2005 Enzo Ferrari

This 2005 Enzo Ferrari sold for $1,274,229 at Sotheby’s Maranello Auction June 28, 2005.
On January 17, 2005, Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo, Piero Ferrari, Jean Todt, Michael Schumacher, Rubens Barrichello and 90 other employees presented Pope John Paul II with a 1:5 scale model of an F2004 Formula One car in recognition of his 26th year of papacy. Later, Todt announced Ferrari would also donate a Ferrari Enzo to the Catholic charity administrator, Caritas, which would sell the car for tsunami relief in Southeast Asia.
The Enzo defines automotive art. You either love it or wonder, “What the hell were they thinking?” It is an extreme exercise in performance and styling. Traditionally conservative, Ferrari defies its own conventions with the Enzo. Its usual long, flowing curves are discarded for a complex mixture of sharp angles that form a shape more chiseled than carved. Each component appears individually designed and then assembled like a Transformer toy. A secondary theme suggests the shape of a Formula One car. As the marriage of both their successes in Formula One and a statement of what the ultimate road car for the early 21st century will be, Ferrari nailed it with the Enzo.
The Enzo’s interior follows the exterior theme. Parts are individual features rather than subtle contributions to the whole. Upholstered trim softens and enhances the composite tub. A high-tech multifunction steering wheel complements a binnacle containing both analog and state-of-the-art digital gauges. The effect is warm, purposeful, and exciting. Scissor doors add an essential wow factor for small boys, and offered numerous magazines a chance to put the striking doors-up pose on their covers (a temptation even the 2005 SCM Price Guide couldn’t resist).
You expect performance from a Ferrari, and the Enzo does not disappoint. It is not as violent and raw as the F40 but it is more exciting than the F50, with a top speed of 217 mph, 0-60 mph in 3.3 seconds, and an even more impressive 0-124-0 in 14.2 seconds, thanks to those carbon fiber brakes. In the hands of a capable driver, this so-called “street” car can lap racetracks at race-winning speeds. You can even pull off an F1 start with “launch control,” activated by a switch on the steering wheel, which disables the traction control and calculates optimum revs-no matter how hard you step on the gas. The technology commands attention without excessive effort, unlike the Mercedes SLR, where you feel like you are at constant war with all the various electronic aids just to keep the car on the road. The Ferrari assists make you feel like an integral part of the experience and reward your input. Getting out of an Enzo and back into a normal exotic, like an F430, can be disconcerting-like Batman when he sheds his armor.
Initially, Enzo production was to be limited to 349 examples. Citing pressure from customers, Ferrari bumped production to 399. The Pope’s Enzo was an additional unit added to the end of production and upped the total to 400. You could not walk in to your local dealer and buy an Enzo. Prospective purchasers were interviewed and selected based on their importance to the dealer (we assume the Pope was pre-qualified). Customers were then contractually obligated to keep the car for a specified period or sell it back to the dealership where they bought it, a feeble attempt by Ferrari to stop rampant speculation. SCM’s Gold auction database shows that very few have been brought to auction, with most selling above $1,000,000.
Enzo sellers should not use this car as a benchmark for their car’s value. The papal lineage, new car status, last-of-the-line serial number, and a potential charitable write-off make it unique among Enzos. While the purchaser did not overpay, he did not make a good financial investment either. In the near future his car will never be worth more than it was on auction day. If he had to finance it, interest will run $100,000 a year. Transportation, insurance and maintenance will boost his holding cost even more. Further, when the replacement for the Enzo makes its debut, history has shown us that the value of the Enzo, no longer in the flavor-of-the-month club, will plummet.
But as with most buyers of million-dollar cars, we assume the new owner was aware of all this, and decided the emotional upside, as well as having the last Enzo built, was worth what he paid. His return on this investment will be the enjoyment it brings him, not the money it makes.