The Ferrari Bloodline

The Ferrari supercar market is difficult to navigate, due to the proliferation of non-analytical dealers, players with Dunning-Kruger cognitive bias (the know-it-alls), ad-hoc valuations, minimal information about cars for sale, opaque histories and the risks of unknown provenance.

Additionally, flagship ferraris have become extremely expensive over the past few years and so the cost of making a poor choice can be significant.

In light of that, I would like to share some of my insights as a long-term active collector with others when they buy, hold, or sell their cars, in case they find it helpful. I will do that through presenting some frameworks, analytical tools, and some reference material that I use myself and that served me well.

As my discussion will cover the 288 GTO, F40, F50 and Enzo, with which I am somehow aquainted, I called the thread The Ferrari Bloodline (in addition to the fact that the collection is called the Bloodline Collection.) I have no experience with the LaFerrari, so it will not be discussed from my side.

THE ATTRIBUTES OF QUALITY IN A CAR: A FRAMEWORK OF 10 DIMENSIONS
Let us start by understanding what defines excellence in a given supercar versus another of the same model. (I touched very lightly this topic before - I think under the F50 thread).

We can break the 'overall quality' of a supercar into key drivers, which I call 'dimensions of quality'; these are simply the attributes on which the quality of a car is ascertained (like history, originality, condition...)

Understanding the dimensions of quality of a Ferrari supercar (here I refer to the 288 GTO, F40, F50, and Enzo as mentioned above - but the concepts are quite extentedable to other cars) is key throughout its life cycle: at purchase, during ownership, and when selling.

Firstly, it helps chose the correct car by looking at the various quality dimensions (which together define the overall quality) of different examples of the chosen model (so F40 #1 vs F40 #2) and thereby ascertain the difference in their quality.

Secondly, knowing the details of the various quality dimensions, will help set the correct value of the car (there is a valuation methodology based on the quality dimensions that I use and we might touch this later).

Thirdly, during ownership, you know that the car is good on some aspects of quality (say, its history) but that it falls short on other aspects (say, condition, or maintenance, or accessories) then it will point you to the specific areas which the car needs to be improved during your ownership.

Fourthly, and finally, when it is time to sell the car, you can describe clearly every aspect along the different quality dimensions in a comprehensive, consitent and clear way that makes the sale process easier and more transparent (again there is a framework for that that we might discuss).

Here are the 10 quality dimensions:

1. Mileage
2. Condition
3. Originality
4. Maintenance & care
5. Provenance
6. History documentation
7. Featured media & events
8. Books & manuals
9. Toolkit
10. Accessories

Clearly some are more important than others but in coming up with this list, I aimed that they are MECE (mutually exclusive and comprehensively exhaustive). In other words, they cover different aspects of quality and all that is needed as well. Actually, I should say 'almost' all that is needed as there are few others important differentiating factors like (a) car specifications (but these are very few - amongst the four models its mainly the cats and suspensions in F40s), (b) rare colours (for F50s and Enzos), and (c) country of delivery (in the US, US-delivered cars are more sought after; some UK owners prefer UK-delivered cars).

In my next post, I will expand each of these quality dimensions.

 

When I'm selling F50s and Enzos both in the USA and elsewhere, a couple of items consistently come up which seem to impact my client's perception of value:

- How many owners has the car had, I get asked this right after mileage and sometimes even before condition or maintenance, to many buyers wether a Supercar is being sold from it's original owner versus it's 8th owner impacts it's desirability and therefore value, perhaps this comes under item 5.

- Wether the car is Classiche Certified or not, controversial though this one is, buyers almost always want to see the car is Certified and this can cause them to purchase a Certified car over one that is not, other factors being equal, perhaps this comes under item 5 or 6.

- Usage. Buyers want to know how the car has been used, how much usage has taken place on the track for example, also, how often has the car not been used and what long periods has it sat and when.

I can confirm that in the USA there are is a desire for USA spec examples although they are bringing less of a premium nowadays, whereas rare colors are highly desired by an American buyer.

 

Continuous improvement is a golden rule for me, never ending and bottom up from the smallest part and keeping it all original.
Here are some pictures of the yellow F50 a week ago

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And from inside

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Attached is a pdf file with some details on the 10 quality dimensions introduced in post #1, for those interested.

 

Latest on #106510 micro-detailing progress before Christmas. She should be fully done right after the new year.

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Season’s greetings to all!

 

Absolutely magnificent job !

 

I don’t disagree but hate that mileage is so high up on this list! To me it makes even less sense for some of the cars that are most sensitive to it! For anything other than imminent resale I would take a 20k km well loved and serviced F50 over a 200 km example with the same servicing - some parts degrade, weren’t designed to last 25 years, and regular driving means you are on top of that and the car can stay at it’s prime. Obsession with mileage does take some of the enjoyment out of driving these cars (not all thankfully! - but I don’t take the F50 to Tescos are much as I used to). Happy Xmas / Holidays - love to all and your families.

 

Great to go shopping in an F50, but may be Marks and Spencer would be more fitting than Tesco…

 

I love the spending of days just meticulously working on the exhaust (rubbing and rubbing) and bringing it back to as it left the factory…

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…Even though a couple of heat cycles will bring the silver down to red/brown, it’s worth the effort.

 

Tesco has 99 Octane

 

The mileage question is a factor, but the good news is, if you are a person who doesn't worship at the altar of low mileage, then you pay a lot less for an F50, and get to enjoy it on the road lot more.

Hope you guys are well, and Happy Holidays to all!

 

Thanks for sharing.

Based on my own experience with 288 GTO, F40, F50 & Enzo, perhaps the following comments in no particular order could be useful.

I agree using an authorized Ferrari dealer for inspection is a good way to inspect a Ferrari Supercar, that's typically what we do using our network.

Variant of model should be considered as unique production status with a GTO, F40, F50 or Enzo can significantly impact it's value, for example a Prototype, factory special build, last-of-a-series etc. 288 GTO and F40 Prototypes which sometimes come to the market always command a premium. Some people are interested in 288 GTOs which have the combination of red Nomex seat inserts & no air conditioning & no radio.
Massini & I have established a Registry of Lexan Sliding Windows F40s, there are less than 100 of these originally made, and they are starting to command a premium to some.
For some reason USA F40 buyers seem to want to pay more for a final production year 1992 USA F40.
Special color F50s and Enzos do command a premium. Etc.

Owner profile can in some cases add value, some 288 GTOs and F40s were specially built for people with a unique relationship with Enzo Ferrari and they can command a premium to some people for that reason. For example, we procured the 288 GTO built by the order of Enzo Ferrari for his World Champion F1 driver Niki Lauda, not only is this GTO special for that reason, but it was the final one delivered, and the only delivered in 1986. We paid a very significant premium for it @ 8 years ago, and after Lauda passed away we've been offered almost twice what you'd pay for a standard GTO. Cars built for certain factory-affiliated VIPs, Royalty, F1 drivers etc can be more interesting and therefore valuable to certain buyers.

For the F40, of note, the body numbers are stamped (not written) on the door hinges, whereas they are written behind the rear foglight (of European cars), wing endplates and headlight panels.

People do tend to prefer a 288 GTO the way it left the factory with no radio just a blank plate.

Stone chips on the front bumper are acceptable wear & tear even for low-mileage cars, if the car has any mileage even if quite low, in the real world there will be some small stone chips, even if they are just a light dusting.

The throttle pedal on an F40 may have paint wear with even a few thousand miles as the paint comes off easily.

Re-trim of F40 seats to the authentic pattern seems to have zero impact on value, in fact it seems to be desired as many of the 30-year-old plus seats have bolster padding that has perished and collapsed plus fabric that has loosened even in the lowest mileage cars.

It's worth considering that in today's increasingly non-conformist world, the criteria for what represents ultimate value will differ somewhat from person to person.

 

Joe, I would be interested in your experience with the F40 sliding window. Do you have an assessment of the added value?
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My experience with these is developing based on requests I have received, that's why last year I retained Marcel Massini to establish a private chassis number Register for the original cars.

We have sold a handful of these F40s originally appointed with the LM type doors which are noted in Ferrari SpA's system as VS or Vetri Scorrevoli and to which we have ascribed the moniker LSW (Lexan Sliding Windows), all of the cars we have sold are now in the USA.

Perhaps the most interesting one we have sold is 80161 which was new to the Monaco Royal family, collected at Maranello by Princess Caroline's late husband Stefano Casiraghi on EE.733.AK plates and driven home. That car lives today with our USA client in an amazing Ferrari Supercar collection with less than 3,000 miles on the odometer.

Obviously 80161 commands a premium based on provenance and low mileage, but I would estimate that any original LSW F40 could potentially command a 10% premium for the right buyer, and personally I think that premium will increase over time. The proviso is if the car was originally coded Vetri Scorrevoli in Ferrari's system and this is important because there are some cars which have had the LM doors added post-production in more recent times.

 

Thank you for your assessment, that is very interesting. I'm excited to see how this option will develop in the future.

 

I'd like to see a sliding-window F40 come to auction, it's been nearly 4 years now.

 

Hi Karim. This is a useful guide. Thank you for sharing. I like the way you have laid out various attributes, and I appreciate how you have used personal experience and individually owned cars as examples in many of the points. Well done.

 

Hi Joe,

Thank you for sharing all these points. Your reflections on how buyer appetite is evolving is helpful to know and appreciate given the wide cross section of buyers and sellers that you engage with. Look forward to continued periodic insights from you.

 

Really, that would be interesting.
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Thank you, we've always paid attention to the ever-changing ownership landscape and accompanying emerging desire for certain models & variants.

 

Getting closer

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Despite an 18-hour flight back home today, I could not resist going and checking on the yellow F50.
She is all done now.

First, the original factory Nero headlamps (no repainting of any sort - just authentic and mint)
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And some pictures of the boot
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And here are some pictures of the engine bay.
(Note: the silencers are original and have not been re-painted).
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Thank you for sharing those incredible photos!