Michael Jordan's custom 1997 Ferrari 550 Maranello, chassis 108712, has surfaced after roughly 25 years out of sight and will be sold online by Joopiter from September 15 to 30, with an estimate of $700,000 to $1.3 million.
Jordan ordered the car new in a custom exterior and interior combination during his fifth championship season, then sold it, and it disappeared into long-term private ownership. Curated, a Miami dealer, tracked it down in early 2026. Co-founder John Temerian led the search and then partnered with Joopiter, the auction platform backed by Pharrell Williams, to sell it.
The shoe connection
What makes this car more than a celebrity garage story is a sneaker. Nike designer Tinker Hatfield used the 550 Maranello as the reference when he drew the Air Jordan XIV in 1998. Once you know, it is hard to unsee: the shoe's badging and the flow of its body lines echo the Ferrari's curves, and the Jumpman sits in a shield that mirrors the prancing horse.
That puts the car at the center of two fan bases at once. Joopiter is leaning into it. The Ferrari will be displayed at the Cart Department at 16 Morton Street in New York from September 15 to 20, alongside Jordan's game-worn jersey from Game 3 of the 1998 NBA Finals, under a theme the sellers are calling Driven to Greatness.
What the price is really for
A 550 Maranello is a beautiful car on its own, a front-engined V12 grand tourer that marked Ferrari's return to that layout after the mid-engined Testarossa era. It is not, on its own, a million-dollar car. Hagerty's guide puts a concours-condition 1997 example under $300,000.
So most of the estimate is Jordan. The gap between a normal 550 and this one is the price of provenance, and what makes this case unusual is how well documented that provenance is. Curated's records tie the chassis directly to Jordan's ownership in the late 1990s, and the chain of custody from his sale to the long-term owner to the dealer is laid out in a way most celebrity cars never manage.
It is also Joopiter's first serious attempt at a high-end collector car, and pairing it with a championship jersey is a deliberate test of whether memorabilia buyers and car buyers will bid against each other for the same lot.
The car itself settles one thing for the looks argument. A famous athlete with an unlimited budget in 1997 picked a 550, and one of the most successful sneaker designers alive looked at it and saw a shoe. That is a strong vote for the shape. Put a 550 Maranello against its mid-engined predecessor on WhipJury and see whether the crowd agrees.
Sources:
The chassis, Curated's search, the Joopiter sale and the display: Motor1
The estimate and Hagerty's valuation: Forbes
The auction: Joopiter
The Air Jordan XIV connection: Autoblog
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Jeffrey Wiley has spent more time than he'd like to admit thinking about what makes a car look right. He writes about automotive design, car culture, and the opinions people have strong feelings about. He lives in north Georgia.
