One-Off Brand New Ferrari SP30 That Can’t Sell Is a Mystery Wrapped in an Enigma

Or not, if that car is this Ferrari SP30. This 2011 special commission has been on the market for at least two years and it doesn’t seem able to secure a seller no matter the venue it’s displayed on. This makes it one of the biggest mysteries of our times, wrapped in an enigma, wrapped in the gorgeous body of a Ferrari custom build.

The saddest, most unloved Ferrari custom to have ever been built.

The SP30 was delivered in 2012 to Indian businessman Cheerag Arya, a well-known Ferrari collector / customer. The thing with getting your very own car from Ferrari is that you have to have signed numerous checks to them before you even dare bring up the question with them. The Special Projects department is only for the highest elite of the one-percenters of the entire Ferrari customer base. It’s for Ferrari royalty.

Arya was one such royalty member. Having a garage packed with Ferraris, including another one-off, the 599-based SA Aperta, and the 575M Maranello, an Enzo, a Daytona, a 599 GTO, a 599XXX track car, an F430 Scuderia, and an F40, and many others, he eventually decided his own custom car would be the dream Ferrari. From the start, he said he wanted it to be based on the 599 GTO and explained that he would take it with him to Dubai once it was done.

At around the same time, he said he wouldn’t be doing too much driving out on the public roads with this custom vehicle because “it’s a personal thing to me.” Still, he planned to be taking it to Europe “every summer” with him.

He never did that. The car was first listed for sale in 2018 and, to this day, is still on the market, unable to secure a buyer. Its clock reads a mere 103 km (64 miles) and it still has the plastic wrapping on its infotainment system, just like it did when it first emerged on the market. So what gives?

“It’s not a recreation of a previous model,” Arya said. “The car has a bit of everything in it, both old school and new.” And he wasn’t lying: the SP30 is incredibly special, mixing easily recognizable elements from other famous models, excellent performance and, as is to be expected from the custom division, unparalleled quality.

From the limited-run 599 GTO, the SP30 takes the chassis and the drivetrain, so its output is of 661 hp thanks to the 6.0-liter, naturally aspirated V12 with RWD. The headlights are from the 458 Italia, while the hood is reminiscent of the F12 and the rear takes inspiration from the 599XXX track car.

The seats, the steering wheel and the gauges are from the same 599 GTO, and switchgear and infotainment are from the 612 OTO concept car. Inside the trunk is a set of customized Ferrari luggage that has never been used, much like the car.

Everything else on it is custom-made or bespoke, from the wheels to the painjob and the interior. This goes to show that, at least pre-delivery, this was a loved car and Arya put a lot of thought into how it should be.

The SP30 was first listed with Crave Luxury Auto, a luxury car dealer all the way in Texas. No one seems to know how it got there but photos posted at one point in 2016 on Ferrari Chat showed it sitting in the underground lot of Ferrari Dubai, next to some filing cabinets. Which is to say, it sat abandoned long before it made its way across to the U.S., and perhaps a short while after Arya took delivery of it. If he ever did.

Crave had the SP30 shipped to Paris for an RM Sotheby’s auction in 2019, but it failed to secure a buyer. It was then shipped back to America and is now listed again with the same dealer.

Perhaps strangest of all is the fact that the description offered by Crave hardly does any justice to such an amazing custom build. Sure, they do describe it as “the ultimate manifestation of the wildest automotive desires of its first owner” and “a piece of automotive artistry and history,” but perhaps a more detailed background would help find that ever-elusive buyer.