A Ferrari concept car unlike any other will be offered for sale at Bonhams in France next month.
The Ferrari Conciso was built in 1993 by the Bernd Michalak Design Studio in Germany, and is the only one of its kind.
The company made its name designing concept vehicles for the German automotive industry, but jumped at the opportunity to create a car with a little more Italian flair.
Using the chassis of a 1989 Ferrari 328 GTS, the car was crafted to Michalak’s philosophy that race cars should be "athletic, not an extra ounce".
The Conciso features a lightweight aluminium body without doors, a protective roof or a roll bar, which decreases the weight of the car by 30% to improve performance on the track – resulting in a top speed of 278km/h, and an acceleration of 0-100km/h in just five seconds.
The car made its public debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 1993, and plans were put in place to construct more – but no further examples followed, and it remains a unique creation in Ferrari history.
The Conciso was sold in March 1998 at the Brooks sale in Geneva, where it fetched approximately $52,000, before being acquired by a renowned Belgian collector in July 1999.
It’s often said that classic automobiles are rolling works of art, and the current owner certainly agreed – as for years he kept the beautifully sculpted car as a display piece in his living room.
Over the years he received dozens of invitations to display the Conciso at the world’s most prestigious motoring events, but they were rarely accepted.
The Conciso has left home just a handful of occasions since 1999, most recently during a brief loan to the Ferrari 70th Anniversary exhibition at the Brussels Autoworld Museum.
It now heads back to the auction block for the first time in almost 20 years, as one of the world’s rarest Ferraris which is sure to turn heads wherever it goes.
The Bonhams Chantilly sale takes place on September 10.
