Is the price of the Ferrari 550 Maranello now going through the roof?
Last weekend, RM/Sotheby's in Arizona sold a Ferrari 550 Maranello from the year 2000 with chassis number ZFFZS49A1Y0119838 for USD 257,600 (EUR 211,232, CHF 229,264). This is certainly a surprising price, especially as it significantly exceeded the already optimistic estimate of USD 150,000 to 200,000.
In this country, the majority of Ferrari 550 Maranello cars are sold for around EUR 100,000, in some cases even less than EUR 80,000. So why would anyone pay almost three times as much? The car traded in the USA had neither a prominent previous owner nor a rare paint job; in fact, it was red and had a light-colored leather interior, like hundreds of other 550 Maranello Coupés.
However, the hand-shifted car had a very low mileage, namely around 4400 miles. It also looked very appetizing. It was also by no means the most expensive Ferrari 550 Maranello ever traded, as bids in 2015 and 2016 were also significantly higher (in EUR) than last weekend.
Another look at the transaction data in the Intermediate Gas auction databaseshows that of the 71 Ferrari 550s traded in the last eight or nine years, 34 were offered in the UK and only nine in the States. The British are obviously big fans of the classic Ferrari Granturismo and the shortage in the USA is creating a certain demand among Americans there.
This and the low mileage may go some way to explaining the high price, but probably only to some extent. The rest was a desire to buy and two bidders who didn't want to give in. As can sometimes happen at auctions.
