The first of Ferrari's $275,000 books has been sold – but not to someone in the biggest markets for the sportscar maker such as Europe, North America or China.
An unnamed Ferrari enthusiast in Sri Lanka, where Ferraris are not even sold as new vehicles and a dealer is yet to be appointed, has bought the first diamond-encrusted Opus less than a fortnight after it went on sale.
Meanwhile two local Ferrari fans – one in Sydney and another in Perth – are locked in a two-way battle for the sole Australian edition which was on display during the Qantas Australian Formula One Grand Prix in Melbourne at the weekend.
The 852-page tome (called the Enzo Diamante) covered in 1500 diamonds totaling 32 carats, and packaged in a 50cm x 50cm carbon-fibre box, covers the entire history of Ferrari and as yet unpublished photos from founder Enzo Ferrari's private residence.
There are four versions of the book: the $3520 Classic (of which 4100 have been made), the $6545 Cavallino Rampante (of which 500 have been made), the $34,925 Enzo edition (of which 400 have been made) and the aforementioned $275,000 Enzo Diamante (of which 20 have been made).
All editions have identical content – including up to 20,000 photos – but come with different packaging.
The more exclusive editions come with autographs from former Ferrari F1 champions as well as signatures from drivers in the 2011 series, Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa.
The first Enzo edition printed was in Australia for the Grand Prix. Having already been signed by the Ferrari F1 team and company boss Luca Montezemelo, Australian F1 powerbroker Ron Walker became the first person outside Ferrari to add his signature, which was later joined by other Australians including former F1 driver Vern Schuppan, former motorcycle champ Mick Doohan, and LeMans winner Geoff Brabham, who signed the book in Sydney today (see photo).
The autographed edition of what Ferrari calls its bible will travel to every F1 GP this year as well as other special events before being auctioned to charity.
Ferrari Australia says it has sold "more than a dozen" of the Opus books but did not specify how many of each version.
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