You may want a Ferrari 250 GT California; if you do, welcome to the club. However, these are out of reach for most collectors as the buy-in never dips below six figures (and then there’s the insurance! Heavens to Betsy.) Of course, if you’re in the realm of the hobby, it’s not that much of an imposition to insure and maintain a car of this stature, but if you were looking for a morsel of the experience with significantly reduced costs, this high-quality go-kart version of Ferrari’s iconic roadster may make much more financial sense at a reasonable $17,500 or best offer here on eBay.

As we see here, the seller (or a close personal friend) has the real deal car (or a Ferris Beuller-type replica). But when you park the kiddie car variant next to the real deal, it’s stunning how “right” they got the miniature version. The hardware is pretty impressive, too, with Brembo brakes, a full coilover suspension, and a one-cylinder engine capable of reaching 46 miles per hour. The company behind the build is Harrington Specialty Vehicles / Junior Car USA and it was built in 2019, so this isn’t some ancient example that has antiquated technology to go along with its antiquated (but still stunning) looks.

I can remember getting the annual Christmas catalog from the likes of Macy’s and JCPenney that had a section devoted to large children’s toys, including the typical Power Wheels trucks and build-at-home go-karts. But there were always one or two larger self-propelled machines for kids slightly older than a toddler but still too young to have a driver’s license. I can recall a tribute model for a Ferrari 308, which was a well-loved model owing to its presence on the hit television show, Magnum P.I. The kid in me wants to teleport back to that time and urge my parents to buy the car as an investment, as it’d be worth a sizable amount more today.

I wasn’t expecting to see “Proudly manufactured in Vietnam” when looking at the ID plate, but here we are. It’s incredible this toy Ferrari has an actual VIN, and given the top speed it can reach, I wonder if you have to register it in some way for road use. This is not an area of specialty for me, but I’m sure someone out there knows the rules of the road when it comes to surprisingly speedy kiddy cars. The market for big boy’s toys has always been one of the more fascinating ones, both for the products themselves and for how the wealthy spend their money. Would you drop $17,500 on a curiosity like this?