Michael Jordan's Ferrari Expected to Fetch Up to $1.3 Million at Auction

[Financial News] The 1997 Ferrari 550 Maranello once owned by basketball player Michael Jordan is set to be auctioned after roughly 25 years. It is expected to fetch as much as $1.3 million, or approximately 1.768 billion won, far above the market value of comparable models.
According to Forbes, a U.S. business publication, on the 27th of last month local time, the car will be auctioned through Jupiter in September. The expected winning bid is between $700,000 and $1.3 million, or approximately 952 million won to 1.768 billion won.
Jordan bought the Ferrari in 1997, during the peak of his NBA career. The car became particularly famous after Jordan was seen driving it out of Chicago's United Center on June 13 that year, the day the Chicago Bulls won their fifth NBA championship.
Painted in Rosso Barchetta, the car is known to have influenced the design of Nike's Air Jordan XIV. Design elements drawn from Ferrari's quilted leather and side air vents were incorporated into the shoe. Jordan was wearing the sneakers when he made the final shot that secured the Bulls' sixth championship in the 1998 NBA Finals.
Jordan sold the Ferrari to a Chicago collector in 2002. It later passed to a private collector in California, and the car was not shown to the public for roughly 25 years.
Miami car collector John Temerian spent a decade tracking down the vehicle. He reportedly located it after finding part of its chassis number on an automotive forum and verifying the vehicle identification number, or VIN.
The car has 18,501 miles, or approximately 29,774 kilometers, on the odometer. Hagerty, a U.S. auto insurance company, estimates the typical value of comparable models at approximately $142,000 to $298,000, or about 193.12 million to 405.28 million won.
However, Jordan's ownership history and the car's symbolic connection to the Air Jordan XIV are expected to drive the winning bid well above the typical market price.
 


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