Collector cars, Baby Boomers and…
We begin with a quick history lesson. The Baby-Boomers are those born from 1946 to 1964, during the baby boom…
We begin with a quick history lesson. The Baby-Boomers are those born from 1946 to 1964, during the baby boom…
We start with insane import duties and onerous regulations. Ferrari never made a RHD 288 GTO, F40, F50 or Enzo,…
As always the Monterey car week is the focus of the collector car universe and the various auctions are the…
Earlier this week we reviewed the byzantine process, way back in 2000 and 2001, of getting the DOT approval to…
Act one, the not-so-friendly folks at the DOT: After fifty plus years selling thousands of Ferraris, many of the Ferraris…
My Daughter Colleen and I were at Thunderhill raceway on 8-9-10 April with our 2010 Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 car s/n…
Early on the morning of 12 Jan., Chris Current, the Chief judge at the Cavallino Classic sent a mass e-mail…
This month our esteemed editor wanted to move away from the high-end Ferraris to the bottom-end world of affordability for…
Where We Left Off In the ninth installment of this series we reviewed how Fernando Alonso and Renault had the…
Where we left off In the eighth installment of this series we reviewed how Michael Schumacher, Scuderia Ferrari and the…
Where We Left Off In the seventh installment of this series we reviewed the early years of Ferrari’s Schumacher-era, from…
Where We Left Off In the sixth installment of this series we reviewed the John Barnard designed 639 and 640,…
Where we left off In the fifth installment of this series we reviewed the end of the 1981-1988 turbo-era. By…
Where we left off In the fourth installment of this series we reviewed the explosion of technology in the early…
Where we left off In the third installment of this series we reviewed Ferrari’s three Drivers Championships; with the 312T…
Where we left off In the second installment in this series we reviewed the failure of the 1970-1974 Ferrari 312B…
Where we left off In the first installment in this series we reviewed the failure of the Ferrari 312/66 to…
Collecting, then and now There was a time when a Ferrari collection began with a Dino or a Daytona and…
In the last issue of Sports Car Market, we reviewed the byzantine process of importing a Ferrari F50, S/N 103496,…
On Tuesday Kim Wolfkill, the current editor of Road&Track, mentioned in an email to Stan Mott, one of the two…
Laughing all the way to the bank In recent years Bloomberg and others have reported on Ferrari’s very healthy profit…
Our story begins in 1984 at a time when Ferrari North America had their headquarters on Katella Avenue in Los…
The shift to Supercar Sundays I’ve been going to collector car shows since the early 1970s, having traveled to shows…
Readers of this column might remember “Australia, Asbestos and Collector Cars” from July 15th of last year, click here for…
Our story begins with 2011 MBZ AMG SLS GT3 s/n 079 which we sold in late Nov. of last year…
From Ferrari Classiche to Abarth/Lancia Classiche Readers of this column will be familiar with Ferrari Classiche which began with a…
Alfa Romeo is back On 02 Dec. 2017, FIAT Chrysler Automobiles CEO Sergio Marchionne launched a new partnership between Alfa…
Cars 2.0, a brave new world Over the last century the highly competitive, multi-trillion dollar global auto industry has been…
Where we left off In my previous column, The Death of Fossil Fuels, I pointed out that politicians in Norway…
The rush to be green In only the last month politicians in Norway and Holland have pushed to eliminate ALL…
We begin with a brief history lesson In 2002 Ferrari started their first certification process for early Ferraris by issuing…
Our story begins in 2003 when the Australian government issued a zero-tolerance ban on any and all asbestos products, aimed…
As every Baby-Boomer knows, time is no longer our friend As the baby-boomers leave the market, many long-term-ownership collector cars…
Collectability versus volume Ferrari’s 599 SA Aperta, the convertible version of Ferrari’s 599 GTB, was introduced at the 2010 Paris…
Marketing theory from the 1600s Readers of this article are familiar with the world of collector car auctions. The auctioneer…
While we get several hundred e-mails every day, endless phone calls and no lack of text messages, few have ever…
Most people know us from the cars we offer on our website, and the pedantic columns I have enjoyed writing…
It was a different era I bought my first Ferrari, 250 PF Coupe s/n 1447, in 1972, for $2,000. It…
Most Ferrari market followers would agree that values for Enzo- and Fiat-era Prancing Horses peaked close to the 2014 Monterey…
As readers of this column know, we had traveled to Italy for RM’s Duemila Route auction in Milano followed by…
As regular readers of this column know, we were at the RM Duemila Route auction at the Milano Trade Fair…
A little background Our story begins with Luigi Compiano the heir to an Italian dynasty called “North East Services” that…
Every article is inspired by an e-mail exchange or a phone call that screams the need to reach for the…
The Ferrari market rises and falls in cycles influenced by the global economy, generational shifts and currency swings. The collectable…
What just happened? On Thursday 23 June, the UK voted to leave the European Union. Watching the late-night voting returns…
In early 2014 we felt the market for the Enzo-era Italian exotics was peaking and so between April and Sept.,…
Collectable Ferraris, like all commodities, trade on a world-wide market. That market has doubled and doubled again in only five…
The Baby-Boomers, now in their 60s, are moving on The Collectable Ferrari market, like any commodities market, shifts with global…
We begin with a history lesson: Over the last seventy years Ferraris have evolved through four distinctive eras, the rapid…
The auction house arms race Every year the various auction houses at Monterey compete for the most spectacular headline car,…
Let the good times roll The 10 May RM Auction in Monaco again raised the price bar to all new…
Every column has its inspiration and this column is the response to one of the oft-repeated questions that crosses my…
Ferrari’s four-seat V12 models may not have the same cachet as its two-seaters, but these 2+2s are no less worthy…
Every two or three years I revisit the world’s economies as they have been, at best, volatile, with major changes…
The Monterey auctions have again redefined the auction world’s segment of the collector car market, and, as usual, Ferraris are…
Every few days, I’m asked (or told) about the many Enzo-era cars going to China — or asked what are…
Our story begins with 2007 Ferrari 599 s/n 150098, the 26th U.S. model 599 built, in Grigio Silverstone with Bordeaux…
We all know that the planet went into recession in 2007 — and fell off the proverbial economic cliff on…
We continually have older Ferraris in pre-sale or pre-purchase inspection and stay involved in the follow-up work or additional work…
The used Ferrari market has always been both a reflection of — and an overreaction to — the economy. When…
In late December 2011, the Italian Guardia di Finanza (Tax Police) swept into posh ski resorts, the Italian Riviera and…
It doesn’t get any better than this year’s Scottsdale auctions for car collectors wanting to steal a week of summer…
Ferrari literally rose from the ashes of World War II in 1947 as a boutique race car builder armed with…
This column began with a search for a very-early production 2012 458 Spider for a client willing to pay the…
I met Keith Martin before there was an Alfa Romeo Newsletter and long before it morphed into today’s Sports Car…
In May 2010, we were offered a 365 GTC/4, s/n 15197, in a restoration shop with new paint (not yet…
Total sales almost reached the $200m mark, a $26m jump over last year’s spectacular $172m result. RM Auctions led the…
This column was inspired by two clients who emailed on the same day searching for “an honest shop and/or mechanic,”…
Since 2008, the world’s economic markets have been, at best, volatile, but how does that relate to the Ferrari market…
Our story began when a client asked us to market his ultra-low mile, two-owner Ferrari F40, s/n ZFFMN34A0L0085788. With only…
I am often asked why I don’t traffic in or write about more Fiat-era cars, such as the 308s, 328s,…
I’ve been selling Enzo-era cars since there were only Enzo-era cars. It is both interesting and telling that the Enzo-era…
This month’s column focuses on three related points. First, I do a lot of expert-witness work, so I’m consulted on…
For classic car lovers escaping the winter snows, it doesn’t get any better than this year’s Scottsdale auctions, with collectors…
Imagine seeing hundreds of high-end Ferraris, Lamborghinis and McLarens—many with hardly any miles on the odometer—rotting away in tropical heat…
My column takes a slightly different tack this month, as SCMer Aaron Greenburg sent in this letter asking for some…
In my October column, I wrote that the factory laptop used to diagnose electrical and mechanical systems of modern Ferraris…
In the run-up to this year’s Monterey auctions, there was much concern in the dealer community because so many high-end…
Readers of this column know I’m not a fan of online auctions or dealer auctions because it’s usually impossible to…
How quickly the tides do turn. Only six months ago, in my March SCM column, Dashing Euro Dreams, I wrote,…
Thanks to well over 17 years of monthly columns for Sports Car Market, I’ve slowly become the Ann Landers or…
While selling exotic cars is an inexact science, it is a tenet within the trade that buyers want to pay…
From the beginning of the Ferrari Classiche Program in 2003, there has been no lack of enthusiasts who dismissed it…
After the doom-and-gloom of late 2008 and a painful 2009, dealers and collectors at events like the Scottsdale auctions, Cavallino,…
One of the side effects of the worst economic downturn in many decades has been a weak U.S. dollar. As…
These days, the state of the market is the focal point of almost every conversation, whether you are talking to…
A three-billion-dollar car business, a garage full of collectible vintage Ferraris, including a 250 GTO, and franchises strung across Europe…
Today’s vintage and collectible Ferrari buyers are usually male Baby Boomers in their late 50s or early 60s who have…
Last month’s column detailed a threatened $182,000 lawsuit against a Ferrari shop because of decades-old damage to a 37-year-old car,…
In November 2005, I wrote a column entitled “The Punch of Deferred C/4 Maintenance… And How I Leaned Into It,”…
As readers of SCM know, my day job is finding new homes for old Ferraris. Over the many years I’ve…
The inspiration for this column occurred in March, when I returned from lunch to find an email from a Lusso…
Columns beget further columns, and my May story, “When 25 Miles Doesn’t Matter,” which dealt with an Enzo that had…
In early November 2008, I received multiple early morning phone calls and emails telling me that Lamborghini of Orange County…
In late January, the owner-principal of an authorized Ferrari dealership emailed an unusual question: “Do you think there is a…
Last summer’s Monterey auctions defined the top of the collector car market, and Scottsdale has delivered a new bottom line.…
In my two previous columns, I divided Ferraris into the Enzo-era cars (1947–73), the Fia-era cars (1973–91), and the Montezemolo-era…
In last month’s column I discussed how Ferraris have evolved through three distinctive eras in the past 60 years: Racing-based…
Over the last 60 years, Ferraris have evolved through three distinctive eras: the Enzo Ferrari era, the mass-market Fiat years,…
Six months ago we received one or two calls or emails a day from people who wanted us to help…
The 2008 Monterey auctions brought together the largest collection of high-dollar collector cars ever offered anywhere on one weekend. Four…
I recently received an email regarding a 430 Scuderia that had hit a deer, with the damage described as “very…
I’ve known Keith Martin for more than 20 years and have been involved with SCM nearly from the start. In…
Much has been written—both positive and negative—about Ferrari Classiche, the arm of Ferrari set up as an official certifying organization…
Thanks to feedback from readers, virtually every column inspires a follow-up column. In “Opening Pandora’s Black Box” (December, p. 48),…
Throughout the week of March 12–17, the demise of Bear Stearns sent a shudder through the world’s economy. If, like…
The flow of Ferraris to the U.S. began in October 1948 with Tommy Lee’s purchase of 166 MM Barchetta s/n…
Decades ago, when negotiating with bankers for our first seven-figure credit line, I was asked, “What is the annual global…
One of the frequent questions that crosses my desk is “Which current Ferraris will become classics like the Lusso, 275…
Recently, one early-morning caller wanted an “F1 Ferrari.” That afternoon, another emailed wanting “a race car,” and a later caller…
The daily drama of selling older Ferraris provides a constant supply of material for this column, as the same set…
A subscriber recently wrote, worrying about future maintenance costs of late model Ferraris: “My only fear is the outdated computer-controlled…
To the aficionado, Ferraris have always been industrial art, the pinnacle of technology and styling of their era. Many of…
From $17 million in 1990, 330 GTO s/n 4561 would have to sell for $47 million today just to keep…
Part II: Bring the kids. Contemporary 2+2s Modern four-seat Ferraris are user-friendly, entry-level supercars. You might compromise on the number…
Part I: More seats, less money. The early 2+2s In the late 1950s, Aston Martin and Maserati found a very…
There’s always been a direct connection between how much fun your sports car is, and how fast it goes. Best…
As virtually everyone in the car world knows, on March 26 actor Eddie Griffin crashed a Ferrari Enzo at Irwindale…
Trainspotters are an odd English subculture who first wandered into the moors in rain, sleet, and snow during the Victorian…
The daily drama of selling ultra-high-end Ferraris provides continuous material for this column, but the sale agreement is only the…
I note an interesting division in my stream of phone calls and emails. Buyers of pre-Boxer era Ferraris ask about…
Maintenance has always been a large part of owning a Ferrari; if you are mechanically inclined, consider an older car…
Back in the May 2004 issue of SCM, I wrote how muscle cars—Hemis in particular—had soared past comparable Ferraris. In…
Answering daily phone calls and emails provides a never-ending supply of topics on which to pontificate. The “real-world” cost to…
For those who missed the first round of hiring at Microsoft, a Ferrari replica offers the chance to own a…
Thanks to this column, I’m often the Dear Abby or Ann Landers of the Ferrari world, and I get many…
The last fifteen years have been the best ever for new Ferrari sales, which means that the number of late-model…
The FXX is the latest Ferrari supercar, and in all ways but one trumps every Ferrari sold to the public…
The majority of first-time, 12-cylinder Ferrari buyers have $50,000–$100,000 to spend, and while that won’t buy you much more than…
Collectors are fetishists who keep like-kind things; stamps, bits of string, samples of different types of barbed wire—or vintage Ferraris.…
It doesn’t take a Harvard MBA to see that the Ferrari market is booming again. But I suggest this time…
Those of us Ferrari enthusiasts approaching vintage status ourselves like to reminisce about the “good old days” of the 1960s…
I get frequent calls from potential Daytona buyers looking for an ultra-low mileage example with the mistaken belief that they…
Everyone understands the difference between a driver and a show car. In general terms, one looks good from twenty feet…
Purists dismiss replica Ferraris as fakes that should never have been built, while aficionados who missed the first round of…
Today’s fuss over “instant collectibles” like the $1.2 million Bugatti Veyron and $400,000 Maybach turns a bright light onto what…
In May of 1985 I purchased an unusually nice 365 GTC/4 S/N 14965, finished in black lacquer with black leather,…
Over the years, the term “restoration” has had evolving meaning in the Ferrari world. Back in the 1970s, it meant…
Before attempting to delineate the best seven-figure Ferraris, I called multiple collectors, dealers and historians for their feedback, and I…
I get dozens of phone calls and e-mails from would-be first-time Ferrari buyers, and I always ask them the same…
In today’s Ferrari market, the winners far outnumber the losers. As you might expect, the only cars that are dropping…
In the May 2004 issue of SCM, I wrote about the market values of muscle cars-Hemis in particular—and how they…
Between 1968 and 1974, Ferrari built what many old-timers consider the last “real” Ferrari, the 365 GTB/4 Daytona. A front-engined,…
Often when someone decides to part with a prized Ferrari, it may not have been started or driven for months…
Ferrari is expected to define the leading edge in automotive styling and technology, and its new F430 promises to be…
If you’ve got $300,000 burning a hole in your pocket and are thinking about turning it into a vintage car…
Like Spanish dictator Francisco Franco, whose deteriorating body was kept on life support for years, Maserati was near death for…
Comparing the ultimate supercars is much like comparing the various attributes of the world’s top supermodels: It’s all about what…
The idea of creating the ultimate and most exciting road car was conceived as early as 1988. Following a meeting…
Schumie and the Formula One guys might get all the attention, but in fact Ferrari has been involved in GT…
We sporty-car types like to talk about the sophistication of our multi-cylinder, multi-carbureted mounts. American iron, you know, those crudely…
Okay, Lambo fanatics, enough! My mailbox is already over-flowing with nastiness about last month’s column comparing early Lamborghinis with the…
Ferruccio Lamborghini made his first fortune building tractors and his second producing heating appliances. At age 47 he set out…
Most of the Ferraris built in the last two decades have one thing in common with Toyota Camrys: After they…
Last year it was Lussos that were in the Prancing Horse flavor-of-the-month club. Their values languished in the “why-would-you-want-one-of-those” $125,000–$150,000…
“I’ve always wanted to own a Ferrari.” That’s something I hear every day. It’s usually accompanied with, “I’ve worked hard…
The 743-cc, 13-horsepower flathead-four engine on my children’s 1930 BMW DA-2 Kabriolet is far removed from the 3,432-cc, 310-horsepower double-overhead-cam-four…
Which is the best Ferrari for a first-time owner? The answer is not simple, because of the financial resources, intended…
Summer is here, winter snows are a memory and, son-of-a-gun, once again the Ferrari market is hot. Recent dealer sales…
More than a few self-proclaimed market gurus have been running around like the proverbial chickens with their heads removed, all…
If you’re thinking of bringing a Ferrari into the US, I have some simple advice that might save you months…
The Ferrari market is a fluid animal, with both classic and modern cars moving in and out of favor. Here’s…
Ferrari’s philosophy has always been to incorporate, when possible, their racing technology into their road cars. In the early 1970s,…
SCM readers are aware that our esteemed editor, Keith Martin, is once again on the hunt for a V12 Ferrari.…
Just as we get used to the toll taken by the passage of years, from carrying reading glasses to keeping…
I have a client who has purchased many modern Ferraris over the phone with no inspection, including an F50, a…
The 550 Maranello and 456 GT and GTA are today’s state-of-the-art grand touring Ferraris, offering supercar performance in a luxurious…
Of the 33 250 TRs originally built by Ferrari, there are at least 46 in existence today. As with Alfa…
While 360 Berlinettas and Spyders, 456 GTs and 550 Maranellos and Barchettas are dropping in price, F40s and F50s are…
Paraphrasing Oscar Hammerstein II from “Showboat,” “Fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly, and I’m gonna watch new Ferraris depreciate till…
Ferrari S/N 0148A is part of a very aristocratic lineage of Ferraris, as it is equipped with the famous Lampredi…
The Mille Miglia is the ultimate vintage car event, and a Ferrari is the ultimate car to drive in it.…
Twenty-six-year-old Luigi Taramazzo’s first success with S/N 0911 GT (one of the most famous and successful of all Ferrari racing…
Like locusts, e-mails seeking advice about enny-level Ferraris descend daily. Each time SCM reports on a 400i or Mondial 8…
No one is more persistent in his questions about how to have an affordable Ferrari than our editor, who seems…
In 1998 Ian Hetherington, an English software mogul, decided to race his Euro model F50 in the Ferrari Maranello Challenge.…
The bargain-hunters in the Ferrari world seem to be obsessed with the price similarities of the 1986–89 328 GTS and…
Dear Mr. Sheehan: Over 25 years ago I nearly bought a ’67 Ferrari 330 GT 2+2 and have kicked myself…
Our esteemed Editor is always quick to pass Ferrari related questions on to me. A sample of this month’s questions,…
If it weren’t for the GTO that failed to sell, the Bonhams & Brooks auction at Gstaad, Switzerland, would have…
Dear Mr. Sheehan: I’ve got a Lusso I’d like to hot-rod. At Ferrari track days, I’m tired of watching ungainly,…
There’s really not much difference between buying a knock-off Louis Vuitton handbag in Times Square for $20, and picking up…
I was recently asked why it should cost $7,000 to paint a garden-variety Ferrari 308 when a Mercedes 450SL can…
Most Americans think the Mille Miglia Storica is a grueling event; in fact it is a tiring, lengthy 1,000-mile parade…
In the June issue of SCM we compared the cost of painting a Mercedes 450SL with a Ferrari 308 (“The…
“What’s the best way to race in the Ferrari Historic Challenge?” the caller asked. The American version of the very…
I was recently asked why it should cost $7,000 to paint a garden-variety Ferrari 308 when a Mercedes 450SL can…
Perhaps the best-known Ferrari street/race cars of the ’60s are the 250 GTO and the 250 LM. Although they were…
The Vector was created by Gerald “Jerry” Wiegart as an American challenge to the European Supercars of the 1970s. A…
F50 GT S/N 003 was the feature car at the RM Classic Car Auction at Scottsdale, Arizona, on January 23,…
From 1947 to 1957 Ferrari evolved from a small race shop, producing only two cars, to a world-recognized, high-performance company…
Ferrari’s sporting and Grand Touring reputation through the ’50s and ’60s was built around low and sleek Italian bodies fitted…
Until recently, if you wanted to own and import an exotic car that was never certified for sale in the…
After a quarter of a century in the exotic car business—having owned, sold, or brokered about 2,000 exotic cars (mostly…
Here’s the good news. Utilizing contemporary technology, it’s possible to make your four-, six-, eight- or twelve-cylinder Ferrari much more…
Just as the F40 represents the ultimate Ferrari street car of the 80’s and early 90’s with 470 horsepower in…
Just as the fax machine helped fuel an explosion in the collector car market in the ’80s by making information…
In the 1950s, Greg Garrison was the producer of the Dean Martin show, and just as Martin was well-known for…
The F40 was introduced to the press on July 21, 1987 to celebrate Ferrari’s 40th anniversary as an auto manufacturer.…
I knew it was going to be a long day when our esteemed Editor called to request that I write…
Ferrari 250 S/N 0627 GT began life as a Boano, leaving the factory in February of 1957. The car was…
In 1996 Jean Sage and Jacques Swaters started the Shell Historic Ferrari Challenge in Europe, creating an event where one…
I am considering purchase of a 365 GTC/4. I am looking at a local car in strong #2 shape cosmetically…
In my many years in the Ferrari business, I have often been called by wannabe Ferrari owners eager to buy…
Keith Martin, our esteemed editor, recently called regarding his newly acquired 1964 Ferrari 330 America. When he purchased the car,…
In today’s market there are good buys on Ferraris that are undervalued for the performance they provide. They may not…
The 275 GTB/2 two–cam and 275 GTB/4 four–cam cars are among the most popular and user–friendly front–engined street Berlinettas built…
Last month we reviewed racing in the Ferrari Historic Challenge, sponsored, in part, by Ferrari North America, and a takeoff…
In 1947, Ferrari built only two cars, both of them race cars. Over 50 years and 70,000 Ferraris later, that…
When I began trading Ferraris in the early 1970s, there were two types of buyers: flashy young men who made…
Train-spotters comprise a unique English sub-culture who wander out onto the moors in rain, sleet and snow to record the…
Ferrari built three works Testarossas for racing in 1959. Over the next 40 years, this model became legendary and highly…
First-time Ferrari buyers want advice on the best car under $50,000. As markets and prices change, so does my advice,…
Between 1968 and 1974, Ferrari built what many consider to be the last “real” Ferrari, the 365 GTB/4 Daytona. A…
Last month, we reviewed Ferrari’s 250 series of “production cars” from 1955 to ’65. We began with the 250 Europa…
