Michael Jordan's 1997 Ferrari 550 Maranello sells for $2.7 million, setting model record

The Sale and the Final Price

A 1997 Ferrari 550 Maranello that was originally delivered to Michael Jordan sold for $2,700,000 on Wednesday evening at an online auction hosted by Joopiter, more than quadrupling the previous auction record for the model. Bidding closed at 7:00 p.m. EDT after a two-week sale that drew 43 bids, with the hammer price sitting well above Joopiter's pre-sale estimate of $800,000 to $1.3 million.

A Record-Setting Result for the 550 Maranello

Joopiter said the $2.7 million result was more than four times the prior public-auction record for a Ferrari 550 Maranello, though the company did not disclose the prior figure. The final price was also more than twice the upper end of the estimate range the company had published before bidding opened.

Jordan's Car and Its Provenance

Ferrari delivered the car new to Jordan in May 1997. The coupe is finished in Rosso Barchetta over a tan leather interior and carries an Illinois license plate reading "MJ 5." Jordan was photographed driving the car shortly after winning his fifth NBA championship in June 1997. He sold the Ferrari in 2002, after which the car was not seen publicly for more than two decades before resurfacing.

The Search That Brought the Car Back

Curated CEO John Temerian spent roughly a decade tracing the vehicle through historical Ferrari dealer records and located it with a longtime owner in California who had never previously offered it for public sale. Temerian purchased the car without an in-person inspection. On May 29, 2026 — exactly 29 years after its original delivery to Jordan — the Ferrari was returned to Chicago ahead of the auction.

Joopiter's Debut in the Collector-Car Market

The sale marked Joopiter's first auction held in partnership with Curated, a dealer specializing in collector and vintage supercars, and was the platform's first auction in the collector-car segment after earlier work in sports memorabilia, natural-history items and cultural artifacts. Caitlin Donovan, Joopiter's global head of sale, said the debut result "speaks to the strength of our collector community." Temerian framed the outcome as evidence of a generational shift in collector tastes toward 1990s and early-2000s performance icons.

What the Result Does Not Resolve

Joopiter has not disclosed the prior auction record the sale surpassed, the identity of the buyer, or the buyer's premium terms. The final $2.7 million figure reflects the reported hammer price; any additional fees applied on top of that amount were not detailed in the available reporting.