Ferrari GT and LM
See also : Cars Ferrari California Spider Cars of the 1950s Cars 1958-59 Cars of the 1960s Cars 1960-61 Cars 1962-63 Cars 1964-65 Cars 1966-67 Italy Movies
Chronology : 1959 1962 1967
Chronology : 1959 1962 1967
California Spider
Intro
Concerned about competition, Enzo Ferrari was not interested in convertibles, but he could not ignore these sports cars that will be necessary to the profitability of his business. He includes in his catalog in 1957 the Ferrari 250 GT Pinin Farina Cabriolet which will bring a great commercial success. In the same year, the improvement of the 250 GT chassis is primarily intended for competition berlinettas.
Two dealers, Von Neumann in California and Chinetti in New York, considers that the new Ferraris do not respond to the desires of the American market. The Cabriolet Pinin Farina targets a clientele of billionaires and should not be compared with a sports car. The berlinetta interposes its hardtop between its seaters and the Californian sun. It is even more unfortunate when considering that celebrities enjoy the convertibles for better agglutinating the paparazzi around the luxury and elegance of their privileged lives.
Both manage to convince Ferrari to assemble a convertible on the new frame, for the wealthy American customers wishing to have a vehicle usable altogether for city and sport.
Enzo Ferrari is reluctant. In December 1957, however, he releases a prototype that meets the demands of his US partners. Scaglietti, the coachbuilder who was assembling the TdF, had used the same chassis model to build a cabriolet, without bringing other technical innovations. Nevertheless this car intended for an American use already includes the option of covered headlamps, prohibited in Italy.
The prototype is delivered in January 1958 to a customer in Florida via Chinetti. It was sold for $ 6.6M by Gooding on August 19, 2012.
The new 250 GT is finally announced as a separate model in December 1958, under the name Ferrari 250 Granturismo Spyder California which can be abbreviated as Ferrari 250 California. The term 'cabriolet' is carefully avoided to maintain the sales of the very expensive 250 GT Cabriolet Pinin Farina. The word Spyder, with a Y like for the Porsche Spyder, appeals new customers who desire a dual use in road and competition. This model will soon be known as Ferrari 250 GT LWB California Spider.
Scaglietti begins assembling a series in June 1958 with an average rate of two cars per month, without making any other prototype.
Ferrari did not restrain the 250 GT spider to the American market as he will do in 1967 when Chinetti will force his hand for another cabriolet, the Ferrari 275 GTB / 4 NART Spider.
Two dealers, Von Neumann in California and Chinetti in New York, considers that the new Ferraris do not respond to the desires of the American market. The Cabriolet Pinin Farina targets a clientele of billionaires and should not be compared with a sports car. The berlinetta interposes its hardtop between its seaters and the Californian sun. It is even more unfortunate when considering that celebrities enjoy the convertibles for better agglutinating the paparazzi around the luxury and elegance of their privileged lives.
Both manage to convince Ferrari to assemble a convertible on the new frame, for the wealthy American customers wishing to have a vehicle usable altogether for city and sport.
Enzo Ferrari is reluctant. In December 1957, however, he releases a prototype that meets the demands of his US partners. Scaglietti, the coachbuilder who was assembling the TdF, had used the same chassis model to build a cabriolet, without bringing other technical innovations. Nevertheless this car intended for an American use already includes the option of covered headlamps, prohibited in Italy.
The prototype is delivered in January 1958 to a customer in Florida via Chinetti. It was sold for $ 6.6M by Gooding on August 19, 2012.
The new 250 GT is finally announced as a separate model in December 1958, under the name Ferrari 250 Granturismo Spyder California which can be abbreviated as Ferrari 250 California. The term 'cabriolet' is carefully avoided to maintain the sales of the very expensive 250 GT Cabriolet Pinin Farina. The word Spyder, with a Y like for the Porsche Spyder, appeals new customers who desire a dual use in road and competition. This model will soon be known as Ferrari 250 GT LWB California Spider.
Scaglietti begins assembling a series in June 1958 with an average rate of two cars per month, without making any other prototype.
Ferrari did not restrain the 250 GT spider to the American market as he will do in 1967 when Chinetti will force his hand for another cabriolet, the Ferrari 275 GTB / 4 NART Spider.
1
1959 Aluminum for Chinetti
2017 SOLD for $ 18M including premium
Designed on the 250 GT chassis as a cabriolet to please American customers, the California Spider (or Spyder) was not expected by Ferrari to compete in endurance racing against the berlinetta nicknamed TdF built on the same chassis.
It was however tempting to push the California into the competition. Luigi Chinetti is acting between Ferrari and American customers. Having been at the origin of the California project, he obtains from Ferrari the delivery of aluminum alloy bodied spiders.
In 1959 the 250 GT chassis is still in its long version which will later be identified as LWB. For the 24 hours of Le Mans in that year Chinetti and his NART team enter three Ferraris : a 250 Testa Rossa, a 250 TdF and a California Spider.
Released from the factory under pressure from Chinetti five days before Le Mans with a simple flash of paint and a far from completeinterior layout, this 250 GT LWB California Spider is the second of its kind in the Competizione configuration. Driven by its first owner and a co-driver, this brand new car ends the event with a very good result : 5th overall and 3rd in class. It was afterward honorably participating in various American competitions in 1959 and 1960.
This high-end car with a competition history is still more desirable since it was restored in 2011 by Motion Products Inc., the company of Wayne Obry. It is for sale by RM Sotheby's in New York on December 6, lot 141 estimated $ 14M.
One of the seven (or eight) other LWB aluminum bodied Spiders was sold for $ 18M including premium by Gooding on August 20, 2016. Ferrari and NART did not push this solution much further : only three SWB Spiders will be built for competition.
It was however tempting to push the California into the competition. Luigi Chinetti is acting between Ferrari and American customers. Having been at the origin of the California project, he obtains from Ferrari the delivery of aluminum alloy bodied spiders.
In 1959 the 250 GT chassis is still in its long version which will later be identified as LWB. For the 24 hours of Le Mans in that year Chinetti and his NART team enter three Ferraris : a 250 Testa Rossa, a 250 TdF and a California Spider.
Released from the factory under pressure from Chinetti five days before Le Mans with a simple flash of paint and a far from completeinterior layout, this 250 GT LWB California Spider is the second of its kind in the Competizione configuration. Driven by its first owner and a co-driver, this brand new car ends the event with a very good result : 5th overall and 3rd in class. It was afterward honorably participating in various American competitions in 1959 and 1960.
This high-end car with a competition history is still more desirable since it was restored in 2011 by Motion Products Inc., the company of Wayne Obry. It is for sale by RM Sotheby's in New York on December 6, lot 141 estimated $ 14M.
One of the seven (or eight) other LWB aluminum bodied Spiders was sold for $ 18M including premium by Gooding on August 20, 2016. Ferrari and NART did not push this solution much further : only three SWB Spiders will be built for competition.
2
1959 A California Spider in Lightweight Alloy
2016 SOLD for $ 18M including premium
The Ferrari 250 GT California Spider in the wheel base later identified as LWB is a series of 50 sports cars produced to please American customers between 1957 and 1960. The SWB is its successor. The brand continually works to improve its products and remains attentive to specific needs, which can create significant disparities from one vehicle to another.
Nine 'LWB' were originally built for competition with a lightweight body in aluminum alloy. A California Spider 'LWB' Competizione built in 1959 is for sale on August 20 by Gooding in Pebble Beach, lot 033. It is illustrated in the post shared by Forbes.
The settings of this model had been specially effective, including some engine components from the Testa Rossa to achieve a compression ratio of 9.8: 1, the highest of all the LWB, and a power of 275 hp about 50 hp over the basic model. Its features include from the origin the disc brakes, a rarity at that time, and its headlights are covered.
Sold to Chinetti for George Reed who was Ferrari's agent in Illinois and Wisconsin, it was raced with some parsimony until 1964 and remains in a matching numbers configuration for all its major elements.
This car is exceptional when considering that it is the best performing from all the LWB and that only three SWB California Spider Competizione were later assembled. It is estimated $ 18M.
Another LWB California Spider Competizione was sold for $ 11.3 million including premium on 18 August 2012, also by Gooding. Made in 1960, it had been used by Reed as a show car. It was in excellent condition but with no racing history.
Nine 'LWB' were originally built for competition with a lightweight body in aluminum alloy. A California Spider 'LWB' Competizione built in 1959 is for sale on August 20 by Gooding in Pebble Beach, lot 033. It is illustrated in the post shared by Forbes.
The settings of this model had been specially effective, including some engine components from the Testa Rossa to achieve a compression ratio of 9.8: 1, the highest of all the LWB, and a power of 275 hp about 50 hp over the basic model. Its features include from the origin the disc brakes, a rarity at that time, and its headlights are covered.
Sold to Chinetti for George Reed who was Ferrari's agent in Illinois and Wisconsin, it was raced with some parsimony until 1964 and remains in a matching numbers configuration for all its major elements.
This car is exceptional when considering that it is the best performing from all the LWB and that only three SWB California Spider Competizione were later assembled. It is estimated $ 18M.
Another LWB California Spider Competizione was sold for $ 11.3 million including premium on 18 August 2012, also by Gooding. Made in 1960, it had been used by Reed as a show car. It was in excellent condition but with no racing history.
3
1961 The Delon-Baillon California Spider
2015 SOLD for € 16.3M including premium by Artcurial
narrated in 2020
The Ferrari 250 GT California Spider with chassis 2935GT was exhibited in October 1961 at the Paris Motor Show. It is very elegant with the new short wheel base SWB chassis, now systematic for this model, and the rare option of covered headlights. The actor Gérard Blain bought it one week after the Salon closed.
Its second owner is Alain Delon, who uses it in Monaco and Los Angeles and is pictured with it with lovely passengers : Jane Fonda, Shirley MacLaine, his wife Nathalie. Delon sold it in 1965 with 37,000 km on the clock.
After several intermediaries, the car is acquired in 1971 by Roger Baillon and his son Jacques, contractors in truck bodywork and transport. In 1950, more than ten years before the Schlumpf brothers, Roger had started to recover and restore automotive masterpieces, with a view to create a museum.
Baillon puts the Ferrari in the barn. He probably does not use it, although he paid for its tax disc until 1975. The Baillon collection is secret, in large part because of the bankruptcy of the company. Some elements of the collection were seized and sold at auction near Niort in 1979 and 1985. The others remained hidden.
Jacques Baillon died in 2013. The heirs opened the hangar for an expertise by Artcurial on September 30, 2014, thus creating the most sensational "barn find" of modern times.
The storage had not been homogeneous. Two cars had been preserved from mist during these four decades, the Ferrari and a Maserati A6G 2000 Gran Sport berlinetta. Under its layer of dust, the Ferrari is in matching numbers, with intact bodywork except for the hood distorted under stacks of magazines, and with its original upholstery and documentation.
Artcurial is managing the auction in Paris on February 6, 2015, making a hype with the former belonging of the Ferrari to Delon. Connoisseurs are not mistaken : this car is an extremely rare untouched California Spider. Estimated € 9.5M, it is sold for € 16.3M including premium, lot 59. The Maserati fetched € 1.96M including premium. In a near collapse condition, an exceptional Talbot Lago T26 Grand Sport by Saoutchik was sold for € 1.7M including premium.
Its second owner is Alain Delon, who uses it in Monaco and Los Angeles and is pictured with it with lovely passengers : Jane Fonda, Shirley MacLaine, his wife Nathalie. Delon sold it in 1965 with 37,000 km on the clock.
After several intermediaries, the car is acquired in 1971 by Roger Baillon and his son Jacques, contractors in truck bodywork and transport. In 1950, more than ten years before the Schlumpf brothers, Roger had started to recover and restore automotive masterpieces, with a view to create a museum.
Baillon puts the Ferrari in the barn. He probably does not use it, although he paid for its tax disc until 1975. The Baillon collection is secret, in large part because of the bankruptcy of the company. Some elements of the collection were seized and sold at auction near Niort in 1979 and 1985. The others remained hidden.
Jacques Baillon died in 2013. The heirs opened the hangar for an expertise by Artcurial on September 30, 2014, thus creating the most sensational "barn find" of modern times.
The storage had not been homogeneous. Two cars had been preserved from mist during these four decades, the Ferrari and a Maserati A6G 2000 Gran Sport berlinetta. Under its layer of dust, the Ferrari is in matching numbers, with intact bodywork except for the hood distorted under stacks of magazines, and with its original upholstery and documentation.
Artcurial is managing the auction in Paris on February 6, 2015, making a hype with the former belonging of the Ferrari to Delon. Connoisseurs are not mistaken : this car is an extremely rare untouched California Spider. Estimated € 9.5M, it is sold for € 16.3M including premium, lot 59. The Maserati fetched € 1.96M including premium. In a near collapse condition, an exceptional Talbot Lago T26 Grand Sport by Saoutchik was sold for € 1.7M including premium.
4
1961 Oggi the Ferrari
2016 SOLD for $ 17.2M including premium
On March 11 in Amelia Island, Gooding sells a California Spider. Such event is not unusual but this specific example has many qualities that make it one of the most desirable Ferrari cars. It is estimated $ 15M, lot 069. Here is the link to the press release.
This car built in 1961 has the two outstanding aesthetic achievements by Scaglietti : the bodywork on the shorter frame and the covered headlights. Its color is the best symbol of the brand: it is painted in red and the leathers are black.
It had only three owners from new who carefully maintained and serviced it without modification and it so remains one of the most original from that model. It had probably never left Italy.
This California Spider is the dream car in the film Ieri, Oggi, Domani released in 1963. The movie is composed of three episodes of the Italian life unconnected in location or time, whose only common point is the leading couple, Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni.
The central story, Oggi, was inspired from a short novel by Moravia whose title Troppo Ricca demonstrates the intention of social criticism. The woman drives with her lover the Rolls-Rolls of her husband and suddenly considers that she must make a choice between man and car. Relationships become nervous and Sophia crashes the Rolls.
The woman leaves on the road both car and lover and makes hitchhiking. They are near to Milan and the car that boards Sophia is our Ferrari, lent by its owner of that time to the film producer. Italy did not need to rely on concept cars to show on screen the ideal car : they had the 250 GT SWB California Spider.
This car built in 1961 has the two outstanding aesthetic achievements by Scaglietti : the bodywork on the shorter frame and the covered headlights. Its color is the best symbol of the brand: it is painted in red and the leathers are black.
It had only three owners from new who carefully maintained and serviced it without modification and it so remains one of the most original from that model. It had probably never left Italy.
This California Spider is the dream car in the film Ieri, Oggi, Domani released in 1963. The movie is composed of three episodes of the Italian life unconnected in location or time, whose only common point is the leading couple, Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni.
The central story, Oggi, was inspired from a short novel by Moravia whose title Troppo Ricca demonstrates the intention of social criticism. The woman drives with her lover the Rolls-Rolls of her husband and suddenly considers that she must make a choice between man and car. Relationships become nervous and Sophia crashes the Rolls.
The woman leaves on the road both car and lover and makes hitchhiking. They are near to Milan and the car that boards Sophia is our Ferrari, lent by its owner of that time to the film producer. Italy did not need to rely on concept cars to show on screen the ideal car : they had the 250 GT SWB California Spider.
5
1962
2023 SOLD for $ 18M by Gooding
A late production California Spider SWB was prepared in a rare and spectacular Azzurro Metallizzato color by Ferrari to be exhibited by Chinetti at the 1962 New York International Auto Show. It has been fitted with some options including the covered headlights. All its subsequent story was in California.
Sheltered in 1971 by a specialist of wrecked cars after a high speed skidding, it was treasured afterwards in only two collections. Restored in its original color in 2004, it won a platinum award at the 2006 Pebble Beach concours d'elegance.
Still fitted with its original chassis, coachwork, engine, gearbox and rear axle, it was sold for $ 18M by Gooding on March 3, 2023, lot 164. It is illustrated in the pre sale press release. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
Sheltered in 1971 by a specialist of wrecked cars after a high speed skidding, it was treasured afterwards in only two collections. Restored in its original color in 2004, it won a platinum award at the 2006 Pebble Beach concours d'elegance.
Still fitted with its original chassis, coachwork, engine, gearbox and rear axle, it was sold for $ 18M by Gooding on March 3, 2023, lot 164. It is illustrated in the pre sale press release. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
1962 The Two Series of the 250 GTO
2018 SOLD for $ 48M including premium
It is not enough to be the prettiest berlinetta of its time to win Grand Touring competitions, especially when Jaguar, Aston Martin and Shelby apply ambitious development programs. The Ferrari250 GT SWB is no longer competitive with its oblique front that lifts at 250 km/h.
A team around Giotto Bizzarrini designs a low body with a tapered front hood. To facilitate the homologation, the new chassis has the same size as the SWB. The studies are validated in wind tunnel. The lowered engine remains a 3-liter Colombo V12 while incorporating several improvements from the 250 TR.
Thus was born the 250 GTO at the beginning of 1962. 33 cars are built according to this model. They immediately dominate endurance and hill competitions. However Bizzarrini had left the company after a disagreement with Enzo Ferrari.
The technological challenge goes on. The approval of the 250 LM will be refused. While waiting for better days, Ferrari requires Mauro Forghieri and his team to modify the 250 GTO according to the aerodynamic improvement of the LM. Three 250 GTO Series II are built in 1964.
Four Series I cars are upgraded in 1964 to the Series II specifications. One of them is estimated $ 45M for sale by RM Sotheby's in Monterey on August 25, lot 247. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
This car was in 1962 the third GTO produced. Tested in May by Phil Hill at the Targa Florio, it is sold by Ferrari a few days later to a friend of Enzo Ferrari, Edoardo Lualdi-Gabardi, who gets excellent results in hill climbing with this car. In April 1964 Corrado Ferlaino leads it to First In Class in the Targa Florio, thus brilliantly validating the transitory concept of the Series II.
The price of a Ferrari 250 GTO depends on its results in period and on its crash history. The car for sale was not damaged. For reasons of preservation, the original engine was removed a few years ago. It is sold with the car.
In May 2018 a price of $ 70M in a private transaction was reported for a 250 GTO with a better race history including the victory at the 1964 Tour de France.
A team around Giotto Bizzarrini designs a low body with a tapered front hood. To facilitate the homologation, the new chassis has the same size as the SWB. The studies are validated in wind tunnel. The lowered engine remains a 3-liter Colombo V12 while incorporating several improvements from the 250 TR.
Thus was born the 250 GTO at the beginning of 1962. 33 cars are built according to this model. They immediately dominate endurance and hill competitions. However Bizzarrini had left the company after a disagreement with Enzo Ferrari.
The technological challenge goes on. The approval of the 250 LM will be refused. While waiting for better days, Ferrari requires Mauro Forghieri and his team to modify the 250 GTO according to the aerodynamic improvement of the LM. Three 250 GTO Series II are built in 1964.
Four Series I cars are upgraded in 1964 to the Series II specifications. One of them is estimated $ 45M for sale by RM Sotheby's in Monterey on August 25, lot 247. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
This car was in 1962 the third GTO produced. Tested in May by Phil Hill at the Targa Florio, it is sold by Ferrari a few days later to a friend of Enzo Ferrari, Edoardo Lualdi-Gabardi, who gets excellent results in hill climbing with this car. In April 1964 Corrado Ferlaino leads it to First In Class in the Targa Florio, thus brilliantly validating the transitory concept of the Series II.
The price of a Ferrari 250 GTO depends on its results in period and on its crash history. The car for sale was not damaged. For reasons of preservation, the original engine was removed a few years ago. It is sold with the car.
In May 2018 a price of $ 70M in a private transaction was reported for a 250 GTO with a better race history including the victory at the 1964 Tour de France.
1962 Opening the Club of the 250 GTO Owners
2014 SOLD 38 M$ including premium
The Ferrari 250 GTO (Gran Turismo Omologato) is the skilled union of the 250GT SWB chassis and of the 250TR engine, designed to win endurance and hill climbing competitions. It was coachworked as a berlinetta by Scaglietti. Its perfect geometry has also been improved after wind tunnel tests.
39 cars were manufactured between 1962 and 1964, which is a high figure for a commercial upscale Ferrari. Some have been modified. 28 units remain with the 3-litre engine from its original design.
Extremely competitive without being exceptionally rare, the 250 GTO is the preferred model of the auto enthusiasts from the high society, functioning as an informal club with media covered exclusive meetings. Cars are transmitted like a talisman by each owner to his handpicked successor.
For this reason, the history of the 250 GTO at auction is null. Sports Car Digest retrieved two events: a car unpaid after it was sold by Sotheby's in Monaco in 1990 and another one unsold by Brooks at Gstaad in 2000.
The sale by Bonhams at Quail Lodge on August 14 of a 250 GTO is a great event in the history of automobile auctions. Coming from a deceased estate, it had not changed hands for nearly half a century and is offered without reserve, lot 3.
This car has accumulated an interesting competition record after a bad start. Made in 1962, it was much damaged at Montlhéry on 7 October of the same year, killing one of its co-owners the ski champion Henri Oreiller. Repaired in 1963 at a time when the production chain of the 250 GTO was in full operation, it is an authentic unit.
POST SALE COMMENT
Such an event was expected for many years: a Ferrari 250 GTO sold at auction! The result, $ 38 million including premium, enters the price range expected by Bonhams.
39 cars were manufactured between 1962 and 1964, which is a high figure for a commercial upscale Ferrari. Some have been modified. 28 units remain with the 3-litre engine from its original design.
Extremely competitive without being exceptionally rare, the 250 GTO is the preferred model of the auto enthusiasts from the high society, functioning as an informal club with media covered exclusive meetings. Cars are transmitted like a talisman by each owner to his handpicked successor.
For this reason, the history of the 250 GTO at auction is null. Sports Car Digest retrieved two events: a car unpaid after it was sold by Sotheby's in Monaco in 1990 and another one unsold by Brooks at Gstaad in 2000.
The sale by Bonhams at Quail Lodge on August 14 of a 250 GTO is a great event in the history of automobile auctions. Coming from a deceased estate, it had not changed hands for nearly half a century and is offered without reserve, lot 3.
This car has accumulated an interesting competition record after a bad start. Made in 1962, it was much damaged at Montlhéry on 7 October of the same year, killing one of its co-owners the ski champion Henri Oreiller. Repaired in 1963 at a time when the production chain of the 250 GTO was in full operation, it is an authentic unit.
POST SALE COMMENT
Such an event was expected for many years: a Ferrari 250 GTO sold at auction! The result, $ 38 million including premium, enters the price range expected by Bonhams.
1964 The Race against the Regulations
2014 SOLD 26.4 M$
For automobiles, it often happens that history is not repeated. The extraordinary domination of the Ferrari 250 in all categories from 1955 was reinforced by an excellent adaptation to competition regulations.
The 250 GTO, produced mostly in 1962 and 1963, is registered in the Grand Touring class. In retrospect, it is clear that the O letter in GTO, which means Omologato, reveals the problems met by Ferrari to maintain their competitiveness while respecting all the rules.
The new models, the 250 LM in prototype class in 1963 and the 275 GTB in GT class in 1964, are technically formidable cars that can not maintain the wide success of the GTO. The competition is fierce. Remind that the failed negotiations between Ford and Ferrari happened in 1963 and the release of the GT40 in 1964.
The ambition in competition of the 275 equipped with a new 3.3-liter engine is embodied in three grand touring competition prototypes identified as 275 GTB/C Speciale with a bodywork by Scaglietti.
The super-light aluminum body, different from the road specification in the catalog, does not please the officials of the Gran Turismo. Yet one of the three cars managed to reach the third place in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1965 behind two Ferrari 250 LM.
The 275 GTB/C Speciale is extremely rare on the market. The first of the three is for sale by RM Auctions at Monterey on August 16, lot 239.
This is undoubtedly one of the most important cars in the history of automobile auctions. It paved the way for the limited series of the 275 GTB/C (without the word Speciale) of which a unit made in 1966 was sold for € 5.7 million including premium by RM Auctions on May 10, 2014.
I invite you to play the video shared on YouTube by RM Auctions.
POST SALE COMMENT
The special series of 275 GTB are confirmed as the most prestigious Ferrari cars after the 250 GTO. This 275 was sold for $ 24M before fees, 26.4M including premium.
It achieves a similar price as the 275 GTB / 4 NART that was sold for $ 27,5M including premium by RM Auctions on August 17, 2013.
The 250 GTO, produced mostly in 1962 and 1963, is registered in the Grand Touring class. In retrospect, it is clear that the O letter in GTO, which means Omologato, reveals the problems met by Ferrari to maintain their competitiveness while respecting all the rules.
The new models, the 250 LM in prototype class in 1963 and the 275 GTB in GT class in 1964, are technically formidable cars that can not maintain the wide success of the GTO. The competition is fierce. Remind that the failed negotiations between Ford and Ferrari happened in 1963 and the release of the GT40 in 1964.
The ambition in competition of the 275 equipped with a new 3.3-liter engine is embodied in three grand touring competition prototypes identified as 275 GTB/C Speciale with a bodywork by Scaglietti.
The super-light aluminum body, different from the road specification in the catalog, does not please the officials of the Gran Turismo. Yet one of the three cars managed to reach the third place in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1965 behind two Ferrari 250 LM.
The 275 GTB/C Speciale is extremely rare on the market. The first of the three is for sale by RM Auctions at Monterey on August 16, lot 239.
This is undoubtedly one of the most important cars in the history of automobile auctions. It paved the way for the limited series of the 275 GTB/C (without the word Speciale) of which a unit made in 1966 was sold for € 5.7 million including premium by RM Auctions on May 10, 2014.
I invite you to play the video shared on YouTube by RM Auctions.
POST SALE COMMENT
The special series of 275 GTB are confirmed as the most prestigious Ferrari cars after the 250 GTO. This 275 was sold for $ 24M before fees, 26.4M including premium.
It achieves a similar price as the 275 GTB / 4 NART that was sold for $ 27,5M including premium by RM Auctions on August 17, 2013.
1964 Ferrari 250 LM
2015 SOLD for $ 17.6M by RM Sotheby's
The extraordinary domination of the Ferrari 250 from 1955 had been supported by an excellent adaptation to competition regulations. The 250 GTO, produced mostly in 1962 and 1963, is registered in the Grand Touring class.
The next model is the Ferrari 250 LM unveiled at the Paris Motor Show in November 1963. It is a berlinetta version of the open car prototype 250 P, the first trial by Ferrari of a centrally mounted V12 engine. LM means Le Mans.
The 250 GTO had been narrowly GT homologated. The O letter in GTO, which means Omologato, reflects the problems met by Ferrari to maintain their competitiveness while respecting all the rules. Ferrari's argument that it is a variant of the 250 GT SWB berlinetta is technically difficult to counter.
Ferrari indeed improves his models, but the high end is too elitist. Race regulating organisms harden against him the rules of Grand Touring, which must be based on a commercial production exceeding 100 units. Unqualified cars enter the Prototype category with more powerful competitors.
Ferrari fails to obtain the GT homologation for the LM. Officials have not been duped. It is not really a GT because it is derived from the 250 P prototypes. The LM should also not be a 250 because its 3.3-liter engine is better ranked in the new Ferrari 275 class opened at the same time.
32 Ferrari 250 LM are built, most of them in 1964. The body is made by Scaglietti on a design by Pininfarina. They are not intended for road use. One of them wins the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1965, driven by Masten Gregory and Jochen Rindt.
On August 13, 2016, RM Sotheby's sold for $ 17.6M a 250 LM made in 1964, lot 113. This car is one of the best preserved of this model after an intensive racing history, retaining all of its original components.
The tenth 250 LM was delivered new to Luigi Chinetti in 1964 for the NART team which used it as a back up car. Never raced in period, it is still entirely original including its chassis, engine, gearbox an its body by Scaglietti. Only one other 250 LM had not been raced. It was sold for € 15.8M by Artcurial on July 6, 2023, lot 1. Please watch the video shared by the auction house before it passed on February 3, 2023, lot 89.
A 250 LM made in 1964 was sold for $ 14.3M on November 21, 2013 by RM Auctions in association with Sotheby's, lot 141. This car remains in an exceptional original condition after a racing history without incident. Its engine is in matching numbers.
The next model is the Ferrari 250 LM unveiled at the Paris Motor Show in November 1963. It is a berlinetta version of the open car prototype 250 P, the first trial by Ferrari of a centrally mounted V12 engine. LM means Le Mans.
The 250 GTO had been narrowly GT homologated. The O letter in GTO, which means Omologato, reflects the problems met by Ferrari to maintain their competitiveness while respecting all the rules. Ferrari's argument that it is a variant of the 250 GT SWB berlinetta is technically difficult to counter.
Ferrari indeed improves his models, but the high end is too elitist. Race regulating organisms harden against him the rules of Grand Touring, which must be based on a commercial production exceeding 100 units. Unqualified cars enter the Prototype category with more powerful competitors.
Ferrari fails to obtain the GT homologation for the LM. Officials have not been duped. It is not really a GT because it is derived from the 250 P prototypes. The LM should also not be a 250 because its 3.3-liter engine is better ranked in the new Ferrari 275 class opened at the same time.
32 Ferrari 250 LM are built, most of them in 1964. The body is made by Scaglietti on a design by Pininfarina. They are not intended for road use. One of them wins the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1965, driven by Masten Gregory and Jochen Rindt.
On August 13, 2016, RM Sotheby's sold for $ 17.6M a 250 LM made in 1964, lot 113. This car is one of the best preserved of this model after an intensive racing history, retaining all of its original components.
The tenth 250 LM was delivered new to Luigi Chinetti in 1964 for the NART team which used it as a back up car. Never raced in period, it is still entirely original including its chassis, engine, gearbox an its body by Scaglietti. Only one other 250 LM had not been raced. It was sold for € 15.8M by Artcurial on July 6, 2023, lot 1. Please watch the video shared by the auction house before it passed on February 3, 2023, lot 89.
A 250 LM made in 1964 was sold for $ 14.3M on November 21, 2013 by RM Auctions in association with Sotheby's, lot 141. This car remains in an exceptional original condition after a racing history without incident. Its engine is in matching numbers.
1967 GTB/4 NART Spider
2013 SOLD for $ 27.5M by RM Auctions
Ferrari has always endeavoured to flatter its American customers. The designations America, Superamerica and California attributed to high end variants are a convincing evidence of that fact.
Former winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Luigi Chinetti was a skilled agent of Ferrari in the United States. In 1958, he created the North American Racing Team (NART) that got very good results, in Europe also.
For his network of passionate customers, Chinetti negotiated in 1967 with Ferrari a special order for a new sports model to be built by Scaglietti on the 275 GTB chassis.
Ten Ferrari 275 GTB/4 NART Spider cars were produced, a quantity certainly lesser than Chinetti's demand. Times are tough for Ferrari, who had to put an end to the 250 GTO and escaped very narrowly an acquisition by Ford.
This rare NART Spider appears as an outstanding post-GTO model fitted to arouse passions. This small convertible is very efficient and highly elegant, and would later be imitated. Some owners of 275GTB in more standard variants will even wish to rebuild their car as a NART Spider.
One of the ten original 275 GTB/4 NART Spider cars remained in the family of the original owner who adored it. It was sold for $ 27.5M for the benefit of charities by RM Auctions on August 16/17, 2013. Please watch the video shared by Petrolicious for the auction house.
Former winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Luigi Chinetti was a skilled agent of Ferrari in the United States. In 1958, he created the North American Racing Team (NART) that got very good results, in Europe also.
For his network of passionate customers, Chinetti negotiated in 1967 with Ferrari a special order for a new sports model to be built by Scaglietti on the 275 GTB chassis.
Ten Ferrari 275 GTB/4 NART Spider cars were produced, a quantity certainly lesser than Chinetti's demand. Times are tough for Ferrari, who had to put an end to the 250 GTO and escaped very narrowly an acquisition by Ford.
This rare NART Spider appears as an outstanding post-GTO model fitted to arouse passions. This small convertible is very efficient and highly elegant, and would later be imitated. Some owners of 275GTB in more standard variants will even wish to rebuild their car as a NART Spider.
One of the ten original 275 GTB/4 NART Spider cars remained in the family of the original owner who adored it. It was sold for $ 27.5M for the benefit of charities by RM Auctions on August 16/17, 2013. Please watch the video shared by Petrolicious for the auction house.
