NEW YORK – Pharrell Willams’ auction site Joopiter, in partnership with Curated Vintage Supercars, announced that it will offer for sale Michael Jordan’s personal 1997 Ferrari 550 Maranello, a car that vanished from public view for more than two decades before being tracked down earlier this year. Bidding opens September 15 at 3:00 p.m. GMT+1 and runs through September 30, with a pre-sale estimate of $700,000 to $1.3 million.

Chassis number 108712 was delivered new to Jordan on May 29, 1997, through Foreign Cars Italia in Greensboro, North Carolina, finished in Rosso Barchetta over a tan leather interior and registered in Illinois under the vanity plate “MJ 5.” Jordan drove the car in the days following Game 6 of the 1997 NBA Finals, the series in which he and the Chicago Bulls captured their fifth championship. The 550 Maranello’s seat tracks and seat padding were modified from the factory to accommodate Jordan’s 6-foot-6-inch frame, a detail Curated specialists cite as key physical evidence tying the specific car to its original owner.

Jordan sold the Ferrari on December 4, 2002, through Lake Forest Sportscars, after which it passed into private ownership in California and disappeared from public records for 24 years. John Temerian, co-founder of Curated, spent roughly a decade searching for the car, working with private investigators before a breakthrough: researchers located a partial chassis number referenced on an old online forum post, which allowed them to reconstruct the full VIN and trace it through dealer records to its owner, who had never publicly offered the car for sale. The Ferrari returned to the Chicago area on May 29, 2026 — 29 years to the day after it was first delivered to Jordan.

The car’s originality is backed by a cache of paperwork found in the trunk, including Jordan’s original 1997 Illinois title, a factory warranty card bearing his signature and dated 05.29.97, and Lake Forest Sportscars service records from 2000 and 2001. The odometer shows 18,501 miles, of which roughly 6,400 were driven during Jordan’s ownership. Power comes from Ferrari’s naturally aspirated, 5,474cc Tipo F133A V12, producing 485 horsepower and a claimed top speed of 199 mph, paired with the 550’s six-speed gated manual transmission — one of only 3,083 examples built.

The 550 Maranello’s design also left a lasting mark beyond the road. Nike designer Tinker Hatfield has said Jordan’s Ferrari directly inspired the Air Jordan XIV, released in 1998, borrowing the car’s quilted upholstery texture, side vents, a tire-tread-inspired heel design, and a shield-shaped Jumpman logo echoing Ferrari’s prancing-horse badge. “The Air Jordan 14 was inspired by his Ferrari, a powerful race car that doesn’t sacrifice grace and beauty,” Hatfield has said of the design.

The 550 Maranello joins a broader offering of Jordan memorabilia at auction this fall, including the jersey he wore in Game 3 of the 1998 NBA Finals, which carries a pre-sale estimate of $10 million to $15 million.