Yahoo Autos Ferrari 308GTSi Once Owned by Miles Davis Goes Up for Sale
Looking for a sad example of our nation's utter lack of cultural awareness? Look no further than this advertisement for a 1980 Ferrari 308GTSi formerly owned by Miles Davis. It's more than a tad disheartening that the seller-the Beverly Hills Car Club, via eBay and other means-feels obligated to add the tags "Celebrity Owned" and "Jazz Musician" to the listing as a not so subtle reminder that some potential buyers might not recognize the name and life's work of one of America's greatest artists.
Nicknamed the Prince of Darkness for his famously mercurial personality, Davis had a penchant for Italian sports cars capable of equally volatile behavior, owning a Ferrari 275GTB/4, a Ferrari Testarossa, and a Lamborghini Miura S in addition to this 1980 Ferrari 308GTSi. Unlike the Miura and the Testarossa, both intrinsically linked to Davis exploits that are now the stuff of legend, his 308GTSi seems to have led a comparatively quiet life.
Essentially a fuel-injected version of the 308GTB that debuted at the 1975 Paris auto show (the targa-topped GTS variant followed in 1977), the 308GTSi remained in production for two years before being replaced by the 308 Quattrovalvole in 1982. Finished in Fly Yellow with a brown interior, the Davis car sports a five-speed manual transmission operating through the traditional gated shifter and, according to the seller, includes the spare tire, jack, and desirable tool kit that were included when new.
Although the car's model year, 1980, coincides with Davis's return to performing and recording after a five-year sabbatical, just when exactly he took delivery of the car is a little murky-that is, the scans of some of the transfer documents posted with the eBay listing are literally too blurry to read. That said, a semi-legible document carries the handwritten note "Davis to WW," indicating that he sold it to Wide World of Cars in Spring Valley, New York, on October 1, 1987. Its history since then is not divulged. Whether Davis bought it new or slightly used, it certainly doesn't appear to have lived a life of duress. It has accrued a remarkably low claimed 9589 miles (the obligatory odometer photo accompanies the ad). Curiously, that transfer document indicates 13,220 miles at the time of the 1987 title transfer-perhaps the seller just moved the digits one box to the left? Davis suffered numerous health and substance-abuse problems in this era, so it's not entirely out of the question that he may have driven the car only 1322 miles.
The eBay auction, which started on September 18, is scheduled to conclude on September 28, the anniversary of Davis's death in 1991. The online valuation tool managed by our pals at Hagerty Insurance says that a 1980 Ferrari 308GTSi in concours-ready condition is worth $70,000, but we wouldn't want to hazard a guess at how much more someone might pay for one with a celebrity provenance. Even if they have to be told that Miles Davis was a jazz musician.
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