Angelina Jolie’s 1958 Ferrari 250 GT was set to be the star lot for Christie’s “Exceptional Sale” at its Paris location on November 20. The auction house’s press release proudly referred to the lot as a “car of a star, star of a car.” But after questions were raised about Jolie’s connection to the vehicle in a popular online forum, Ferrari Chat, the car has been pulled from the sale.
Christie’s listing for the vehicle—which is currently being stored in France—gave it an estimated value of €600,000 to €800,000 ($649,000 to $865,000). Only 353 Ferrari 250 GT Coupes were made between 1955 and 1960, and it was confirmed that the car allegedly owned by Jolie was the eleventh of these cars created. Had the car been presented at auction, it would have gone under the hammer near to Paris’ Grand Palais, where the model was debuted under its iconic glass dome in 1958.
Inside the 1958 Ferrari 250 GT Coupé Pininfarina. Photo: © Mathieu Heurtault, courtesy of Christie’s.
The auction house’s press release called Jolie’s Ferrari “one of the most sought-after classic cars in the world … combining elegance and horsepower, it undoubtedly belongs in the category of the finest objects d’art.” On its online listing, it described the car as a black coupé with wire-spoke wheels, red leather interior, wood steering wheel, and coachwork by Pininfarina SpA.
Bloomberg complained on October 4 of the lack of “basic facts” in the listing, including information about provenance to be expected from a major auction house.
The car—originally white—was sold at Sotheby’s in Paris in 2015 for €580,000 ($627,000) before being listed with Boston’s Copley Motorcars for $895,000. Copley Motorcars was named as the owner of the car in 2015 by the online Ferrari portal Barchetta.cc. As such, it is not clear exactly how it came to be in Jolie’s ownership, but it has been speculated that it was given as a gift to the actress.
A spokesperson for Christie’s has said that while the lot had been removed “at the request of Jolie’s team,” it was done in order “to better position the lot for future sale.” The auction house has not suggested that the provenance to Jolie is incorrect. Christie’s Paris have not yet responded to Artnet News’s request for comment.
Inside the 1958 Ferrari 250 GT Coupé Pininfarina. Photo: © Mathieu Heurtault, courtesy of Christie’s.
In 2017 in an advert for French perfumery Guerlain, Jolie appeared driving in a similar car which has not been confirmed to be the same vehicle as that announced for sale at Christie’s. The actress, best known for her roles in Mr & Mrs Smith, Girl, Interrupted, and Maleficent, has regularly been in the headlines over the past five years regarding her divorce from A-List ex-husband Brad Pitt.
The showbiz connection to the car was not under-emphasized in Christie’s press release, which spoke of the car’s “glamorous provenance.” It stated: “Sometimes the world of cinema and the world of auction houses overlap in the spotlight… Legendary objects owned by the world’s greatest film stars are clearly at home at Christie’s all around the world: from Elizabeth Taylor’s legendary jewels to Catherine Deneuve’s iconic Yves Saint Laurent wardrobe, to the fabulous Aston-Martin driven by James Bond in No Time to Die (acquired for more than 3 million euros). In November 2024, Christie’s will be rolling out its red carpet in Paris for Angelina Jolie’s Ferrari, which is sure to cause a stir.”
The removal of the car from the auction leaves a pair of transition period consoles, stamped by the French cabinet maker René Dubois, dating to around 1765 as the lot with the highest estimate value. All three of the lots with the highest estimated values are pieces of 18th century furniture—a pair of Louis XIV period pedestals and a chest of drawers of the same period.