It had been off the radar for over a decade. The Ferrari Michael Jordan's red 512 TR, bought new in 1992 when he was at the peak of his career with the Chicago Bulls, has finally been found. And against all odds, it was in a Californian neighborhood ravaged by fire last January that the iconic supercar was located... miraculously intact.
A quest worthy of a movie
The search for this Ferrari 512 Testarossa, the iconic model of the 90s with its 412-hp V12, had become an obsession for a customer of Curated Vintage Supercars, a Miami-based specialist in rare models. Having already got his hands on a Testarossa used in the Miami Vice series, this enthusiast was absolutely determined to find Jordan's Testarossa. A real Grail for any collector.
But despite years of investigation, false leads and a market saturated with replicas, the car was nowhere to be found. "It was a ghost," confides Curated founder Hershel Zelcer, who admits to having been taken for a ride more than once.
Found... in an apocalyptic setting
Then, in April 2025, when a suspected copy turned out not to be Jordan's, a new lead emerged. Within a few phone calls, the team tracked down a discreet owner living in Los Angeles. The man is ill, his neighborhood devastated by fire, but... the Ferrari is there, intact, hidden under a tarpaulin in his driveway. The contrast is striking: all around, the houses are nothing but ruins. The Testarossa, on the other hand, has survived. "I was ready to discover a wreck," admits Zelcer. "But there it was, frozen in time.
This Ferrari isn't just a collector's item. It's a witness to an era, the crazy years of the Chicago Bulls. Jordan bought it new from Lake Forest Sportscars, where it was serviced by technician Joe Paukner. The car was featured in a 1992 Sports Illustrated article, in which MJ is seen getting out of it before a playoff game against the Knicks.
It then passed into the hands of Chris Gardner, the man whose story inspired the film "The Search for Happiness" starring Will Smith. Gardner recounted how a man driving a red Ferrari changed his life, and how he vowed to own one. Little did he know that his had once belonged to Jordan. He had even replaced the "M-AIR-J" plate with "NOT MJ".
Destination Italy, for a renaissance
The Testarossa will now cross the Atlantic for a complete restoration project in Italy's famous "Motor Valley". Budget? No less than $250,000. But for the new owner, it's the price to pay to restore this iconic car to its former glory, in the true Italian style.
"Over there, entire families have been working on Ferraris for generations," explains Zelcer. "It's this craftsmanship that we want for this car."
The team hopes to organize a meeting between all its former owners, including Michael Jordan himself, when the restoration is complete.
English 
French 
Italian 
Spanish 
Portuguese 
German 
Japanese 
Turkish