Red alert! SA dealer offers LaFerrari for R41m on the road

What do you do after you’ve bought a R200-million house in Cape Town? Buy a R41-million limited edition Ferrari LaFerrari for the garage.

Sandton dealership Magnitude Cars recently bought one of the 499 LaFerraris in the world from a collector in Germany‚ and wants to sell it to a South African.

According to the dealership’s owner‚ Alex Bowen‚ the vehicle — part of the “holy trinity” of hypercars alongside the McLaren P1 and the Porsche 918 — has attracted a few enquiries from South African buyers.

“At the end of the day we live in a country where if you go to Cape Town there are R200-million houses there. All of a sudden‚ R40-million for a car isn’t such a stretch‚” said Bowen.

Since started the company earlier this year‚ Bowen said business had been good despite the economic crunch. “The money is here and the demand is here‚ certainly the community of people who like cars like this is here‚” he said.

“We believe from the response and the reception we’ve gotten on some of our other hypercars ... that there is a high possibility this car could sell to a South African buyer or to a client that perhaps has a house here in South Africa and lives somewhere else in the world.”

Although the car might seem like a waste of money‚ Bowen said its resale value continued to rise‚ making it a good investment. He indicated that the car’s value had appreciated by about €1-million (R15.9-million) a year so far. This specific car‚ which has covered just 150km‚ came off the production line in 2015 and has been in a private collection in Germany. The cost includes transport to South Africa in a cargo plane.

“If you bought a LaFerrari in the first quarter of 2014‚ you’ve essentially made €1-million by parking the car in your garage‚” said Bowen.

“[About] 70% of these cars end up in collections and don’t get used or driven‚ and then there’s the 30% of guys out there who will buy them to use for special events.”

Earlier this year‚ according to media reports‚ the SA Revenue Service intercepted a LaFerrari which was on its way to South Africa after its owner failed to follow the correct import procedure‚ which included paying VAT.