes from someone who already knows what a 456 is, which is a smaller
group than the people who search for a 458 but a far more committed one. They are usually
planning a drive rather than an event: a few days in the Highlands, a run up the coast with a
partner, or a birthday for a parent who owned one, or wanted to, thirty years ago.
It is also the car for the person who wants a Ferrari that behaves in traffic. No paddle
clutch to manage, no lift-kit to remember at every driveway, no exhaust that sets off car alarms
at 7am. A V12 you can idle through Double Bay on a Saturday without anyone turning around, and
then open up on the Old Pacific Highway on Sunday morning with nobody watching.
If the trip needs four proper seats and a real boot, the Ferrari FF is the modern descendant
and the more capable car. If the V12 does not matter and the long-bonnet shape does, the
Mercedes-AMG GT is a rear-drive coupe with the same silhouette and a great deal more urgency.
If the Ferrari 456M GTA is booked
We never move you down a tier. If your dates are taken, these are the supercar cars we will offer instead, and we will tell you plainly if none of them is free rather than substituting something lesser on the day.
Ferrari FF
- 486kW
- 3.7s
- AWD
- 4 seats
- $1700/day
A V12 Ferrari with four real seats and a boot. The one to book when the Ferrari has to carry more than two people.
Mercedes-AMG GT
- 350kW
- 4.0s
- RWD
- 2 seats
- $1500/day
The long-bonnet twin-turbo V8 coupe. Front-mid engine, rear drive, and a noise that turns heads before the badge does.
Need the V12 with a boot that works?
The Ferrari FF is the modern version of this idea: V12, four seats, all-wheel drive and real luggage space. Tell us who is coming and we will say which fits.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I actually book the Ferrari 456M GTA?
It is confirmed by request rather than kept ready. Send the dates, we source the car and tell you plainly whether it can be secured, and nothing is charged until it is. This is a rare car and there are dates we cannot cover. When that happens we say so immediately and offer the nearest alternative rather than leaving you waiting.
What is the minimum driver age?
Twenty-five, with a full unrestricted licence checked in person at handover. Although the 456M is a grand tourer in character, it is priced and insured on the Supercar tier, and that tier carries a flat minimum age of 25 with no young driver option. Every additional driver needs to be named on the booking and meet the same test.
Does it really seat four?
Two adults in front and two rear seats that are real seats rather than parcel shelves, though they suit children or adults on a short run rather than a full day. Rear legroom depends on how far back the front seats sit. Treat it as a two-plus-two, which is what Ferrari called it, and it will not disappoint.
Where can it be delivered?
Across the Sydney metro, priced by distance and itemised on the booking. Vaucluse, Cronulla and Castle Hill are all routine. Because this car is often booked for a longer drive out of the city, delivery to your home the evening before the trip is a common arrangement so the morning is not spent on a handover.
What is the bond and excess?
The bond is a pre-authorisation held against the named driver's card, so it is reserved and not charged, and it is released once the car comes back as it left. A damage excess sets the upper limit of what you would pay if something went wrong. The exact figures for this car are stated with the quote and confirmed before payment.
Is it fast?
By the standard of any normal car, yes: 325kW and a V12 soundtrack get it to 100km/h in about 5.2 seconds. By the standard of a modern Ferrari, no. It is a heavy grand tourer with a four-speed automatic and it does not pretend otherwise. People who book it for a drag race have picked the wrong car; people who book it for a long drive have picked the right one.
Is the automatic gearbox any good?
It is a conventional four-speed torque-converter automatic, smooth and unhurried, and it suits the car. It will not snap through gears like a dual-clutch and it does not need to. In traffic it is the easiest Ferrari of its era to live with, which is precisely why the GTA exists alongside the manual GT.
Can I drive it interstate?
With written approval noted on the booking before you leave, so the kilometre allowance and roadside assistance are set for the distance. This car suits a long trip better than almost anything else with the badge, so ask. Track and circuit use remain excluded regardless of where the car is driven.