Some cars are just worth all the effort it takes to procure them. Some cars, like Michael Jordan’s Ferrari Testarossa, are worth hunting down for years. And then there’s this Ferrari Enzo, owned by Swedish criminal millionaire Stefan Eriksson, that was split into two in a high-speed road accident, rebuilt by Ferrari itself, and sold for $1.74 million in 2010 at a high-profile auction. It’s a good thing the current owner of the car took the leap of faith, considering only 400 units of the Ferrari Enzo were ever made, with values currently sitting around the $5 million mark.
Bo Stefan Eriksson, who was behind the wheel of the Enzo when it crashed at a reported 162mph on the Pacific Coast Highway in 2006, had illegally imported the car into the US and was driving intoxicated. At the time of the accident, the Enzo was said to be racing Eriksson’s Mercedes SLR McLaren, another illegally imported car. The collision with a telephone pole saw the Enzo split into two halves, and Eriksson behind bars.
However, the Enzo got a new lease of life, having been sent off to Ferrari’s factory in Maranello for a ground-up repair and refresh. Finished in black with red accents, the infamous Eriksson Enzo was sold at an RM Sotheby’s auction for $1.74 million in 2010 with 1,553 miles on the clock. For context, that’s even higher than the auction price of the final Ferrari Enzo, which was sold for $1.1 million in 2004.
The Enzo, with its 6.0-liter V12 pumping out 651 horsepower, is special enough that it was named after Ferrari’s founder. Which explains why Ferrari went through all the trouble to have it recommissioned even though it should’ve been a total write-off. Of course, the fact that this Enzo has such a colourful past adds to its magnetic aura, even if it was once, in two halves. For the lucky car collector that now owns one of the most infamous Enzo’s in existence, it was a gamble that certainly paid off.
