At Broad Arrow’s prestigious Jet Center Auction held during this year’s Monterey Car Week, a 2005 MC12 Stradale sold for a record setting $5.2 million, heralding a significant new chapter for the collector supercar realm. Indeed this is a truly rarefied super exotic embodying all of the bold vision, engineering excellence & extreme performance that Modena’s Trident Brand has always been renowned for.
Just 50 of these were ever produced, 25 in 2004 and another 25 for 2005 with a shorter front end to comply with updated FIA GT1 racing homologation requirements. Based on the Ferrari Enzo’s Tipo F140 B engine, its M144A V12 measures in at 5988 cc while producing a robust 630 hp at 7500 rpm, while its camshafts are gear rather than chain-driven for added reliability. Its distinctive white painted fuselage with Blu Victory accents is immediately striking right from one’s first visual contact, paying homage to the 1959-1961 Maserati Birdcage Type 61 while signifying a thoroughly modern supercar that continually captivates the hearts & minds of global enthusiasts and collectors alike, even 2 decades after it was first unleashed onto the world stage.
More than ‘just’ another halo road hypercar, indeed the MC12 Stradale was born to homologate its MC12 GT1 cousin for FIA GT competition from 2004 to 2010. It duly found great success in that era too, scoring 22 race wins & fourteen championship titles including 2 Constructors’ Cups, 5 Drivers’ Championships and 6 Team Championships; on top of three overall wins at the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. Like other similarly hallowed road cars that dominated the racing world, these victories on track indisputably proved the MC12’s mythical status as a symbol of automotive technology, world-class performance & timeless design.
Having surpassed the model’s previous record sale price by a remarkable 37 percent, this new auction result also elevates MC12 chassis number 12095 into being the most expensive modern Maserati ever sold. Its timeless value is thus cemented as a supercar that defined an entire generation, while also reflecting the strongly growing worldwide collector interest in supercars boasting not just great design and rarity, but more importantly triumphant sporting heritage & technical innovation as well.
With the overall market increasingly focused on proven authenticity and brand history, Maserati is reinforcing its leading role as a prestigious Italian emblem of passionate, timeless performance, with even current limited-run models like the MCXtrema set to write their own fascinating stories into the history books.
