We often talk of our dream three car garage. Usually this means a fast family wagon, a supercar for the weekend and a classic for those dinner dates, and generally the imaginary rules stipulate you can’t use the same brand for each option. However, we may have found the ultimate three car garage hiding within the listings of another of RM Sotheby’s showstopping auctions, this time heading to Miami on February 27th. Why have one poster car Ferrari when you can have three?
We start with arguably the king of all poster cars, the F40. Arriving in the summer of 1987 and revolutionising the supercar for seemingly eternity, the car was Enzo Ferrari’s last hurrah, and boy was it a good one. So good in fact, that the cheque books were out and pre-written, even before Ferrari had announced how many F40s would be made. Despite only being produced for five years, a total of 1,311 examples left Maranello, over three times the originally planned 400 examples. The rarity, the theatrical driving experience, the neck-bending turbo surge, the constant stares from onlookers; all these elements add to the car’s unrivalled charm and allure. Despite the low build numbers, the market for F40s is as buoyant as ever, with this US-specified example estimated to reach between a staggering $3,250,000 to $3,750,000, one heck of an increase over the $400,000 retail in 1987!
From the robust foundations of the F40, we head to one of the rarest Ferrari’s ever made. The F50 once struggled to live up to its ancestor, but now has become the hottest commodity in the world of collector classics. A mere 349 examples of the F50 left Maranello and marked an entirely new direction for Ferrari’s supercars. While the 288 GTO and F40 were powered by turbocharged V8 engines, the F50 used a naturally aspirated V12 engine, giving it over fifty per cent greater capacity than the previous two! Values of F50s have rocketed in recent years, and this Rosso Corsa example is set to reach between $5,500,000 to $6,500,000, and we wouldn’t be surprised if it went for more!
Finally, we end our holy trinity with perhaps the supercar that surprised us the most. Not for its F1-derived looks, or for its glorious exhaust note, but more for its impressive 5.5-million-dollar estimation from RM Sotheby’s. We’re not saying we’ll be surprised if it does reach that amount, as previous results suggest the early noughties dream machine is well on its way to greatness, but a sale figure of that calibre will certainly make them a hot ticket item for collectors. The Enzo may not have the brutish looks like the F40, nor the dynamics of the F50, but what it may lack in sex appeal it certainly makes up for it with its soundtrack. It is a car that links previous icons together, and marked a new era for the brand.
Coral Gables, 27 Feb
