In the literal sense, Stradale translates to “road” in Italian. It’s a pretty mundane word, then. But in that very Italian way, it sounds sexy to Anglophone ears. And if the only Italian you speak is limited to car names and car terms, Stradale typically means a road-going version of a race-oriented automobile. There’s nothing mundane about that.

One such racy road car, a 2004 Ferrari 360 Challenge Stradale, sold for $610,500, including fees, on Bring a Trailer this week. That’s a record price for the model, and nearly five times as much as a standard 360 Modena with similar mileage would normally sell for.

Bring a Trailer/fiminod

Bring a Trailer/fiminod

Bring a Trailer/fiminod

Replacing the F355 in 1999, the 360 Modena and 360 Spider became Ferrari’s volume sellers, with nearly 17,000 units of all types leaving the factory through the 2005 model year. Among them were nearly 1300 examples of the Challenge Stradale, a track-focused model inspired by the cars used in Ferrari’s one-make 360 Modena Challenge race series. An extra 25 horsepower (425 total) dropped the zero-60 time by 0.2 seconds to 4.1, but those numbers don’t tell the whole story. It dropped 240 pounds of weight from the standard car and added ceramic brakes along with a host of other improvements, including to the suspension, throttle response, and shift times for the F1 paddle-shift gearbox. According to folks who have driven one, it’s a very different beast.

A Motor Trend test concluded that the Stradale “isn’t designed to be a race car; it’s meant to feel like one, showcasing the pleasures of a competition thoroughbred without inflicting any of the pains on the gentlemen drivers behind the wheel,” and asked, “Is the Challenge Stradale worth $200,000—a twenty percent premium over the “stock” 360 Modena? Only your financial advisor knows for sure. But if price is no object, then life gets no sweeter than in a Stradale.” This one does indeed look sweet. The miles are also low, the service history is reassuring, and it even comes with a spare set of wheels.

The 2004 window sticker on the silver supercar (Argento Nurburgring, to be specific) shows a total suggested retail price of $202,028.00. That includes such hefty optional extras as red brake calipers ($785), fire extinguisher ($506), three-color Italian flag racing stripe ($5479), and stereo ($1934). Adjusted for inflation, that grand total price comes out to about $346K in today’s money, which is very close to the condition #1 (best in the world) value for a 360 Challenge Stradale in our Price Guide (for reference, a base 360 coupe is $134K in #1 condition, +50% if it has a manual gearbox).

Bring a Trailer/fiminod

Bring a Trailer/fiminod

But, 21 years and 4500 miles later, it sold for a considerably higher number, much higher even than the next most expensive auction result for the model—a 12K-mile example in the same colors that sold for $445,000 a few months ago. Most of the other examples sold at auction this year have brought under $300K.

Part of this number is down to mileage and specs. Part of it is just down to bidding. Multiple people were clamoring for the car throughout the final day of the auction, and it took a while for them to slow down. Ironically, though, the winning $603K bid came from a new player. Although the account has been active since 2022, it’s never listed, sold, bought, or even commented on anything on the platform. It has only made one bid: This one. Talk about knowing what you want.

Bring a Trailer/fiminod