Ralph Lauren’s Ferrari F50 Could Fetch A Record $7.5 Million At Auction

This yellow Prancing Horse owned by a fashion icon could become the most expensive Ferrari F50 ever sold.

In February, a red 1996 F50 sold for $5,532,500 at an RM Sotheby’s event, setting a record for the most expensive sale of the era’s stable-leading Ferrari supercar. But come August, that record may be broken by a Prancing Horse that’s got a triple-threat pedigree: celebrity provenance, rarity (even by F50 standards) and immaculate condition.

The vehicle before you was owned by none other than billionaire fashion icon Ralph Lauren. Though best known as the founder of his eponymous and omnipresent men’s clothing label, Lauren is also a prolific, Jay Leno-level connoisseur of fine automobiles whose garage includes a Ferrari 250 GTO (among the most valuable collector cars ever), multiple McLaren F1s, priceless unicorns like the 1938 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic Coupe, and a selection of modern hypercars. Estimates vary, but Lauren’s collection is thought to be worth around $600 million.

But if this F50 reaches the full potential of its $6.5-$7.5 million valuation at RM Sotheby’s Monterey 2025 auction in August, it won’t be solely because Lauren originally owned and ordered it from the factory—the color weighs in heavily. Of the just 349 F50 examples produced between 1995 and 1997, a vast majority were finished in Ferrari’s trademark Rosso Corsa. This example is one of just 31 that left the factory in “Giallo Modena” yellow, already making it 10 times as rare as any Rosso Corsa counterpart. But then consider the number of America-bound F50s: Only 55 total were made to U.S. specification, and of those, only two were finished in this resplendent yellow hue—this being one, accented with a Nero interior.

The third characteristic contributing to its record-setting potential is the condition. The odometer shows fewer than 5,400 miles, and more importantly, its “Ferrari Classiche” certification was just renewed last year, confirming that all components remain original and very well-preserved.

RM Sotheby’s has more on the car’s full history:

Mr. Lauren retained the F50 until May of 2003, at which point it was made available for sale through Paul Russell & Company with 3,300 miles; it appears to have been sold into the hands of a dealer in Florida.

In the winter of 2003 the car, with 3,400 miles, was acquired via Ferrari of Washington in Sterling, Virginia, by the current owners. Husband and wife who both enjoyed Ferraris, the couple became avid tifosi in their retirement, eventually each racing their own Challenge model and developing quite a competitive instinct! The F50 was one of the centerpieces of the couple’s collection, but they had bought it for the love of it, not to flaunt, and as both valued privacy, it seldom ventured out into the world. Early in their ownership it was taken to a couple of events, including being driven for demonstration laps at Watkins Glen, and used as the poster car for the Burn Prevention Foundation Concours in 2005, as well as display at the Cavallino Classic in 2009. It is believed to have not been shown publicly since that year at the Celebration Exotic Car Festival in Central Florida.

Lauren’s 1995 Ferrari F50 crosses the block on August 15 at RM Sotheby’s Monterey 2025 event, where it will be seen in public for the first time since 2009.