Auction of the Ferrari F355 Spider once owned by Shaquille O'Neal

If you’re a dyed-in-the-wool basketball and sports car fan, you’re in luck, because the Ferrari F355 Spider once owned by Shaquille O’Neal is going up for auction. Everyone knows the expensive tastes of most NBA players, who reflect them in cars like the F355 Spider we’re looking at today, a model that still turns heads despite the years on its back. However, this unit is not an ordinary F355, as it hides some secrets that make it unique.

One of the main handicaps for basketball players is finding a car they fit into comfortably. As you can imagine, the Ferrari F355, however much of a Spider it is, is not the ideal car for Shaquille O’Neal and his 2.16 metres of height to travel in comfort. Even so, the former player managed to make his relationship with the Italian sports car work.

Aesthetically, it is a completely ordinary Ferrari F355 Spider. O’Neal’s unit was finished in Argento Nürburgring, had black interior and 19-inch wheels that the player fitted some time after buying it from Cavallino Rampante. But he certainly didn’t enjoy it much, as the car shows 11,900 kilometres on its odometer.

It seems Shaquille O’Neal sold it to a friend in 2013, who later sold it to the current dealer who is putting it up for auction. However, the fact that it belonged to the former player and the modifications it includes could considerably increase its value compared with other “ordinary” Ferrari F355 Spiders.

One of the main modifications was made to the fuel tank, which was replaced with a smaller one and moved from behind the seats to the front luggage compartment. Bucket seats with a four-point harness were also fitted, along with a specific soft top designed to give a more generous headroom.

In this way Shaquille O’Neal was able to enjoy the Ferrari ideal for a time, although things will be simpler for him once the Italian brand releases the new Ferrari Purosangue. Either way, we’ll have to wait and see how the auction of this Ferrari F355 Spider unfolds, which could close with a final bid of 60,000 euros, although it will remain here open until 30 December.