Drowned 26-Year-Old Ferrari Mondial Brought Back to Surface in Amsterdam

Twenty-six years ago, a Ferrari Mondial was stolen and dumped at the bottom of a river in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, reported the NL times. But its story did not end there. The car ended up becoming famous and being put on display.

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How did it all start? In 1987, the Ferrari was reported stolen. After looking for a while, the Dutch police declared the search over in 1994. The insurer then paid off the owner and the car was declared inevitably lost.

In June of 2020, the Dutch fire brigade was conducting a diving exercise in the waters of the IJ River. This is when they came across the drowned car.

Removing it from the waters was no easy task. Police were called in but failed to recover the vehicle. It was finally fire department and Defense Ministry divers that succeeded in removing the car a week later.

The police then traced back the submerged car's rightful owner. This was now the insurance company that had paid off the original owner. The insurer declared it a write-off and sent it to the local junkyard De Ooyevaar Autodemontage in order to be crushed.

But before the car could be demolished, the insurer noticed its story had gone viral. It was then that he decided against crushing it. He instead put it on display outside his offices.

The insurer told Top Gear Netherlands that he has received a lot of interest for the Ferrari from collectors and that he has also considered giving it to a museum.

“I have already received a number of requests from people who want to make a table with glass plate, for example from the engine block or the rims. We will leave the car completely intact for the time being, as a kind of attraction with us at the entrance," the insurer said.