The Most Exclusive Wagon Ever Built

Ferrari is not an automaker frequently associated with station wagons. While the Italian firm has produced countless iconic sports cars and has now branched out into the world of SUVs (although it is adamant the Purosangue is not one), wagons aren’t really a part of its repertoire.

There are, however, a handful of cars with this body style that do indeed sport a Ferrari badge on the hood. The 456GT Venice, a rare custom creation, is a station wagon version of the 456 that even hardcore car enthusiasts are unlikely to have heard of. Let’s take a closer look at its history, along with the wider history of the model.

Meet The Ferrari 456GT Venice

One Of Seven Lucky Models

The 456GT Venice is an extremely rare version of the Ferrari 456, custom-built by legendary Italian design firm Pininfarina for Prince Jefri Bolkiah of Brunei. The car’s design was adapted with a roof extension and the addition of two rear doors. The original 456 already had a 2+2 seating layout, but the bodywork modifications in the Venice made it much easier to access the rear seats and travel in comfort. The drivetrain was left untouched, reaming true to the standard 456 GT: a 5.5-liter V12 engine, paired with a six-speed manual transmission.

While Pininfarina built seven examples of the Venice, the prince only purchased six, reportedly at a cost of around $1.5 million each. There are rumors the seventh may have been used as a test mule during the car’s brief production run; its whereabouts, however, are uncertain.

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The Venice has not been seen in public or at automotive events very often, with relatively few images of it existing. No record exists for one of the existing examples ever having been sold at auction; they are most likely all still in the possession of the Bruneian royal family. The Venice is a curious example of Ferrari and Pininfarina’s design ingenuity, as an exercise in creating something outside of Ferrari’s familiar territory.

The 456GT Venice was also not the only custom-built project based on the 456. Two convertible versions (dubbed the 456 GT Spyder) were built by Ferrari specifically for the Sultan of Brunei, while three aftermarket convertibles (dubbed the 456 GT Cabriolet) were built for private buyers by a California-based modification company. One of the Cabriolets was purchased by legendary boxer Mike Tyson. There was also a different four-door version, a sedan, which we will go into more detail on later.

The Ferrari 456: An Overview

Where The Wagon Comes From

The Ferrari 456 is a V12-powered grand tourer that made its debut in 1992. It was a successor to the 412, the company’s previous four-seater grand tourer, which had gone out of production in 1989. It was initially available in a single trim level – the GT; however, four years later, in 1996, the GTA trim level was added to the lineup. The 456’s design was created by legendary Italian firm Pininfarina, which has been responsible for countless iconic sports cars across the decades. Up until 1996, Pininfarina was also in charge of building the car’s bodywork; however, from that year onwards, production was transferred in-house to Ferrari. Around half of 456s produced have Pininfarina-built bodywork.

Power came from a 5.5-liter V12 producing 436 hp, paired with a six-speed manual transmission in the GT and a four-speed automatic (developed in partnership with British firm FF) in the GTA. The name “456” derives from the fact that each of the engine’s cylinders displaces 456 cubic centimeters. The 456’s top speed of 192 mph made it, at the time of its launch, the second-fastest production car behind the Porsche 959. Its power output, meanwhile, made it the most powerful production road car built by Ferrari at that point.

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Several different versions of the model were launched over the years, including the 456M (more on that later), which arrived in 1998, and the 456 Bicolore Scaglietti, which made its debut in 2002. The Bicolore Scaglietti was a version with a two-tone paint finish as well as some performance and design upgrades. It was first commissioned by Formula 1 driver Michael Schumacher, and is sometimes referred to as the “Schumacher Edition”.

The 456’s More Refined Sibling: The 456M

The Broader Picture

At the 1998 Geneva Motor Show, Ferrari unveiled a revised version of the 456, dubbed the 456M. The M stands for “Modificata”, Italian for “Modified”. Several aspects of the car were altered to improve performance and looks. Power output remained the same, however, the engine’s cylinder firing order was altered to make it run more smoothly. The suspension and braking system both received an upgrade.

The original intake ducts on the 456’s hood were removed, while the brake ducts were replaced with a larger air intake on the car’s front end. At the rear, meanwhile, a fixed undercarriage spoiler was added, and the bumper and license plate housing were redesigned. Inside the car, a number of features were added or revised, such as a new stereo (fitted in front of the gear shifter, while in previous versions of the car it had been located behind it). The dashboard was also simplified with three gauges, rather than the previous five.

The 456M took over from the 456 and remained in production until the end of the model’s life cycle in 2003. A total of 1,951 units were produced for the earlier version of the 456, while the 456M had 1,338 units built.

A Brief History Of Four-Door Ferraris

Not As Uncommon As You Think

The 456GT Venice was not the only Ferrari with four doors in the company’s history, but it was a member of a very, very small club. Another version of the 456 had four doors, the 456 GT Saloon (the term used by the British to refer to a sedan body style). Like the Venice, this limited-run creation was also custom-built for the Bruneian royal family. Three examples of the Saloon were commissioned by the Sultan of Brunei. The Saloon was also built by Pininfarina.

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Going back in time by just over a decade, we have a unique concept sedan called the Ferrari Pinin. As the name suggests, this project was also Pininfarina’s brainchild. The Pinin was designed as a potential competitor to luxury four-door sedans of the time, such as the Maserati Quattroporte (whose very name is Italian for “four doors”). The Pinin had a squared-off design characterized by harsh lines, and a 4.9-liter flat-12 engine under the hood. It was shown off at multiple automotive events all over the world at the start of the 80s, but ultimately did not result in a production model being launched. After changing hands several times over the following decades, the Pinin is now a part of a private collection in the U.S.

In more recent years, however, Ferrari did finally release a production vehicle with four doors. The vehicle in question is the Purosangue, the “FUV” (Ferrari Utility Vehicle) that the company takes great pains not to refer to as an SUV. The Purosangue is notable for being just one of two V12-powered SUVs on the market in 2025, the other being the Rolls-Royce Cullinan. First launched in 2022, the Purosangue is a blend of sportiness and practicality, borrowing some design elements from other Ferraris that had four seats (but only two doors) such as the Roma and the GTC4Lusso.

Sources: Ferrari