A Ferrari Like Porcelain

China's nouveau riche--who have pocketfuls of cash partly because of the central government's loose monetary policy and the availability of easy credit--might want to show off their new status, according to Michel Phan, assistant professor of Marketing at Paris- and Singapore-based ESSEC Business School. "It is a collectible art work," he says. "The rarer the art work is, the higher its price will reach. It is a matter of supply and demand. There is no upper limit value to what a rare art piece can reach, as long as there is a demand for it."

Since 2004, when Ferrari first started selling cars in China, sales have climbed along with incomes and the population of wealthy people. In 2006, Forbes calculated 57 billionaires there; in 2007, there were 66. That number dropped in 2008 as a result of the global economic downturn--but as China's economy has rebounded, so has the number of China's richest. Despite that inhospitable climate, Ferrari sold 212 vehicles on the mainland in 2008, up 20% compared with a year earlier; according to Automotive News, while vehicle sales worldwide only increased 2% over the same time period.

The senior director of Asia Pacific forecasting for independent research firm Auto Resources Asia, John Bonnell, says he's not sure how much the auction will fetch.

"On the one hand, the vehicle is unique, which may provide a lot of 'face' for the winning bid. On the other hand, there's a color called Ferrari Red for a reason. Ferraris look dynamite in red. The celadon effect may work to take away the Ferrari-ness of the car," Bonnell writes in an e-mail. "But Chinese with money are unpredictable. And it only takes two that really want the car to push the price up."

The special-edition cars also come with luggage decorated with images of the Silk Road, an ancient trading route that connected Europe and China for thousands of years. Ferrari is marketing these vehicles as the latest incarnation in a history of fusion between East and West. Yet instead of trading away silks and precious stones, the Chinese these days have an appetite for branded clothes, bags, jewelry--and luxury cars.