Celebrity status quite often affects a used or classic car’s value, though it’s often a hard metric to gauge. In this case, however, the auction of a 2007 Ferrari F430 formerly belonging to current U.S. president Donald Trump might show just how large the effect is.
The car itself is not particularly remarkable in and of itself, as far as Ferraris go. It’s a red 2007 F430 coupe with under 10,000 miles (15,000 km) optioned with fender shields and carbon-fibre trim, and has the F1-style automated manual gearbox — of the type Jeremy Clarkson famously referred to as a “flappy paddle gearbox.” It’s not the quite rare manual-transmission variant, nor is it the harder-core Challenge Stradale version.
A previous exotic with Trump provenance that went through auction, a 1997 Lamborghini Diablo VT Roadster, is a little harder to parse because there, the model itself was so rare. Ordered in a one-of-one colour, it fetched US$1.1 million at auction last year. Averages for roughly similar cars are a little over a third of that price.
An ordinary F430 values out at somewhere around US$110,000, about what you’d pay for a basic new Porsche 911. The auction house behind the ex-Trump Ferrari’s sale, Rockstar Car Auctions out of Florida, estimates it could net closer to US$750,000 to US$1 million.
When this example crosses the digital block next month – online bidding will last from February 16 to March 9, 2025 – the price it fetches will show just how much having President Trump as a former owner is worth to a collector.
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