Ferraris figure to remain red hot at Arizona auctions

One in a series of previews for the 2015 Arizona classic car auctions

During the 2013-14 classic car auction season, 100 cars hammered sold for prices of $1,897,500 or more worldwide. Of those 100 cars, 48 were Ferraris.

But here’s an even more impressive statistic: Of the 20 cars hammered sold for prices of $6,160,000 or more, 15 were Ferraris.

But we’re not done yet, here’s a stat even more impressive: Of the 10 cars hammered sold for prices of $7,871,707 or more, nine of them were Ferraris, which monopolized the seven most expensive auction transactions, including the only sales for more than $10 million, for more than $15 million, for more than $25 million, and even more than $38 million.

It would be tempting to talk about Ferraris being the tip of the classic car marketplace iceberg, except there’s nothing frosty about the value of Ferraris these days. They’re beyond red hot.

The Classic Car Auction Yearbook, 2013-2014 includes a chart that shows the average price achieved by all Ferraris sold at auction in the last 20 years. Those prices were fairly consistent while slowly climbing into the $200,000 range in the early 2000s. But they doubled from 2006 to 2010 and have doubled again since then, now to the point that the average — the average — price is $1.165 million!

So here we are, in Arizona for the start of a new calendar year, and we count 69 Ferraris on the various auction dockets — 21 at RM, 18 at Gooding, 14 at Bonhams, 12 at Barrett-Jackson and 4 at Russo and Steele.

Yes, there are pre-auction estimates of eight-figure prices, but there also are Ferraris that figure to sell for just a few hundred thousand instead of for astounding multi-million dollar figures.

Of course, it will be the multi-million-dollar cars that draw the most attention. Ten of the Ferraris being offered in Arizona have pre-auction estimates of at least $3 million.

And then there are cars such as these:

• A 1962 400 Superamerica aerodinamico, Gooding Lot 132, one of only seven short-wheelbase and covered-headlight cars, certified by Ferrari Classiche, 4.0-liter Colombo V12, formerly owned by the director of Cartier, estimated value: $4 million to $5 million.
• 1959 250 GT long-wheelbase California Spider, Gooding Lot 046, 27th of 50 built, preserved, not restored, offered for sale for the first time since 1969, when it was purchased for $3,750 by the late Jack Castor with the help of a loan from his credit union, estimate value: $8 million to $10 million.
• A 1964 250 LM, Lot 250 at RM, the 9th of 32 built, raced by Scuderia Filipinetti and others over the course of six seasons, primarily in hill climbs, history documented by Marcel Massini, certified by Ferrari Classiche, estimated value: $9.5 million to $12.5 million.
• A 1966 275GTB Competizione, Bonhams Lot 128, raced by Scuderia Filipinetti at Le Mans, Spa and Imola, certified by Ferrari Classiche, pre-auction estimate so significant Bonhams will share it only with seriously interested potential buyers (though we’ll note that a ’64 275 GTB Comp car sold for $26.4 million last summer at Monterey and a ’66 brought $7.8-plus last spring at Monaco).

  

Among all the other Ferraris being offered, a couple have long-term ownership histories and may be interesting to watch:

• At Bonhams, Lot 144 is a 1963 250 GT Lusso Berlinetta with less than 54,000 miles on its odometer after being owned by the same person for 40 years. Though repainted in the same factory color and with its chrome work and power train refurbished, the car retains its original interior.
• At Barrett-Jackson, Lot 774 is an unrestored 1989 348 TB Berlinetta coupe that is being sold by its original owner’s estate.