On 4th September this year, as part of Ferrari’s 70th anniversary celebrations, RM Sotheby’s will hold an auction compiled exclusively of Ferrari cars and Ferrari memorabilia. Arguably the headline lot, a rather unique Rosso Fuoco LaFerrari Aperta will be auctioned to benefit the charity Save the Children.
This particular LaFerrari is one of a kind. It is finished in a metallic Rosso Fuoco exterior colour with metallic Bianco Italia double racing stripes to the rear and bonnet. Inside, it features black alcantara and gloss carbon fibre finishes with red leather inserts for the seats and contrasting red stitching.
Enzo Ferrari’s mantra with production numbers was always: “you should always build one less car than the market demands”. It has proved to be an interesting marketing tool for Ferrari. Take the Enzo for example. Ferrari produced 399. Until Ferrari’s marketing department decided it might be a good idea to gift one to Pope John Paul II.
When His Holiness took delivery in January 2005, he realised the ridiculousness of gifting a 200 mph hypercar to an 84 year old and suggested that Ferrari they sell it on his behalf and donate the proceeds to the victims of a tsunami that had ravaged Southeast Asia.
With the Enzo’s replacement, the LaFerrari, Ferrari once again decided to stick to Enzo’s philosophy. It created 499 customer cars. A 500th was eventually produced with proceeds donated to the relief works for the 6.2 magnitude earthquakes that killed at least 298 people in Umbria and Marche.
209 LeFerrari Aperta’s were offered for sale, this version is number 210. RM Sotheby’s have estimated that it will attract bids between €3 million and €4 million. The 500th LaFerrari acheived $7 million last year, just imagine the price the Aperta might realise!
In true Ferrari fashion (and in complete contrast to RM Sotheby’s normal setup), the event is by invitation only.
