Michael Jordan’s 1997 Ferrari 550 Maranello sold for $2,700,000 at auction Wednesday night, setting a public-sale record for the model. The result far exceeded Joopiter’s presale estimate of $800,000 to $1,300,000 and marked the auction platform’s first move into collector cars through a partnership with Curated.

Bidding ran for two weeks and attracted 43 bids before the sale closed at 7 p.m. EDT. Joopiter said the final price was more than four times the previous auction record for a Ferrari 550 Maranello, although it did not disclose the earlier benchmark.

A Ferrari with Jordan provenance

Ferrari delivered the car new to Jordan in May 1997, during the final stretch of his championship years with the Chicago Bulls. Its combination of celebrity ownership and documented history helped separate it from a typical used Ferrari entering the collector market.

The car is finished in Rosso Barchetta with a tan leather interior and retains the Illinois license plate “MJ 5.” Jordan was photographed driving the Ferrari just hours after winning his fifth NBA championship in June 1997, giving the car a direct connection to one of the most recognizable periods of his career.

Jordan sold the 550 Maranello in 2002, after which it remained out of public view for more than two decades. Curated CEO John Temerian spent about 10 years searching for the car, using Ferrari’s historical dealer records to trace it to a long-term California owner who had never offered it publicly. Temerian eventually purchased the Ferrari sight unseen.

Record sale expands Joopiter’s reach

The Ferrari returned to Chicago on May 29, 2026, exactly 29 years after its original delivery to Jordan. That timing preceded the auction, which ultimately closed at more than twice the high end of its estimate.

The sale was Joopiter’s first auction conducted with Curated, a dealer focused on collector and vintage supercars. It also expanded Joopiter beyond its established categories of sports memorabilia, natural history and cultural artifacts.

“Joopiter’s entrance into the collector car market marks an exciting expansion for us,” said Caitlin Donovan, Joopiter’s global head of sale. She added that achieving a record price for the Ferrari in the debut sale demonstrated the strength of the platform’s collector community.

What the result means for Ferrari collectors

Temerian described the outcome as evidence of changing tastes among buyers, particularly a growing interest in cars associated with the 1990s and early 2000s. The sale also shows how celebrity ownership can push a comparatively modern Ferrari far beyond standard market expectations when the provenance is unusually strong.

Collector interest in Ferrari remains high across generations of the brand. Rare 1950s cars continue to carry multimillion-dollar estimates, while GTO-era Ferraris have approached $70 million. Against that backdrop, Jordan’s 550 Maranello demonstrates that significant history can create exceptional demand for a later-era Ferrari as well.