You Should Buy Your First Ferrari From The Junkyard

Image: Copart

There is a saying among Ferrari owners that your first Ferrari has to be red. You can pick a more esoteric exterior paint in your subsequent machines from Maranello, but your first foray into the brand should be the typical and iconic Rosso Corsa, or some derivation thereof. This twelve-year-old 458 Spider has all the trappings of a first Ferrari, and the added benefit of an ultra cheap price tag, thanks to its salvage Florida title, and that it’s going through a Copart auction. Nice condition low-mile 458s are selling for a quarter million dollars or more (and Spiders tend to be on the higher end) but this one will cost you just half that!

Michael Mann’s Ferrari Is A Great Car Movie

Image: Copart

According to the listing, this car is listed as a running and driving vehicle. There aren’t any further notes on the car from the seller, but it looks pretty self-explanatory. This 458 appears to have been involved in a fender bender, crunching the front bumper. Either the bumper has been repaired and shot in primer, or the car is fitted with a replacement bumper altogether. There is a radiator in the front trunk, but I can’t be sure if it’s a replacement unit, or needs to be replaced. Inside you can see both the driver and passenger airbags have deployed.

Aside from needing some paint on that bumper, maybe some work behind the bumper to get the cooling system sorted, and a pair of airbags, this car appears to be pretty well on its way to being a great first Ferrari for you. Without a full report of the damage, or an in-person inspection, it’s difficult to say, but it doesn’t look like the suspension or drivetrain were damaged in any way. The car has just 21,265 miles on it, which is a lot for a Ferrari, but you should buy one you intend to drive anyway.

Image: Copart

Having a salvage title, particularly one from Florida, means you won’t be able to sell this car for much when you’re done with it. Collectors don’t want a car with this many miles or a branded title, but if the work is done correctly and the car shows no ill signs, it will make you—a person who drives their Italian sports car regularly—quite happy.

If I had a spare $125,000 laying around, I would have already driven to Albany, New York and snapped this one up. Sadly my fast sports car addictions are far more German in origin. There is nothing more fun than a cheap Ferrari.