Don’t be The Passenger: Iggy Pop’s classic Ferrari up for auction
A Ferrari formerly owned by Godfather of Punk and all-round rock legend Iggy Pop is coming up for auction. The Chiaro Blue 308 GTS QV will be sold online by H&H Classics on 16 September 2020.
Iggy Pop carved out his early career with punk upstarts The Stooges, before moving to Berlin and recording two seminal albums with David Bowie: The Idiot and Lust for Life. More recently, he was the face of a Swiftcover car insurance advert – later banned when it emerged Pop wouldn’t be covered by the policy he promoted.
The life story of this Ferrari isn’t quite so well documented. Built in 1984, it was supplied new to the American market, but its early history is unknown. However, the car’s paperwork indicates that it was bought by James Newell Osterberg Jr, better known as Iggy Pop, soon after he moved to Miami in 1998.
A later magazine article also suggests he enjoyed its Raw Power (sorry) to the full…
‘A 100mph run-in with the cops’
The piece from GQ about Iggy Pop’s cars includes the following excerpt: ‘When Pop first moved to Miami, he bought an old electric blue 1984 Ferrari 308 GTS from a used car dealership. “They ran a classified ad, and when I got the papers, the last owner was John Malkovich.” He doesn’t know if it’s that John Malkovich, but as he says, “it’s a very unusual name”. He instantly fell in love.’
‘”It was a wonderful car. Whenever I wanted to blow off steam, I’d just race around the freeways here.” Later on, he traded up to a newer model, but he still hankers after the older version: “Whatever you did, it instantly did, whereas the newer ones, they have the computer to help you.” Iggy sold his Ferrari 308 in 2002 after a 100mph run-in with the cops. “I drove the s*** outta that car. Then I thought something terrible’s gonna happen, so I got rid of it.”’
The Ferrari has a displayed (but unverified) 61,800 miles on its odometer and was imported into the UK in 2016. It requires some immediate work, including a cambelt change, and H&H Auctions says “There are imperfections to the paintwork but the car’s overall appearance is presentable”.
Nonetheless, for an estimated sale price between £20,000 and £30,000, this is a relatively cheap route into classic Ferrari ownership – and a car with a seriously cool back-story. Just don’t ask Iggy to help you insure it.
Tim Pitt writes for Retro Motor