Stolen $1 Million Ferrari F40 Accidentally Found in Japan
The Ferrari F40 is regarded as one of the best analog supercars ever produced. As you’d imagine, this Italian supercar carries a significant premium in the used market. With just 1,311 F40‘s ever produced, you can expect to pay well over $1 million for a good example. In a recent story told on VinWiki, one prospective owner went to Japan looking for a good deal and solved a massive mystery in the process.
How do you hunt for a Ferrari F40 online?
This story begins as Mark Gold, featured recently in a VinWiki video, looked online to purchase a Ferrari F40. However, instead of using the popular car sales sites, Gold recounts frequenting less popular international sites. After a quick search, Gold stumbled upon an F40 listed for sale for around $250,000 under the market value, according to VinWiki. The only problem was that the car was in Japan.
The Ferrari F40’s location seemed like a decent explanation for its low price, says Gold. This is because many collectors don’t want to go through the hassle of transporting a car halfway across the world. Additionally, collectors are less likely to fly out such a long distance to check out a car in the first place. Gold decided to hop on a plane to Japan and check the car out based on the low price.
During Gold’s visit to see the Ferrari F40, he noticed the car lived in a giant empty warehouse by itself. Surprisingly this cheap F40 wasn’t just an online scam. However, the F40 featured some aftermarket modifications, which ultimately lower its value. The sellers then reportedly brought out the documentation for the vehicle, except it was all in Japanese. Gold’s wife felt something was wrong with the F40 and told Gold they should walk away.
How did they know it was a stolen F40?
Things went south as Gold asked the sellers to do a pre-purchase inspection on the Ferrari F40. In response, the sellers said the car cannot leave the warehouse and urged Gold to bring a mechanic there. Following his wife’s suspicious and shady behavior, Gold decided to post the F40’s serial number on FerrariChat, a popular Ferrari forum.
To Gold’s surprise, a forum member looked up the serial number and found that the F40 was stolen out of Palermo, Italy, in 1996. Additionally, the F40 had never been seen since its disappearance in the 1990s. As you can imagine, Gold decided to pull out of the deal and walk away from the stolen car. The sellers were quite upset and attempted to negotiate with Gold to stay and purchase the car.
The Italian police didn’t answer the phone
One of the most important points Gold covers is that an insurance company likely wrote the original owner a check for the stolen Ferrari F40. To try and help out, Gold decided to contact the police in Palermo with this newfound information. After various attempts, the police never picked up the phone. Gold eventually gave up and moved on, buying a different Ferrari F40 shortly after.
In the end, nothing happened with the stolen Ferrari F40, and after this ordeal, it seems to have gone back into hiding. Gold searched for it after the fact and found that the F40 is no longer for sale. As of writing, the last known location of the stolen F40 is still somewhere in Japan.
