There are special Ferraris, and then there are special Ferraris. This is most certainly the latter, and it’s coming up for auction in Monterey, California later this month.
It’s a 1960 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider – and, more than that, it’s actually the first 250 GT SWB California Spider. A car described by auction house Sotheby’s as “the finest, most important” example available, it was the car chosen by Ferrari to appear on its stand at the 1960 Geneva Motor Show.
The SWB California Spider is widely regarded as one of the most significant and most valuable classic cars of all time, and it almost goes without saying that it is also among the most beautiful. It’s the car that featured (albeit as a replica) in the 1986 movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and a different example was once owned by Hollywood actor James Coburn. The story goes that Coburn was convinced to buy his car by fellow actor Steve McQueen while working together on The Great Escape.
Although exact engine specifications vary, every 250 SWB California Spider was fitted with a 3-liter ‘Colombo’ V12 engine, producing around 280 horsepower and widely regarded as one of the greatest of all time.
With a guide price of $16 million to $18 million, the car to be auctioned by Sotheby’s during Monterey Car Week later in August is chassis number 1795 GT. It is equipped from the factory with a competition-specification engine, covered headlights (some lacked the domed glass fronts), and a removable hardtop roof for year-round motoring.
One of just 56 SWB (short-wheelbase) examples produced, it is presented in its original delivery colors of Grigio over black leather (although the interior was red for the 1960 Geneva show) and comes with Ferrari Classiche ‘Red Book’ certification, which confirms its matching-numbers status and that it retains its original engine, gearbox, rear axle and bodywork. Sotheyby’s stats how this example is believed to have a unique dashboard layout.
After its starring role at the 1960 Geneva Motor Show, the car was returned to Ferrari then sold via Sociéte Italauto of Lausanne, Switzerland to John Gordon Bennet, a British racing driver and former Le Mans participant who lived in Geneva. Despite his racing career, the Ferrari was not raced in anger, Sotheby’s says, but was driven at a Nürburgring driving school in 1960.
The car was then sold in 1963 to Bob Grossman, a prolific Ferrari racer and dealer in New York, before being sold to a Philip Morris executive in Wyoming, who kept the car until 1978, before it moved to a new custodian in California. Here, it was given the registration plate ‘1st SWB’ and used often, frequently appearing at local car shows in and around Los Angeles, before being sold again in 1998 to a private collector who also used the car as intended.
RM Sotheby’s Monterey auction takes place between 15 and 17 August.
