1962 Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder (SWB)
Photo credit: Shooterz.biz
By Wallace Wyss
RM Auctions will return to Maranello next month for the third annual Ferrari: Leggenda e Passione. It will be an event “that celebrates the automotive legacy of Enzo Ferrari and the passion of the Ferrari enthusiast.” The single day auction will present a diverse range of Ferraris. A number of the cars will be “coachbuilt” which refers to the cars custom built by coachbuilders such as Ghia, Bertone and Touring, as opposed to the mass produced models.
1964 Ferrari Berlinetta Lusso Competizione. The Lusso is not thought of as a race car,
but the fact is that some were raced, though they were too heavy to be competitive with all alloy bodied Ferraris.
Photo credit: Michael Zumbrunn.
Among the rare production cars offered are a 1964 Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta Lusso Competizione, and a 1965 Ferrari 275 GTB/C. The alloy-bodied GTB/C was Ferrari’s answer to the Cobra Daytona coupe, a much lighter version of the 275 which had a completely different and lower profile body than the regular 275GTB.
The race-bred 1965 Ferrari 275 GTB/C, s/n 07545, was one of just ten special Competizione Clienti cars produced by the factory in 1965 and one of only three right-hand drive models. In 1967, the car was shipped to Australia, where it remained ever since this auction, and in 1968 it claimed a first in class finish at the Surfers Paradise 6-Hour event.
Although the Lusso was never marketed as a race car, this one was. Originally displayed at the 1964 Geneva Motor Show, the 1964 Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta Lusso Competizione, chassis number 5367 GT was sold new to its first owner in March 1964, s/n 5367 GT and then immediately embarked on an extensive racing career, including a fifth in class finish at the 1964 Tour de France, driven by Charles Muller/Heini Walter.
Though it is thought of by some as a Ferrari-only auction, this year RM will include some other enthusiast cars built in Modena, mainly Maserati , the most sterling example being a 250F, the 1956 Monaco Grand Prix-winning car which has the added value of being taken across the finish line in the hands of no less a personage than Sir Stirling Moss. Other pilots of chassis number 2526 were Fangio, Jean Behra, and Carroll Shelby.
1949 Ferrari 166 Inter coupe. The hot ticket at this auction will be the early ’50s Ferraris like this ’49 I66 Inter coupe. Some newcomers to Ferrari are surprised they made such civilized street cars so soon after they started production. Photo credit: Pieter E. Kamp.
A featured hightlight of the auction is some cars that belonged to Mr. Edgar Schermerhorn, a prominent Dutch collector who assembled a collection of coachbuilt Ferraris over the last 15 years. Mr. Schermerhorn was obviously an enthusiast of coachbuilt cars. Among the cars scheduled to cross the red carpet are a 1949 166 Inter coupe, a ’49 Inter coupe by Touring, a ’50 195 Inter coupe by Ghia, a 1953 212 Inter coupe by Vignale, and an early 1949 Ferrari 166 Inter coupe (s/n 037S), one of just five 166 Inter coupes bodied Ferraris bodied by Stabilimenti Farina, plus a ’56 250GT coupe by Boano. Apparently it does not include his 330GTC rebodied by Zagato–one of the newest of his coachbuilt specials.
Some of the other production Ferraris to be gaveled, includes a 1965 500 Superfast, a 1970 Daytona with fixed headlights under Plexiglas and a 1961 Ferrari 250GTE 2+2.
1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa (pontoon-fender). Ralph Lauren has one. So if you want to make your collection the equal of his…well, here’s your chance.
Photo credit: Darin Schnabel
A very significant car is the 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa (Pontoon-Fender) s/n 0714TR which they say has “significant finishes in international racing events.”
And, of course, for those who like their racing Ferraris a little newer, the ultimate Ferrari sports racer is the 1967 Ferrari 330 P4 s/n 0858 which they say is one of only three P4’s ever built. Offered for the first time in 38 years, its racing pedigree includes a win at the 1000 kilometre Trofeo Filippo Caracciolo in Monza and a third overall finish at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1967.
And what street Ferrari is hotter than a 1962 Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder (SWB)? They are offering s/n 3119 GT which, based upon what Coburn’s California Spyder went for, could top eight million dollars. Approximately 37 covered headlamp examples were made.
In the racing coupe department, they are offering a 1956 Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta (Tour de France) s/n 0563 GT, the last of the series of eight cars produced in this body style which they figure will go for at least four million.
1967 Ferrari 330 P4. The particular P4 in question is s/n 0858, a 1967 Ferrari 330 P4 that happens to be one of only three original P4s built. There were others that were converted from P3s, but this is one of the factory P4s. This very car won at Monza and claimed third at Le Mans, where it was piloted by Lorenzo Bandini and Willy Mairesse. Jackie Stewart and Chris Amon drove it later at Brands Hatch, where they clinched the manufacturer’s championship for Ferrari.
Photo credit: Shooterz.biz
In the modern Ferrari section many will be anxious to see how far Ferrari Daytona Comp cars have come, partly because they haven’t been seen too much in vintage racing. The 1973 Ferrari 365 GTB 4 (Daytona) Competizione GR.IV is chassis no. 16363 which they estimate will go for over $4 million. One problem? It might be too new to race in vintage racing, where the cutoff year at some events seems to be in the early ’70s. It is the 12th of just 15 Daytona Competition cars and the second of the Series III cars built, and its history includes a class win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1973.
When Bill Karp, a drummer in a Hollywood nightclub offered his Bertone Sharknose Berlinetta to me in 1970 for $18,000 I laughed. Now I cry when I see that it, one of two 250GT SWB coupes with Bertone styling is valued at over $4 million. It is s/n 1739GT and a Pebble Beach entrant and award winner.
They are also offering a second 1959 Ferrari 250GTCalifornia (LWB), this one a long wheelbase, s/n 1487GT, which won the Platinum Award at the Cavallino Classic in Palm Beach before being shown at Pebble Beach in 2005.
The date of the auction is May 17th, but there are two preview days beforehand, with preview hours running from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. On auction day the auction will commence at 1 p.m. on the Sunday although will start with memorabilia (1pm – 3pm) followed by the cars (3 p.m. – 6 p.m.). The location of the auction is Ferrari S.p.A., Pista di Fiorano Via Villeneuve 23, Fiorano Modenese, MO 41042, Italy.
Check the RM website for details and changes:
http://www.rmauctions.com/