488 GTB

Make
Ferrari
Segment
Coupe

What you're looking at here is no ordinary Ferrari F50. Not only is it the first F50 ever built, it's the car that debuted at the 1995 Geneva Motor Show when Ferrari showed its 50th-anniversary supercar to the world as a successor to the legendary F40. Technically, however, it's a prototype model and therefore isn't counted in the car's 349-unit production run, but it's still nonetheless an important piece of automotive history – one that you can now own because it's currently listed for sale at Autosport Designs.

Before its unveiling at the Geneva Motor Show, Ferrari used this F50 as the pin-up for the factory posters and glamour photos. It was also the basis for scale models as well as cutaway drawings by Shin Yoshikawa. Its iconic image was used for the stock press pictures in Ferrari sales literature and in dozens of books, nearly a hundred magazines, and even on postage stamps.

It's also the last Ferrari ever built with a five-digit chassis number, #99999. This unique VIN number was originally promised to racing driver Jacques Swaters, a close friend of Enzo Ferrari, in the 1980s. Swaters became the first registered owner of the F50 prototype in 1998 after miles of road and track testing in the hands of racing drivers such as Dario Benuzzi, Niki Lauda, Gerhard Berger, and Jean Alesi. The car was even rebuilt by Ferrari for its new owner. It was delivered to Swaters in Belgium on January 30, 1998, three years after it debuted at Geneva. Since then, the car was sold to a well-known West Coast car collector in 2007. A year later, the car appeared at the 2008 Quail gathering in Monterey, California. It was then purchased several years ago by a Long Island, New York collector.

Chassis number #99999 is listed for sale with Ferrari Classiche certification/Red Book and has just 1,400 miles on the odometer. It also comes with its original accessories including fitted factory luggage, books, serial-numbered key fob, parts book, hardtop with anvil cause, and serial-numbered shop manuals.

It received a full Ferrari Franchise service earlier this year, which has included a full servicing of fluids, battery, tires, fuel bladders and a stainless steel Tubi muffler. Like all F50s, it's powered by a 4.7-liter V12 that delivers 520 horsepower and 347 lb-ft of torque mated to a six-speed manual. There's no price listed, but we've seen other F50s sell for around $2 million. Given the exclusivity of this example, we wouldn't be surprised if it sells for more than that.