The ultimate “you can’t have it” wagon is the Ferrari 456GT Venice

It’s become a bit of a trope on the internet that real car enthusiasts prefer a station wagon to a crossover or SUV. Carrying the center of gravity lower, along with easily sharing parts with a halo performance model mean the performance wagon can often run rings around taller family haulers. Finding a performance wagon or shooting brake can be tough. Finding the Ferrari 456GT Venice is near impossible.

The Ferrari 456GT Venice is a shooting brake design—though not Ferrari’s first—based on the two-door 456 grand touring car. Sporting a 5.5-liter V-12 from the coupe, the Venice separated itself with the roof extension and rear doors which were penned by Pininfarina. While Ferrari later produced the FF sporting a liftgate at the rear, the 456GT Venice was ahead of its time when produced in the mid-1990s.

There were not many, even by Ferrari standards, with only seven leaving the factory. Just one buyer, a member of the Brunei royal family, purchased six of the seven at $1.5 million each. Rumor says a private collector in the U.K. purchased the seventh, but that has never been confirmed. Number seven could have also served as a test mule for the small production run.

Now that seemingly every manufacturer is in pursuit of the virtually endless money buyers are willing to spend on SUVs and crossovers, a wagon is not the cash cow it once was. Though some brands are holding out and producing cool longroof cars (looking at you Aston Martin, the Vanquish Zagato shooting brake is beautiful), many have left the wagon silhouette in their past. Good thing there are plenty of used options available—well, besides the 456GT Venice.