$25 Million Ferrari Sufficiently Rare as To Be Classified as Collector's Item, CBP Says

A rare Ferrari imported into the U.S. meets the requirements for classification as a collector's item, CBP said in a further review of a protest ruling (here). CBP liquidated the entry for the car, imported from Italy after inclusion in an exhibit at the Ferrari Museum in Italy, under Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) heading 8703 as a motor car. "The invoice which accompanied the car upon importation lists its sale price as $25,000,000," CBP said.

The importer, Premier Collections, entered the car -- a 1967 Ferrari North American Racing Team GTS/4 Spider -- under HTS heading 9705 as a collector's piece in 2014. After CBP liquidated the entry as a motor car in 2015, Premier challenged that classification. Consideration of "historical interest" for classification requires legal analysis on several levels, CBP said. "Cars present an interesting conundrum in a heading 9705 analysis, as motor cars and racing cars (even luxury ones) are generally-speaking mass-produced for commercial consumption," the agency said. Still, "in circumstances where a car is very rare, nearly one-of-a-kind, and satisfies the conditions for items of historical significance and is suitable for the study of earlier generations, then automobiles may be considered collectors’ items for tariff classification purposes."

This particular car "was one of only ten personally designed by the famous Enzo Ferrari, and handmade by him and his design partner," CBP said. "This personal and immediate connection to Mr. Ferrari and Mr. Scaglietti, as well as Mr. Chinetti, himself a famous racer, adds considerably to it as an article of historic interest." Also, "its value is considerable given its uniqueness and rarity, and is significantly higher than a 'regular' Ferrari," CBP ruled. "This can be attributed to the provenance, the history of the car’s design and manufacture, and its worth in the car enthusiasts’ community." As a result, Premier is correct that the car is classifiable under duty-free subheading 9705.00.00, which provides for, “Collections and collectors’ pieces of zoological, botanical, mineralogical, anatomical, historical, archaeological, paleontological, ethnographic or numismatic interest.”