Jay Leno Prefers 21-Year-Old Ferrari 550 Barchetta To All-New SF90

Even though Jay Leno has a hard stance against owning a Ferrari, it is clear that he still has an appreciation for the iconic Italian supercar manufacturer. This time around, he shows his appreciation for the sleek and stellar 2001 Ferrari 550 Barchetta finished in Argento Nurburgring Silver. The 399th model of the 488 cars featured here is owned by Doug Cohen who previously let Leno drive his scarce Bizzarrini 5300 GT Strada.

Since taking delivery of the car seven years ago, Cohen confirms that he has put roughly 10,000 miles on the car which is quite a substantial distance to be covered by a car that belongs to a presumably large collection. Cohen states that the purchase was a good decision as the car lived up to his expectations. Leno echoes this by stating that this generation of Ferrari was the most impressionable for him.

The main reason for this claim is because of the F133 A/C naturally aspirated 5.5-liter V12 that sits under the lengthy hood. By today's standards, this powertrain's output of 478 horsepower (485 PS) and 420 lb-ft of torque is still impressive, despite it being close to half than that of the Ferrari 812 Superfast. This is delivered to the rear wheels exclusively via a gated six-speed manual transmission.

The key feature of the Barchetta was its manually folding roof. Although they don't show how the feature works, Cohen explains that it is a pain to cover the top so he leaves it off most of the time. However, with a large trunk and generous interior space, it's apparently a pretty practical car that has been used for weekend getaways.