Marc Sonnery - RIP
Mitch DeFrancis
Volume 50 Issue 20
Oct 25, 2025
Marc Sonnery suddenly passed away. He was our European writer and reported on many events on the Continent.
The Ferrari and Maserati community has lost a great one. With great sadness, we report the passing of our friend Marc Sonnery at the age of 63.
Marc was a passionate European car fan. So much so that he became an automotive journalist, historian and celebrated author.
His fascination for automobiles began as a boy; his father was an executive officer for Citroën in Sweden, Portugal and Germany. His father would bring home unusual Citroëns and Maseratis from 1968-1975.
Since then, Marc contributed countless articles and features to the world’s most respected automotive magazines, cementing his reputation as a Maserati authority.
His favorite Maserati was the Khamsin. “In 2004, he founded the Maserati Khamsin Registry, an ambitious undertaking that, thanks to his relentless research, allowed him to document around 345 of the 430 examples ever built.
“His magnum opus for the model was the Khamsin Quaranta gathering in 2012 (which he repeated with Khamsin Cinquanta in 2023). In that 40th anniversary celebration, he brought together 27 Khamsins, including the prototype, alongside legendary figures such as designer Marcello Gandini, historian Ermanno Cozza, and Maserati Classiche’s Fabio Collina.
“He was also a strong force in making the Classiche Masters book of 2019 a reality, pushing forward with his knowledge, energy, and unwavering dedication to the marque.” -Classiche Masters Facebook
“Marc wrote for many classic car magazines in Europe, the US and Japan. His cosmopolitan background, ability to converse in six languages and his relentless desire to research matters to the very end have yielded countless articles written with contagious enthusiasm and perceptive insight.
“Thanks to his racing background he was able to carry out test drive articles of major Ferrari racing cars such as a 333 SP (the only journalist in the US to do so), a 512 BB/LM, pontoon-fendered Testa Rossa, 375 MM, 250 LM, F512M.
“Thanks to his persistence, he was the first journalist ever to test the one-off Osca 1600SP, the first in 20 years to test a Bizzarrini 1900 Europa GT and one of the two Maserati Bora Group 4.” -marcsonneryservices.com
Sonnery was a regular contributor to the Ferrari Market Letter and for many years wrote articles.
He attended Ferrari and Maserati events all over the world including Retromobile, Salon Prive and Villa d’Este.
He was one of our European correspondents and he will be sorely missed. Marc and I never met in person, but he always made time to talk about Maseratis with me.
Thanks my friend and Godspeed!
The Ferrari Market Letter will miss Sonnery’s reporting of European events. His contributions throughout the years helped to bring his knowledge to our readers.
He will be missed. Jim Weed
