Michael Jordan 1997 Ferrari 550 Maranello

Michael Jordan's iconic Maranello, delivered new in May 1997, driven through his final championship seasons in Chicago, and rediscovered in 2026 after 24 years out of public view.

On the night of June 13, 1997, Michael Jordan won his fifth NBA Championship at the United Center. Hours later, he drove out of the arena in this car — cigar in hand, trophy in tow. Rosso Barchetta paint, chrome Speedline wheels, tan leather, and an Illinois vanity plate that read MJ 5.

The Ferrari 550 Maranello marked Ferrari's return to the front-engined V12 grand tourer — the configuration that defined the marque's golden age, reborn after two decades of mid-engined flagships. At its core lies the Tipo F133A 5.5-litre naturally aspirated V12, producing 485 horsepower through a six-speed gated manual, with a top speed of 199 mph. Just 3,083 examples were built between 1996 and 2001.

Chassis 108712 was delivered new to Jordan on May 29, 1997, through Foreign Cars Italia of Greensboro — North Carolina's storied Ferrari franchise. The factory warranty card, still with the car, carries his signature and his Durham, North Carolina address. Because Jordan stands 6-foot-6, the car was fitted with a custom driver's seat: Ferrari is understood to have extended the seat rails and specified slimmer-than-standard padding, allowing the seating position to be set as far back as possible. The specification remains one of the rarest and most elegant offered on the 550 Maranello: Rosso Barchetta over tan leather.

The car's cultural reach extends well beyond the road. Tinker Hatfield designed the Air Jordan XIV as a direct tribute to Jordan's Maranello, carrying the car's design language into the shoe: quilted leather referencing the Ferrari's cabin, a tire-tread heel, sculpted air-vent detailing, and a Jumpman badge set in a shield modeled on the prancing-horse emblem. Jordan debuted the XIV on June 14, 1998, in Game 6 of the NBA Finals against Utah, wearing it as he hit the title-winning jumper over Bryon Russell with 5.2 seconds remaining — the Last Shot, his final basket as a Chicago Bull and the moment that sealed his sixth championship. One week in June 1998 produced both: the jersey worn on the night the Bulls held Utah to 54 points, and the shoe worn on the night he left the game with a jumper. The Maranello is the object standing behind them.

Nor was chassis 108712 simply a showpiece. It records roughly 6,400 miles of real use at the hands of the greatest basketball player of all time, driven to Bulls home games, practices, and public appearances through his final seasons in Chicago. Of the many cars Jordan owned in those years, none is more closely identified with him: the Rosso Barchetta paint, chrome wheels, and MJ 5 plate made it instantly recognizable wherever it appeared, and the car became an integral part of the visual record of the Bulls' championship run.

On December 4, 2002, Jordan sold the Maranello through Lake Forest Sportscars in Illinois. And then it was gone. For nearly a quarter of a century there were no confirmed public sightings; collectors spoke of it as one of Ferrari's missing celebrity cars.

After a decade-long effort led by CURATED Co-Founder John Temerian, a breakthrough came when a partial chassis number surfaced in an old online forum, allowing the team to reconstruct the full VIN. Working from Ferrari's historical dealer records — which still listed chassis 108712 under Michael Jordan's name with the MJ 5 plate attached — CURATED's research team traced the Ferrari to a long-term California owner who had never publicly offered the car for sale. Temerian ultimately acquired the car sight unseen, and on May 29, 2026 — exactly twenty-nine years after its original delivery — it returned to Chicago.

PROVENANCE:

Foreign Cars Italia, Greensboro

Michael Jordan, Durham, North Carolina, 29 May 1997

Lake Forest Sportscars, Lake Forest, Illinois, 4 December 2002

Private collection, California, 2002–2026

CURATED, Chicago, 2026

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