July is the Italian month of autoevolution, a month-long virtual celebration of the Italian excellence that Ferrari so competently represents. The coincidence that a very rare Ferrari has just been auctioned raises the question: do all Ferrari qualities increase when there are more Ferrari available? Or, even better, does the saying “the bigger the better” apply?
Ferrari sedans are sometimes referred to as the unicorns of the automotive industry, and mostly referred to as sheer abominations, as we discussed in an older cover story. They are never sanctioned by Ferrari and can sometimes attract the wrath of Prancing Horse bosses who demand that the builders who modified them remove all Ferrari badges from the sedan. They always share opinions and, perhaps precisely because of this and because of their rarity, always change hands for an unbelievably large amount of money. They always make the headlines.
This is also the case here. Royal Cars UK has a Ferrari 360 Modena sedan listed on eBay UK. The offer price is £ 145,000 which is approximately $ 197,200 at the current exchange rate. The car is not new with the listing that it had two other owners prior to the seller. However, it’s in good shape and, if you can take a salesperson at their word, the absolutely perfect way to stand out, whether you’re at the limo rental company or just someone who likes to get noticed.
No mileage is offered, nor are any photos of the interior. What the listing says is that the sedan is a left-hand drive with seating for eight people including the driver, two gull-wing doors (for a total of four doors), a gasoline engine mated to a semi-automatic transmission. Other features include AM / FM stereo, CD player and premium sound system to get the party started, air conditioning and air conditioning, leather bucket seats and electric locks.
The sedan comes in Rosso Corsa, with aftermarket 19-inch wheels. The listing says nothing, but it looks a lot like the 2011 remodel, which at the time boasted of being the only Ferrari sedan in the UK to sport the hilarious F1 2 FAT license plate and cost £ 200,000 for $ 272,000 alone the conversion. If this is really the vehicle, it was rented from Herts Limos in London in 2013, so expect significant mileage.
“A real eye-catcher that is guaranteed to stand out from the crowd!” The listing screams. “This is a very exciting opportunity for a savvy business owner who wants to own and operate an iconic automotive work of art.”
Well, there’s absolutely no denying that a Ferrari 360 Modena is an icon and a work of art, and this stretch limousine has to be, in part, if only by association. Is it on par with the original car that served as the base? Uh, it depends who you ask.
The Ferrari 360 Modena sedan, the term used broadly because there are a handful of examples around the world, holds several Guinness records, including the world’s longest Ferrari and the world’s fastest sedan. Builders from the UK, Australia and the US are constantly tempted to build them, and the remodeling is almost always done the same way: cutting the Ferrari in half and extending the middle and then packing the interior with it all into one Vegas limousine would find: screens, disco lights, fog machines, wet bars, and top notch sound systems. The more material they put in, the more weight they naturally add to the bearing and the slower the Ferrari gets.
Sometimes conversions are decent, and the resulting sedan is streamlined and looks pretty good from one angle if you’re not a Ferrari purist. In other cases, one has the distinct impression of looking at an image that has been caricaturally stretched and should be ignored and taken seriously. That particular element is somewhere in the middle.
Is it better because it’s a Ferrari? Is it all-Ferrari a Gazillion just because it’s a stretched Ferrari? If you’re not the type to spend that much money or even ride dead in one with a straight face, you know the answer. If the Ferrari sedan is anything, it’s the quickest (and stickiest) way to get attention.
