There are certain things you expect to see at a farm estate sale. Mowers, plows, grain silos—you get the idea. Maybe there’s a derelict car, likely an American classic that’s seen better days, and that’s usually the highlight of the whole affair. What you most definitely do not expect to find is a pristine Ferrari F40, like the one that will soon go to a new owner as part of Santa Paula Hay & Grain’s bankruptcy auction next week.
Indeed, this rare, U.S.-spec Ferrari F40 was delivered to Southern California in early ’91—but it didn’t stay there. It traveled the country, passing between five owners. It flew to the East Coast and lived in Pennsylvania for a bit, then had stints in Oklahoma and Utah before finding its way back to the Golden State. In 2020, it ended up in the care of Santa Paula Hay & Grain, and now, Icon Servicing is the court-appointed broker to sell it.
Because this is a federal auction, whatever the winning party bids is what they will pay, with no buyer or seller fees. RM Sotheby’s has submitted an early “stalking horse” bid of $2.55 million, but there’s also a buy-it-now price listed at $5 million. That’s pretty high, even for an F40; Enzo Ferrari’s last creation tends to change hands at about $2.6 million these days, per Classic.com. If someone other than RM makes a play for this F40, that’s at least what they’ll have to spend.
Nevertheless, if you or anybody you know wants an F40 in their driveway, this is the time to do it. We’re right on the cusp of Monterey Car Week, and even though the F40 is arguably the most beloved of all Ferrari’s supercars, it also happens to be the least rare.
More than 1,300 F40s were built between 1987 and 1996, including racing chassis, with just 213 of those going to American buyers. U.S. cars were heavier than their European counterparts, owing to standard air conditioning, catalytic converters, and additional strengthening for low-speed crashes. On the flip side, they also incorporated aluminum fuel tanks rather than bladder-style cells that require regular replacement.
So we have a rare spec of an iconic Ferrari, belonging to a farm, and auctioned under court order. The F40 might not be Maranello’s most exclusive creation, but no other F40 will have a provenance quite like this one.
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