For Sale at Auction: 1997 Ferrari F50 in Las Vegas, Nevada

Chassis No. ZFFTA46B000107165
Engine No. 46697
Transmission No. 448

The F50 was by no means the first road car to draw on Formula 1 engineering, but when it was unveiled at the 1995 Geneva Motor Show in anticipation of Ferrari's 50th anniversary, it was arguably the most literal translation of Grand Prix technology to the street yet attempted. Road & Track's technical analysis described it as virtually a road-going version of the 333 SP, the multiple IMSA GT and FIA championship-winning sports-racer Ferrari had developed from its 1990 F1 program. Paul Frere, winner of the 1960 24 Hours of Le Mans, wrote in the magazine that company president Luca di Montezemolo wanted the car to give its driver "the impression that he drives a Grand Prix car."

The engine was a 4.7-liter, 65-degree V12 developed from Ferrari's 3.5-liter Formula 1 unit, with five valves per cylinder, titanium connecting rods, and dry-sump lubrication. It produced 513 horsepower and 347 lb-ft of torque. As in a Grand Prix car, its cast-iron block was bolted directly to the back of a 225-pound carbon-fiber tub and carried the rear suspension. Pushrod-actuated double wishbones with electronically controlled damping, titanium hubs, unassisted steering, and Brembo brakes without servo assistance reinforced its connection to the F1 single-seater. Unlike Ferrari's F1 cars, however, which had used electro-hydraulic paddle shifters since 1989, the F50 kept a six-speed manual shifted through a traditional open gate, and it would be the last of Ferrari's halo cars to do so.

Development testing involved Jean Alesi, Gerhard Berger, Niki Lauda, and chief tester Dario Benuzzi. Road & Track recorded zero to 60 mph in 3.6 seconds, while Ferrari claimed top speed of 202 mph. Its testers observed that where most exotics merely hint at the racing experience, the F50 "slaps you in the face with all its visceral ingredients." To avoid a repeat of the F40, which was built in 1,311 examples to meet its exploding demand, Ferrari built just 349 examples between 1995 and 1997 to ensure its exclusivity.

The F50 offered here, chassis number 107165, is the 334th of those 349 cars, a late-production example delivered new via Maranello Sales Ltd. of Egham, Surrey, whose decal it still wears on the windshield. It is finished in Rosso Corsa over Nero leather with Rosso seat inserts, the combination most closely identified with the model. In the nearly three decades since it left the factory, it has covered an astonishing 106 miles.

According to the research of Ferrari historian Marcel Massini, chassis 107165 began assembly in Maranello on 27 June 1997, and was completed and invoiced on 6 August. It was dispatched that December to Maranello Concessionaires, the official U.K. importer, and its factory warranty commenced on 31 December 1997. The F50 was later exported to Japan, where it spent many years as part of a significant private collection in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture, near Tokyo, and it was still recorded there in 2008. By 2015, it had joined the stable of a prominent Chinese supercar collector who stored his cars in D�sseldorf, Germany, and it was serviced that June by Rosso Scuderia. Eberlein Automobile GmbH of Kassel, Germany, serviced the car in March 2021 and again in February 2025. It was recently imported to the United States in preparation for the sale.

Ferrari built the F50 to be driven hard, and most surviving examples show at least some evidence of it, but this example has been entirely spared from the moment it was delivered. As a result, its paintwork, carbon-fiber cabin, leather upholstery, and switchgear are free of the fading, wear, and handling marks that even careful use brings. The car presents today much as it would have on the day Maranello Sales handed it over. Additionally, it has received a fresh service and a Ferrari Classiche inspection at Ferrari of Newport Beach.

As one would expect given its time-warp condition, its factory accessories have been preserved to the same standard. The car is offered with its removable hardtop and the original flight case that houses it whenever the F50 is run as a barchetta. Also present are its J.P. Tod's driving shoes and three-piece Schedoni luggage set with dust covers, along with its tool kit, wheel socket, and fuse, bulb, and belt kit. Its car, seat, and steering wheel covers in their Ferrari-branded bag finish the set. Items such as these were routinely separated from their cars over the years, lost between owners, or simply used, which makes the full complement alongside an F50 of this mileage truly exceptional.

The F50 long ago made the passage from new car to blue-chip collectible, and the chance to buy one in delivery condition largely went with it. Chassis 107165 is the exception. Impeccably preserved and complete with its original delivery items, it is as close as one can come today to taking delivery of a new F50. For the collector who wants the model exactly as Ferrari built it, a better-preserved or more complete example would be very difficult to find.