Shaq Regrets Buying Not 1, but 2 Ferrari Supercars
You have money and a love of cars. What do you do? You buy a supercar like a Ferrari, naturally. But if you have a mountainous frame like Shaq, you might have to get creative to indulge in the finest rides. Unfortunately, that creativity doesn’t always work out so well.
Sports legend and businessman Shaquille O’Neal admits that two Ferraris combined to become his worst-ever purchase
You’ve likely heard grown men complain about not fitting into sports cars. “I’m too tall for a Miata,” or something to that effect. Well, the source of those complaints is seldom Shaq-sized.
Shaquille O’Neal, legendary basketball player and businessman, loves his cars. But, like other large-statured enthusiasts, fitting into vehicles can be a tight fit. Unlike other exotic sports car shoppers, however, Shaq is a wild 7’1 and 325 lbs. The Miata never stood a chance.
Still, Shaq has wanted supercars over the years, and has a history of making radical moves to fit inside exotic rides. To this day, he calls one of those efforts his “worst purchase.”
Years ago, the sports legend turned his attention to a Ferrari F355, the high-revving, rear-engine 1990s icon. But Shaq didn’t buy just one F355. He purchased a “real Ferrari,” a fresh example with a clean title. Then he bought a similar example with a salvage title.
Shaq says he then “cut his real Ferrari in half, and took pieces of the salvaged Ferrari to stretch it.” If that wasn’t enough, the athlete’s massive height still didn’t allow him to fit into the Franken-Ferrari. So, he had the roof cut off and removed “permanently.” Shockingly, the surgery almost paid off. Almost.
“It all worked out good until I didn’t read the weather report,” O’Neal told his interviewer. “And I went from Miami to Fort Lauderdale. On the way back, it started raining and the whole car got flooded out.”
But that didn’t put the sports icon off from stretching supercars. Years later, O’Neal performed a similar custom project, this time with a silver Lamborghini Gallardo. Fortunately, the roof survived the augmentation, resulting in a functional, stretched, and dry Shaq-mobile.
