McLaren vs. Ferrari: Which Supercar Holds Its Value Better?

The Short Answer: Ferrari Wins on Modern Cars, McLaren Wins on History

For series-production models bought new or nearly new, Ferrari retains value better than McLaren over a 3-5 year hold, driven by allocation discipline and deeper collector demand. For historic, limited-run cars, chiefly the McLaren F1, that pattern reverses completely: the F1 has appreciated to roughly 10 times its original price, outperforming nearly every Ferrari ever built.

That split sounds like a contradiction until you separate the two markets that “supercar” actually spans. One is a depreciating luxury good, purchased for driving pleasure and status, that behaves like any other high-end durable asset with a curve that starts steep and flattens. The other is a scarce, story-driven collectible that trades more like fine art or an important watch reference than like a car. Ferrari dominates the first category by volume and marketing discipline. McLaren, when it produced something genuinely rare, dominates the second by a wide margin.

The mistake HNW buyers make is applying the badge-first heuristic (“Ferrari always holds value better”) to every transaction, when the driver of resale performance is really where a specific car sits on its own depreciation or appreciation curve, not which factory built it. A discounted late-model McLaren and a numbered McLaren F1 have almost nothing in common as financial assets, despite sharing a logo.

The Depreciation Data: What the Numbers Actually Show

Independent market data from Hagerty UK and MillionPlus both show Ferrari losing single-digit-to-low-teens percentage value over the first few years of ownership, while McLaren’s mainstream lineup loses considerably more over the same window, often two to three times the rate.

Hagerty UK’s 2025 research on modern supercar depreciation found that supercars typically lose about 6% of value after one year and roughly 20% after three years as a category average. Ferrari sat at the strong end of that range. Aston Martin and McLaren sat at the weak end, with depreciation in the 20% to 25% band even within that same three-year window, meaning McLaren owners were absorbing losses toward the top of what the broader market considers normal, not the exception (Hagerty UK, “Modern supercar depreciation, Ferrari sets the pace,” 2025).

MillionPlus’s 2026 brand value-retention research sharpens that picture with a direct model comparison, tracking a 2023 Ferrari 296 GTB against a comparable McLaren Artura from new purchase through an August 2026 valuation point. The gap between the two cars, roughly 9% lost versus nearly 29% lost, is large enough that it cannot be explained by rounding or minor spec differences. It reflects a structural difference in how the two brands’ order books, discounting behavior, and resale demand interact (MillionPlus, “Which Luxury Car Brands Hold Their Value Best?,” 2026).

Every figure here carries the same caveat: these percentages describe average or representative transactions. Individual results shift meaningfully based on specification, mileage, region, dealer incentives at the time of original sale, and how a given car was marketed at resale. A heavily optioned, low-mileage example with clean provenance will outperform these averages in either brand; a stripped, high-mileage, multiple-owner car will underperform them. Treat the percentages as a starting point for underwriting a specific car, not a verdict on it.

Head-to-Head: Ferrari 296 GTB vs. McLaren Artura

This is the cleanest apples-to-apples comparison available: two current-generation, hybrid-assisted, mid-engine berlinettas launched within roughly a year of each other, targeting the same buyer. The 296 GTB has held value dramatically better than the Artura, and secondary-market activity confirms Ferrari’s deeper, more liquid resale demand.

Beyond the MillionPlus depreciation figures above, CLASSIC.COM’s 2026 market data shows the liquidity gap plainly. The Ferrari 296 has 139 examples listed for sale against only 20 recorded auction results, an average sale price around $357,505. The McLaren Artura shows 19 listed for sale against just 2 recorded auction results, averaging $206,349. Fewer Artura auction transactions make it harder to establish a confident, market-tested price at resale, which is its own quiet cost to an owner trying to sell (CLASSIC.COM, McLaren Automotive Market and Ferrari Market data, 2026).

For a buyer choosing between these two cars today, the practical read is straightforward: the 296 GTB is the stronger asset for anyone who might need to sell or refinance within a 3-5 year window. The Artura may still be the right car on driving merits, but a buyer choosing it should mentally underwrite it as a steeper-depreciating personal asset, not a value-stable one.

Head-to-Head: Ferrari 488 vs. McLaren 720S

The 488 and 720S occupy the same performance tier and price bracket at resale, but the market treats them very differently in terms of transaction volume and price stability. Ferrari’s 488 shows dramatically deeper auction liquidity than McLaren’s 720S despite the two cars posting similar average sale prices.

CLASSIC.COM data puts the Ferrari 488’s average sale price at $359,965 with 99 examples for sale and an unusually high 229 recorded auctions. The McLaren 720S averages $240,856 with 53 for sale and 76 auctions (CLASSIC.COM, 2026). Note this data reflects market depth and liquidity, not a direct depreciation percentage; it tells you how easily a car trades and how much price-discovery data exists, which is a different question from how much value it has shed since new.

Still, liquidity matters enormously to a seller. A car with 229 auction data points behind it prices efficiently and predictably. A car with fewer comparable transactions carries wider bid-ask spreads and more valuation uncertainty, which tends to work against the seller in a time-constrained sale. The 720S is a formidable driver’s car and arguably the more technically advanced machine of the two in several respects, but the 488 is the easier asset to exit cleanly.

Head-to-Head: McLaren 570S vs. Ferrari California/Roma

The 570S and the Ferrari California/Roma pairing represent the entry point into each brand, and here the price gap is the story. The Ferrari California trades at a noticeably lower average price than the McLaren 570S, while the Roma commands a premium over both, illustrating how badge, model positioning, and production numbers interact at the affordable end of the supercar market.

CLASSIC.COM lists the McLaren 570S at an average sale price of $142,192 with 28 for sale and 59 auction results. The Ferrari California averages just $106,249, reflecting its position as an older, higher-production, softer-image grand tourer within the Ferrari range. The Ferrari Roma, a newer and more image-conscious model, averages $210,236 with 83 for sale and 33 auctions (CLASSIC.COM, 2026).

The lesson here cuts against the simple “Ferrari always wins” framing: the California is a Ferrari that trades below a comparable McLaren, because within any brand’s own lineup, model positioning and perceived desirability matter as much as the crest on the hood. A grand-touring Ferrari aimed at a softer buyer will not command the same resale strength as a mid-engine halo model, regardless of badge.

These figures reflect average transaction prices and current market listing/auction depth as of CLASSIC.COM’s 2026 data, not standardized depreciation percentages. Listing and auction counts indicate how liquid a model is, useful for gauging how quickly and predictably you could sell, but they do not by themselves tell you what a specific car lost or gained relative to its original MSRP.

The Exception That Breaks the Rule: McLaren F1 and Ferrari’s Own Icons

The McLaren F1, produced from 1994 to 1998 at an original price near $815,000, has appreciated to roughly ten times its original MSRP, according to Hagerty’s 2023 research on modern supercar depreciation. That single data point overturns any assumption that “Ferrari wins” is a universal rule rather than a segment-specific one.

Ferrari has its own icons that behave the same way. Hagerty UK’s 2022 price guide update recorded the Ferrari F40’s average values rising 97.6% year-over-year, the 288 GTO rising 71.4%, and the F50 rising 46.7% in that same market cycle. Both brands, in other words, have produced cars that function as appreciating collectibles rather than depreciating luxury goods, and the mechanism is the same in each case: extreme scarcity, motorsport pedigree, and a fixed, non-repeatable production run.

The modern “hypercar holy trinity” era shows how spec-level nuance persists even among icons. Broad Arrow’s 2026 Zoute sale data, reported by Motorious, put a #2-condition LaFerrari near $3.8 million against a McLaren P1 around $1.7 million, down from a 2018 peak near $2.25 million. The LaFerrari has held its position; the P1 has given back roughly a quarter of its peak value. Even within the rarified collectible tier, Ferrari’s collector depth tends to provide a firmer floor than McLaren’s, though the P1 remains a far stronger asset than any mainstream, series-production McLaren.

Hagerty’s broader 2026 index research adds an important dose of caution to any collectible-car thesis: performance across the collector market has been mixed and often sluggish depending on segment, meaning past appreciation in icons like the F1, F40, or LaFerrari is not a guarantee of continued upward movement (Hagerty, “Hagerty Indexes Reveal a Mixed, Mostly Sluggish Market,” 2026). Treat historic-car appreciation as a real but volatile phenomenon, not a certainty to underwrite against.

Why Ferrari Tends to Hold Value: Allocation, Scarcity, Collector Depth

Ferrari’s value retention advantage on mainstream models comes from three reinforcing mechanisms: strict allocation practices that prevent oversupply, a deliberately cultivated brand scarcity narrative, and a collector base that is both larger and deeper-pocketed than McLaren’s.

Ferrari controls new-car allocation tightly, often requiring existing ownership history or dealer relationships before a buyer can order a new model, which limits the number of cars hitting the secondary market at once and keeps used pricing anchored closer to MSRP. McLaren, as a smaller and younger manufacturer, has historically relied more on open ordering and dealer incentives to move volume, which puts downward pressure on used values almost immediately after delivery.

Collector depth compounds this. Ferrari has a century of racing heritage, a dedicated owners’ club infrastructure, and generational collector demand that spans from vintage Testarossas to brand-new SF90s. McLaren’s road-car history effectively begins with the F1 in 1994, giving it a shorter track record and a thinner base of long-term collectors bidding up secondary demand. None of this means McLaren builds an inferior car; it means the resale market has had less time and fewer participants to build conviction around the brand.

What This Means for Your Next Purchase (or Your Existing Collection)

For a 3-5 year hold horizon, a modern Ferrari purchased at or near MSRP is the more conservative capital allocation of the two brands, while a McLaren of the same era should be evaluated as a steeper-depreciating personal-use asset unless it is a specific, limited-production model with genuine scarcity behind it.

Before buying or selling either brand, run through the specification and provenance factors that move resale value more than the badge itself: exterior color (certain Ferrari and McLaren colorways command real premiums, others are resale drags), carbon-fiber or lightweight packages, factory racing seats or track-focused option packs, complete and documented service history, total ownership count, and total mileage. Two examples of the same model, same year, can differ by five figures or more in resale value based on these factors alone, which is exactly why the depreciation percentages cited throughout this article should be treated as benchmarks to underwrite a specific car against, not guarantees for any individual sale.

If you already own a Ferrari or McLaren and it’s sitting mid-curve, either depreciating on schedule or, in the case of an icon like an F1 or F40, appreciating in a volatile collectible market, selling isn’t the only lever available. Asset-backed lending against the car lets you access liquidity for a business opportunity, a tax bill, or another acquisition without disrupting your hold thesis or forcing a sale at an inopportune point in the depreciation or appreciation cycle.