HomeMediaRM Sotheby’s offers rare pair of Ferraris at London sale

RM Sotheby’s offers rare pair of Ferraris at London sale

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The Ferrari 250 GT TdF is a competition coupe ready for vintage racing by its wealthy buyer | RM Sotheby’s photos

After a weekend of terrific Ferrari sales in Monterey, RM Sotheby’s comes back with two more thoroughbred stallions for its London auction on September 7.

Rolling across the block at Battersea Evolution will be a historic 1958 Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta Competizione “Tour de France,” one of the first of 36 250 GT LWB TdFs built with the single-louver body style and covered headlamps, and a 1973 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona Spider that RM Sotheby’s calls a true time-warp car, “perhaps the most original in existence, showing only 3,805 miles from new.”

An archive photo of the TdF during its racing career

The 250 GT TdF auction follows the sale by RM Sotheby’s in Monterey of a 1956 Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta Competizione TdF bodied by Scaglietti for a record $13.2 million. The 1958 TdF offered in London, number 0897, has an aluminum body by Pininfarina and boasts a colorful period racing history. Among its subsequent owners were Steve Earle, the founder of the Monterey Historic Races, and well-known enthusiast Don Orosco of Carmel, California.

The 250 GT TdF is valued at $7 million to $8.6 million.

“The TdF is certainly one of the most successful and iconic dual-purpose Berlinettas ever to wear the Prancing Horse,” Max Girardo, managing director of RM Sotheby’s – Europe, said in a news release. “I have been privileged to race a TdF at the Goodwood Revival and I can confirm that it fully deserves its place in history as one of the greatest of all the classic Ferraris.”

The 365 GTB/4 is an iconic Daytona Spider of which only 121 were made with the high-performance V12 engine up front. Chassis number 17013 is the only Spider finished in the combination of Marrone Colorado paintwork and beige Scuro interior, and most of the paintwork, as well as the interior, are expertly certified as totally original, according to RM Sotheby’s.

The Daytona’s ultra-low mileage is verified and the car comes with a complete set of manuals, including its pre-delivery service form, a copy of its window sticker, odometer verification statements and extensive history binder, the auction house says. The value is estimated at $3 million to $3.75 million.

“Breathtaking is the best word to describe this example, not only for its wonderful presentation but also for its unrepeatable rarity, having survived through to today in such extraordinary and original condition,” Girardo said.

The auction house said that the Daytona has a “perfectly documented history from new,” which begs the question: who would own such an awesome sports car and never drive it?

RM Sotheby’s will offer 75 cars at the London sale, which coincides with the Concours of Elegance, held this year at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh.

For more information about the RM Sotheby’s sale, see the auction website.

Bob Golfen
Bob Golfen
Bob Golfen is a longtime automotive writer and editor, focusing on new vehicles, collector cars, car culture and the automotive lifestyle. He is the former automotive writer and editor for The Arizona Republic and SPEED.com, the website for the SPEED motorsports channel. He has written free-lance articles for a number of publications, including Autoweek, The New York Times and Barrett-Jackson auction catalogs. A collector car enthusiast with a wide range of knowledge about the old cars that we all love and desire, Bob enjoys tinkering with archaic machinery. His current obsession is a 1962 Porsche 356 Super coupe.

3 COMMENTS

  1. Sometimes colors are rare for a reason….they’re jut not very pretty! This color does not do much for the Daytona. I guess in a way we should be thankful there are some pathetic owners out there who miss the entire point of a Ferrari and never drive it!

  2. Yeah, oh boy, yet another Ferrari gets sold for an astronomical price and subsequently never sees the road again. No wonder modern younger enthusiasts are so few and far between – they’ll never see these cars in their proper setting, which is either on the road or being thrashed on a race track. One of the reasons I’m glad I’m old: I got to see these cars as CARS and not museum pieces or garage queens. In my younger days I saw 250GTO’s, 275LM’s, Lussos, 250 Berlinettas, Barchettas et al DRIVEN PLACES. As a matter of fact, at the old Hershey (PA) Hill Climb, a couple of guys used to show up every year in a Bugatti Type 35. What are the chances of seeing that today? How about seeing the Spencer Motors ’64 GTO drag racing a 275LM on the Montauk Highway the night before a Can-Am race? Saw it….but you won’t see that now. Unless you go to Goodwood, maybe there. But the prices are insane, really.

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