The selling price sounds like a bargain considering that a 1961 California Spyder would usually sell for up to $15 million instead of thousands. It turns out that it’s actually a very convincing replica, and one of three fakes built specifically for the film. 

The 1986 movie features a scene in which the vehicle belonging to the dad of character Cameron Frye (Alan Ruck) falls off its jacks, careers backward through a window, and crashes dramatically into a ravine below, to the horror of Ferris and his friends. 

Faux-rari is a rare find

According to Hollywood legend, the director John Hughes couldn’t bear to destroy a real 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder, let alone the expense, and instead opted for a 1985 “replicar” that doesn’t drive at all and was constructed by Modena Design and Development. 

The company made 50 fake Ferraris from 1985 to 1989, and were even sued by Ferrari, which won a cease and desist order because the designs were so accurate. Only 38 are still in existence. 

The car was rebuilt after filming since it was destroyed in the movie, and has reportedly had several owners. Another of the replicas was sold in 2010 at a Bonhams auction in England for $10,000, and is now listed with the National Historic Vehicle Register. And a third, drivable, replica was auctioned off in 2020 for $396,000.

Real or fake—the display-only prop is still desirable, and went for $337,500 at the Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale auction on Saturday.