The sky continues to be the limit for vintage Ferraris, with yet another Prancing Horse from the early 1960s selling for stratospheric money.
At last weekend’s Retromobile 2015 auction, which was conducted in Paris by the Artcurial Group, a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider sold for 16.3 million Euros, or roughly $18.5 million in U.S. dollars, a world record for this very desirable model.
It was the single most expensive sale in Artcurial’s history.
What was particularly amazing about the money paid for this car wasn’t that it was in pristine, concours shape. Far from it, in fact.
This was a barn-find car, one of 59 sold from the collection of Roger Baillon, described by the auction company as “the inspired industrialist from the west of France who saved a great number of cars from being scrapped between 1950 and 1970.”
By comparison, an immaculate 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider sold for $15.180 million last August at Gooding & Co.’s auction in the Pebble Beach area of Northern California. And that car was beautifully finished.
The Artcurial Ferrari will need an extensive restoration to be fully enjoyed by its new owner.
“This will go down in history as an extraordinary sale!” said Pierre Novikoff, a specialist in the Artcurial Motorcars department. “The Baillon discovery has been an incredible adventure. In addition to the passion it has aroused in enthusiasts, it is the unique story of one man’s dream, carried on by an entire family. The successful sale of the 59 cars in the Baillon Collection reflects the international response by collectors who have been touched by these phantom-like automobiles.”
Hype? Sure, maybe a little.
But in this case well deserved for a world-record price on an extraordinary automobile.
According to Road & Track, the pre-sale estimate for the entire auction catalog was $15-18 million. Instead, the 59 cars hammered for a staggering total of $52.23 million, far above even the most optimistic estimate.
And the star of the show was that tired old Ferrari, which is now our Cool Car of the Day for Monday.
Photo taken on Nov. 26, when the collection was discovered.
