Michael Jordan's 1997 Ferrari 550 Maranello sold for $2.7 million on September 30, 2026, at Joopiter, the auction house Pharrell Williams founded. Joopiter had estimated $800,000 to $1.3 million. Forty-three bids later, the car cleared at more than double the high estimate and more than four times the previous public-auction record for a 550 Maranello.
A normal 550 Maranello trades for $200,000 to $300,000. This one brought ten times that. The gap is Jordan. The record is still the record.
What sold
Jordan bought the car new in 1997, in Rosso Barchetta, in the middle of the Bulls' second three-peat. He was photographed leaving the United Center in it after the fifth title. The car's lines fed the design of the Air Jordan XIV. He sold it in 2002 through a Chicago-area dealer, and it disappeared into a California collection for 24 years.
Curated, the Miami collector-car dealer, spent most of a decade tracing it from a partial chassis number on a forum. The car came back to Chicago on May 29, 2026, 29 years to the day after its original delivery, and went to Joopiter for a two-week online sale that closed September 30.
Why it matters for other owners
Celebrity cars usually carry a premium that dies with the next sale. This one did something else: it set a new public ceiling for the model. Comparables get quoted against ceilings. When a trophy 550 clears at $2.7 million, the conversation about every documented 550, 575 Maranello, 599, 612, and F12 changes, even if the numbers for those cars move by thousands rather than millions.
An owner who has been sitting on a clean, documented front-engine V12 Ferrari and waiting for a reason to call now has one.
What a 550 or 575 is worth today
Three things set the number: color, miles, and books. A late-production 550 or a 575 in silver, black, or red with 20,000 to 40,000 miles and a full service file trades in a different band than a repainted car with no records. A gated six-speed 550 is a usable V12 grand tourer that happens to be appreciating. A 575 with the F1 gearbox is the same car with a different buyer.
The wrong move is to list it Monday morning on an open marketplace and spend a month answering strangers. The better move is one appraisal from a buyer who already knows the market and can close.
Why J&S Autohaus
J&S Autohaus has been buying and selling imports from North Olden Avenue in Ewing, New Jersey, since 1995. The store buys Ferrari, Lamborghini, McLaren, Porsche, and Rolls-Royce nationwide. Pickup is enclosed. Payoff goes to the lienholder. Title work is handled in Ewing. The store retails what it buys out of the same building, so the offer reflects what the car is worth to a real buyer, not a wholesale flip.
The number comes from a person, quoted against live auction results, current private asks, and what the store can sell the car for. A clean, documented 550 will land in the right band. A rough one will get an honest answer.
Where to start
Owners can start at jsautohaus.com/sell-my-exotic-car or call (609) 245-6634. The store is at 1723 N. Olden Ave., Ewing, New Jersey. Jean Saliba and Souheil Saliba opened it in January 1995. George J. Saliba, Jean's son, runs the exotic desk.
Jordan's 550 was always going to sell. The surprise was the ceiling. If a 550 Maranello, a 575, a 599, or an F12 is under a cover in a garage, this is the week to find out what it is worth.
Photo: 1997–2001 Ferrari 550 Maranello, same model as the Jordan car, not the auction chassis. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.