A Ferrari personally owned by the iconic Italian marque’s chairman is heading to auction, offering a rare glimpse into how the brand’s top decision-maker actually chose to spec his own car. In January 2026, a quietly extraordinary Ferrari FF will cross the auction block at RM Sotheby’s Paris sale. On paper, it is a 2013 V12 grand tourer with all-wheel drive and four seats. In reality, it is the personal car of John Elkann, the man who has overseen Ferrari’s transformation from a legacy automaker into a modern luxury juggernaut. This was not a marketing exercise or a commemorative build. It was simply the Ferrari he chose to drive.
That choice is where the story gets interesting. Instead of leaning into Ferrari’s greatest hits palette, Elkann specified the car in Nuovo Blu. It is deep, elegant, and almost deliberately understated. The color does not perform for cameras. It does not shout. It signals confidence. In a brand so closely tied to red, this blue feels like a quiet flex from someone who never needed to prove he belonged.
The interior doubles down on that attitude. The cabin is fully blue, but the real curveball is the seating. Fabric seats in a modern Ferrari are almost unheard of, especially in a V12 flagship. Leather would have been the obvious choice. Alcantara would have been expected.
Fabric, however, reframes the FF exactly as Ferrari intended it to be: a true grand tourer, designed for long distances rather than short impressions. Blue carbon-fiber trim, embroidered Cavallino headrests, and a panoramic glass roof complete an interior that feels personal rather than performative.
Mechanically, the car remains untouched by Ferrari orthodoxy. A naturally aspirated V12 sits under that long hood, paired to a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. The FF was Ferrari’s first production model with all-wheel drive, a decision that initially confused purists and later proved prescient. It remains one of the most usable V12 Ferraris ever built. With just over 16,000 kilometers (less than 10,000 miles) on the odometer, this example has been driven enough to be honest and preserved enough to matter.
The broader context matters too. The FF spent years living in the shadow of mid-engine supercars and limited-run collectibles. Today, it reads differently. As Ferrari moves toward electrification and tighter production control, cars like this feel increasingly complete.
The pre-sale estimate of €220,000 to €320,000 (about $260,000 to $375,000) reflects that shift, but it also reflects something harder to quantify. It’ll interesting to see how much the Italian beauty finally manages to fetch at the auction. This is not just a Ferrari owned by the chairman. It is a Ferrari that shows how the chairman thought about the brand when no one was watching.
