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Special sauce
Ducati's burgeoning catalogue of
'exclusive' models raises some questions
(Guy 'Guido' Allen, March 2025)
When the number of so-called
limited editions becomes a crowd, you start to
wonder how special they really are. Ducati is the
current world champion in this sphere
Ducati's ongoing expansion of its 'special'
or 'limited edition' models is understandably creating
confusion out there in the collector market and
highlights that, if you're in the hunt for a nice
'used' or more likely unused second-hand version, it's
best that you're on your toes and be very aware of the
context of what's being offered.
The company's
latest release is a Panigale V4 Tricolore Italia
(top), of which 153 are being offered globally at
Au$163,000 (US$14,000, GB£11,000). Rather than just
promising a flash paint job, it has some bolt-on
upgrades such as carbon-fibre wheels, dry clutch and
race-spec brakes. It also carries the signature of
MotoGP champ Pecco Baignaia.
However when you search
around the corporate websites, you'll also
trip over the Panigale V4 Tricolore, which has
carbon-fibre wheels and "Brembo race-ready braking
system". How many are being produced? 1000! We'd argue
that's not a limited edition, but market saturation.
This, we're told, will be priced at Au$84,700
(US$53,000, GB£41,300) when released in August.
A quick run through the Ducati
special editions web page shows up 13 models, most
but not all of which claim to be limited editions. Between
them there are over 6500 units on offer – the total is not
readily available.
In addition to those temptations, we've seen a string of
special editions named after the appropriate MotoGP and
Superbike world champion for each of the last few seasons.
They have tended to be Panigale in S-spec, with some
add-ons. This
Baignaia/Baustista pairing from 2022-23 is typical, with
260 of each production version produced.
Move on a year and if you wanted a 2024 Bautista,
celebrating the 2023 season (219 units), it would have
cost Au$107,000 (US$67,000, GB£52,000).
Plus, just to keep you
on your toes, there have been branding collaborations
with car companies, such as Lamborghini and Bentley.
These have tended to be based around the V4 Diavel and
the Bentley version was priced at Au$95,000 (US$60,000, GB£46,000) or near enough to
double a standard version.
While appealing to Lambo
or Bentley owners, the market beyond those select
groups is limited. Beware paying too much in the
auction market, unless it comes with the appropriate
Lambo or Bentley...
The sheer volume of
'special' and 'limited' models is interesting to
watch, but should be treated with caution by anyone in
the market as a second owner.
'Name' limited editions
have long been a challenge. For example, a Senna 916
(1995-98) sounds like a solid buy, but keep in
mind the concept was diluted by second and third
editions, each numbering 300.
So how much will a
Bagnaia or Bautista be worth in the future? And which
version?
This is a topic I've
discussed with marque expert
Ian Falloon. His view is you need to look for
early originals or the stand-out models with serious
technical upgrades that extend beyond paint plus
bolt-ons such as wheels and brakes.
A good example is the
2020 Panigale V4 Superleggera. Yes they made 500, but
it was a comprehensive technical make-over of the
platform that was effectively a superbike for the
road. See the AMCN
launch story.
When new they were priced at Au$150,000 (US$94,500, GB£73,000) and we've seen two recent auction results. The first was in Australia for an example with just under 3200km (2000 miles) on the odo, it sold for Au$91,000 (US$57,300, GB£44,300).
Another in the USA, with
only 18 miles on the odo (above), sold via Bring
a Trailer for Au$143,000 (US$90,000,
GB£70,000).
So what do we draw from
this? Beware buying so-called limited or special
editions unless they really are something well beyond
the showroom norm. Or maybe do it because you want
one, love to look at it and will hopefully ride it. In
any case it's most likely not an investment...
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