The “star car” at Gooding & Co.’s upcoming, two-day Amelia Island Auctions is the one-of-a-kind 1962 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider, but there are other classic Ferrari models prepped for the March 2-3 auction, including a 250 GT Tour de France Berlinetta, a 250 MM Spider, a 275 GTB/4, and a 365 GTB/4 Daytona Spider.
“We are proud to present this incredible lineup of some of the finest Ferrari classics in existence at our Amelia Island Auctions,” said Gooding & Co. President and Founder, David Gooding. “As evidenced by our star car, the ultra-desirable Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider, we are bringing to market some of the greatest Ferrari examples ever presented [here]. Many of these iconic Ferraris are offered with Ferrari Classiche Red Book certification, exceptional provenance consisting of the greatest names in collecting, and top-of-the-line restoration and preservation work carried out by the world’s greatest marque specialists.”
Additional details on the Ferraris to be offered at the Omni Amelia Island Resort event:
The 1962 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider presented here, chassis no. 3099 GT, is among the most desirable SWB variants produced, boasting the preferred covered headlight treatment applied to just 37 examples. Completed in February 1962, 3099 GT was finished in the one-off color scheme of an aquamarine-hued Azzurro Metallizzato (MM 16240) exterior with Naturale Connolly Vaumol leather upholstery. Initially displayed as one of several new models on Luigi Chinetti’s stand at the New York International Auto Show in 1962, this example was then shipped to California, where it was used as a daily driver before eventually being acquired circa 1970 by enigmatic car collector Rudi Klein. In 1972, the California Spider was discovered and purchased by Charles Betz and Fred Peters, two pioneering Ferrari collectors based in Southern California. In the early 2000s, Betz and Peters restored 3099 GT to exacting concours standards, employing legendary hot rod painter Stan Betz to carefully color-match the exterior to its original splendor.
The Ferrari 250 GT Tour de France Berlinetta was introduced in the late 1950s as Ferrari’s response to the FIA’s new GT class championship, incorporating a competition-tuned three-liter V-12 engine and lightweight aluminum coachwork by Carrozzeria Scaglietti. This new model proved especially apt for the grueling, multi-stage Tour de France, which it won for four consecutive years beginning in 1956. The 1958 TdF presented here, chassis 0909 GT, is the seventh of just 36 single-louver variants, and features a competition-prepared type 128C engine, 8 x 34 final drive ratio, polished Borrani wire wheels, and dark red bodywork over black leather upholstery.
In 1953, Ferrari unveiled the 250 Mille Miglia, powered by a capable three-liter V-12 engine that quickly proved its competition potential at Giro di Sicilia, the Pebble Beach Road Races, Monza, and the Coppa d’Oro delle Dolomiti. Ferrari built just 31 examples of the 250 MM, with Pinin Farina bodying the majority in Berlinetta form, leaving Vignale to body the remaining 13, all but one as spiders. Of the 12 Vignale Spiders built for the 250 MM chassis, 10 were fashioned in an updated “Series II” style, featuring compact proportions, rounded forms, and imposing grilles. The 1953 Ferrari 250 MM Spider presented here, chassis 0274 MM, was the first of three examples built with dramatically staggered seating and a long-range 150-liter fuel tank, a configuration almost surely built at the request of the car’s first owner, Florentine racing driver Piero Scotti.
NOTE: The 250 MM Spider will also be on display at Gooding & Company’s stand at Salon Rétromobile in Paris next week from Wednesday to Sunday, Feb. 1-5.
The celebrated four-cam Ferrari 275 GTB/4, launched in 1966, heralded what many Ferraristi consider to be the finest evolution of the series, and the 1967 GTB/4 offered here, chassis 10803, is a highly desirable, unrestored, and almost entirely original vehicle with under 10,800 miles at the time of cataloguing, ready to be entered by its next loyal custodian in many of the finest driving tours and rallies. Likely one of the most original examples of one of Ferrari’s most beautiful and purposeful models, this time-capsule, low-mileage 275 GTB/4 certainly grants a noteworthy auction opportunity.
Making its debut in Paris in 1968, the 365 GTB/4 succeeded the 275 GTB/4 as Ferrari’s top-of-the-line, two-seat gran turismo, almost immediately adopting the “Daytona” moniker in honor of Ferrari’s podium sweep at the 1967 24 Hours of Daytona. An especially important model, the 365 GTB/4 Daytona was the last front-engine, V-12 GT model designed before Fiat’s takeover of Ferrari road-car production in 1969. The 1973 Daytona Spider presented here, chassis 16739, is the 84th of the 121 cars built by the factory, and was one of just 14 examples originally finished in elegant Argento Metallizzato (Silver Metallic) over black. Showing just 17,456 miles at the time of cataloguing, this fast, beautiful, and rare GTB/4 Daytona Spider embodies all the fine qualities of an Italian sports car, and with its color scheme, low mileage, and award-winning restoration, just may very well be the finest of its type.
Other significant classic Ferrari examples headed for Amelia Island: A US-specification 1990 Ferrari F40; a rare 1964 Ferrari 500 Superfast with just three owners from new and accompanied with extensive documentation and provenance; a short-nose Rosso Rubino over black 1965 Ferrari 275 GTB; a Platinum Award-winning 1963 Ferrari 250 GT Lusso; and a well-kept, low-mileage 1971 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona offered from over 32 years of single family ownership.
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