One of the 349 F50s has some ownership problems.
Only 349 of these units are currently in existence. The mid-engine sports car was introduced in 1995 and the last one to roll off the production line was in 1997.
One of these rare Ferrari units is however having trouble finding its rightful owner. A federal case in Buffalo, New York, has created a mystery about who the true owner is of a 1996 Ferrari F50 with a market price of $1.94 million.
According to the report, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), took the sports car into custody as it was being transported from Canada to the United States at Peace Bridge Port of Entry on 12/14/2019. The VIN plate that appeared to be altered raised alarm. Since then, the Ferrari has been in the federal government’s custody.
With the assistance of Ferrari, an investigation revealed that the red F50 had been reported stolen in Italy in 2003. Paolo Provenzi bought the Ferrari and it was then stolen from a hotel parking lot just over a month later. According to the Buffalo News article, Provenzi provided documentation to show that his insurance didn’t cover the Ferrari.
The problem is that the vehicle’s owner has been claimed by another person. Mohammed Alsaloussi from Florida, the sole owner of Ikonick Collection purchased the vehicle online for $1.435million in September 2019.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York filed a civil lawsuit seeking to determine the owner of a 1996 Ferrari F50. US Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr., stated that “after investigation, my Office determined it would not be appropriate to exercise our authority to forfeit this extremely valuable, and previously stolen luxury vehicle.”
“Instead, we decided after an 18-year journey, which took it across continents, countries, that the time had come for a court to determine who the rightful owner was of the vehicle.