Anytime Ferrari->ke252 is involved in an auction, there’s a good chance that Prancing Horse collectors feverishly check their pots of gold to see how high they can go with their bids. It’s common knowledge that Ferraris, especially the classic ones, routinely fetch millions in any auction setting. In some cases, a collector loses his mind for a second and bids $32 million for a Ferrari 250 GTO, as was the case back in 2012.

None of that, though, is expected to happen with Ferrari’s latest auction offering. Ferrari North Europe has announced that it will be holding a special auction to benefit the Henry Surtees Foundation. But, instead of auctioning off a classic Ferrari, the Italian brand will be auctioning off the personalized registration "V12 LAF". The auction, according to Ferrari, will be a silent one as the winner with the highest sealed bid submitted before the end of November gets to own what I can only assume to be one of the most unique personalized registrations in the world.

For those who don’t understand the reference, "V12 LAF" is a nod towards the Ferrari LaFerrari, currently the crown jewel of Ferrari’s supercar/hypercar lineup. “V12” is a reference to the car’s 6.3-liter V-12 engine while “LAF” is the first three letters of LaFerrari.->ke4626 I know -- It’s a little weird to be fighting over a registration, but if you’re a Ferrari collector who just happens to own a LaFerrari, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to marry the registration name with the car and make the perfect number plate out of it.

Whoever ends up winning the auction will see his winning bid get sent directly to the Henry Surtees Foundation, named after the son of former Formula One->ke190 world champion John Surtees OBE. According to its mission statement, the foundation’s primary objective is to “assist people with brain or physical injuries caused by accident to return to community living by the provision of support for equipment and facilities”.

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Why it matters

At the end of the day, it’s a vanity thing for these collectors, but one that you can’t blame on them. Can you imagine how much a LaFerrari with a V12 LAF registration and matching number plate is going to cost down the road? That’s going to be the holy grail of LaFerraris.

I honestly don’t know how much this auction could go for since the market for LaFerrari owners is pretty exclusive. On the flip side, I can also see this going for as much as $20,000 - is that even a fair estimate? - if an owner wants it bad enough for the reasons I already stated. It’s not like $20k is a lot for these people. After all, they paid over $1 million for the car anyway. I’m also not sure about the mechanics of the auction, but if the auction is open to everyone, I can see another scenario wherein an opportunistic bidder tries to take advantage of an item that could appreciate in value once its outside of the auction.

Supposing somebody wins with a bid of $10,000. He could just as easily flip the item for at least double to a LaFerrari owner who wants to it. However this auction shakes out, I just hope that enough money is raised to benefit the Henry Surtees Foundation. That’s what the auction is about in the first place so I want to see the foundation receive as much as it can get.

Ferrari LaFerrari

Read our full review on the Ferrari LaFerrari here.