Alright, sports fans, car lovers, and mystery buffs—this one’s got it “all.” Picture this: a Ferrari once owned by “His Airness” himself, Michael Jordan, vanishes without a trace for more than a decade… only to pop back into existence like a legend stepping out of the shadows. And no, this isn’t a Fast & Furious sequel—this is real life.
Let’s rewind the tape. The car in question? A sleek, rare 1992 Ferrari 512 TR, done up in a classy black-on-grigio livery with a 4.9L flat-12 engine that’ll take you from zero to 60 in under five seconds.
We’re talking 195mph top speed—basically, a bullet on wheels with a prancing horse on the hood. This was peak Jordan era, folks. The car was delivered to MJ himself on *February 29, 1992*—because of course even his Ferrari arrives on a leap day.
Jordan drove this beast to “Game 5 of the ’92 NBA Playoffs” in Chicago. His personal photographer even snapped it parked at his Highland Park home. Then in 1995, he sold it. A few years and a couple of owners later, poof—gone. Last seen at auction in 2010. And for 15 years? Radio silence.
Enter the crew at “Curated”, the exotic car detectives-slash-restorers who decided to track it down. Co-founder John Temerian described the discovery like a cold case breaking wide open. “Everyone knew the plate. Everyone knew the legend. But no one knew where it went,” he said. But now? Mystery solved.
Turns out the Ferrari had been hidden away by its third owner since 2010. Shortly after buying it, the man was diagnosed with “bone cancer”.
He was given only a few years to live. But against all odds—he beat the cancer, the car survived wildfires, and both man and machine lived to tell the tale. You “cannot” make this stuff up.
And if that wasn’t cinematic enough, get this—one of the previous owners was “Chris Gardner”, the real-life inspiration behind “The Pursuit of Happyness.” Yes, the guy played by Will Smith in the movie. Gardner, once homeless, saw a man in a red Ferrari and told himself, “I want that life.” Eventually, he owned Jordan’s “actual” Ferrari, sporting the cheeky custom plate “Not MJ.” Goosebumps yet?
Curated now owns the car and plans to restore it to its full 90s glory. And in a sweet twist, they’ve promised to let the mystery owner—who kept it tucked away all these years—take it for one more ride around the block once it’s reborn.
So what do we take from this tale? Maybe it’s the enduring legacy of a sports icon, maybe it’s a lesson in fate, or maybe it’s just that even cars, like legends, don’t fade—they just wait for the right moment to return. And in the case of Michael Jordan’s missing Ferrari, that moment is now.
