A Ferrari 550 Maranello flirting with $3 million. This had never happened for this model before. Yet it just did, with the 1997 Ferrari 550 Maranello owned by Michael Jordan, selling for $2.7 million, just over €2.5 million, in an online auction. With that result, this GT V12 becomes the most expensive example of its lineage ever sold at public auction. And behind this figure lies far more than a simple auction sheet.
Organized on the Joopiter platform, in partnership with the specialist in collectible supercars Curated, the sale literally shattered the opening estimate, set between $800,000 and $1.3 million. The final price also more than quadrupled the previous auction record for a 550 Maranello, a benchmark the house did not detail. To put the gap in perspective, most ordinary 550 Maranello examples trade hands around $200,000 — about €185,000. And that disparity makes clear that it’s the car’s Michael Jordan provenance, more than anything else, that tipped the scales.
A $2.7 Million Record for Michael Jordan’s Ferrari 550 Maranello
Jordan’s 550 Maranello was available on Joopiter for two weeks before the bidding concluded on a Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. (EDT), after 43 bids. The gavel finally fell at $2.7 million, well above the $0.8–$1.3 million range announced at the outset, and far beyond typical results for this model. The sale also marked Joopiter’s first-ever car auction conducted in collaboration with Curated, a firm that has carved out a niche in collectible supercars and classics. For Pharell Williams’ platform, best known for sports memorabilia, natural history, and cultural artifacts, this represents a major scale-up.
“The entry of Joopiter into the collectible car market marks an exciting expansion for us, and hitting a record price for the Ferrari 550 Maranello at our inaugural sale demonstrates the strength of our community of collectors,” explains Caitlin Donovan, Joopiter’s Worldwide Head of Sales, cited by Motor1. Joopiter notes that this amount represents more than four times the previous auction record for a 550 Maranello, without providing specifics. A gap that underscores the weight of Michael Jordan’s provenance on the car’s value. And this result comes as interest among collectors in Ferrari’s catalog remains strong, from ultra-rare 1950s models valued in the multi-millions to Ferraris from the GTO era approaching $70 million, roughly €65 million.
Provenance, History, and a New Generation of Collectors
The journey of this 550 Maranello began in May 1997, when Ferrari delivered a new unit to Michael Jordan. The car is configured in Rosso Barchetta, a deep red, with a beige leather interior, and it still bears the Illinois license plate “MJ 5.” It soon became tied to the closing chapter of Jordan’s glorious Chicago Bulls era. The basketball star was photographed behind the wheel of this Ferrari only hours after clinching his fifth NBA title in June 1997, a detail that significantly helped carve the car’s aura beyond the usual circle of Ferrari enthusiasts. Jordan sold the 550 Maranello in 2002, and the car disappeared from public view for more than two decades.
John Temerian, head of Curated, spent nearly a decade on the hunt before locating it this year. Curated’s team tapped into Ferrari’s archival dealers to trace the car’s history, right back to a long-time California owner who had never offered it for public sale. Temerian ultimately bought it unseen. On May 29, 2026, the 550 Maranello returned to Chicago, exactly 29 years to the day after its delivery to Michael Jordan, a timing ideal for the Joopiter sale that has just closed at more than double its high estimate. “This isn’t merely a worldwide record price for a Ferrari 550 Maranello. It’s a testament to Michael Jordan’s passion, to Ferrari collectors, and to a new generation pursuing 1990s and early 2000s icons,” Temerian notes. He adds that the sale “signals a generational shift in collecting, in what people value, what they regard as important, and ultimately, in how they perceive these cars as assets.” This message is embodied by a Ferrari 550 Maranello that, in a matter of minutes, wrote a new chapter in the history of 1990s GT V12s.
