The Summer Bounce

In December, 2001, I wrote that the price of Modenas was falling. For those dealers and brokers in the market on a daily basis, a combination of the after–effects of September 11th and snow on the ground in much of the US contributed to a slow–down in sales overall, and a drop in price for the current “flavor of the month” Ferrari, the Modena 360 convertible.

Spring is here, December snows are a memory and, son of a gun, the market is bouncing right back. While a 2001 US–model 360 Spyder went from a December “retail” price of about $260,000 to around $240,000 by March, they are once again around $260,000, maintaining an $80,000 premium over their $180,000 sticker price.

Now that the legal problems with importing 360s have been settled, expect more Euro cars to come on to the market in the next few months. They tend to sell in the $180,000 range, and may affect the price of US cars. However, most 360 Spyder buyers want their cars now, and want them with no questions and no stories, so expect US cars to stay relatively strong.

Older cars like Lussos, 275 GTBs and Daytonas have firmed up considerably, with a good, no−stories Daytona coupe bringing about $135,000, helping to provide a bottom for their much–evolved brethren, the 550 Maranellos. A 1997 Euro–model 550 seems to have hit a bottom price of about $125,000 and, for the summer, should stay in that price range. Meanwhile, a 1997 US car is now around $150,000 and selling well in that price range. Expect these prices to drop modestly later this year.

F40s and F50s remain stable with a US model F40 selling in the $300,000 range for a good car and $350,000 for an exceptionally low–mileage, only–good–stories example. A Euro F50 will bring about $600,000 and a US car will bring $650,000 to $750,000 for an under–500–mile car.

Currently taking it in the shorts is the limited–use 360 Challenge car that sold, when new, for well over its $160,000 sticker—FNA required a $50,000 “sign up” premium to run in the 360 Challenge. The entry list in the 360 Challenge has dropped from 40 plus cars in 2001 to only 20 cars in 2002, and following the decline in demand, prices have slipped from a high of around $200,000 out the door only two years ago to about $140,000 today. A bright spot for 360 Challenge owners is that the SCCA has accepted the 360 Challenge cars for their Tl series, where they will run against Vipers and Corvette Z06s. Hopefully, the option of having much cheaper–to–run and much–closer–to–home events available will stabilize 360 Challenge prices. However, we all know that there is nothing so unloved as last year’s race car.

Generally speaking, the unpredictable economy seems to have had little effect on those who can afford to indulge themselves by buying cars from Maranello. There is still plenty of wealth in the country; otherwise, how could 360 Spyder sales stay so strong? For older cars, there are a host of specialty lease and finance plans available, at record–low interest rates, so a collectible Ferrari has really never been more affordable in terms of true out–of–pocket costs. Further, the prices of most serial–production older Ferraris have really been quite stable for some time, unlike the gyrating stock market, so the terms “safe investment” and “vintage Ferrari” may actually belong, for the first time in a decade, in the same sentence together.