Image: 1954 Ferrari 500 Mondial Series I Spider (Estimate: $4,000,000 – $5,000,000) Photo copyright and courtesy of Gooding & Company. Image by Mathieu Heurtault

Pedigreed 500 Mondial Series I Spider, Unrestored ex-Jo Siffert 275 GTB/4, and Dark Green 365 GTB/4 Daytona Spider Lead Ferrari Offerings at the Amelia Island Auctions

Star Ferraris at Gooding & Company’s Amelia Island Auctions include a 1954 Ferrari 500 Mondial Series I Spider, a garage-find 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4 delivered new to Jo Siffert, and a low-mileage 1972 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona Spider finished in an incredibly rare green over tan specification.

Gooding & Company has announced an assortment of featured Ferraris for its star-studded Amelia Island Auctions, led by a significant 1954 Ferrari 500 Mondial Series I Spider with a provenance consisting of the world’s foremost Ferrari collectors. Also offered is a fascinating garage-find, unrestored 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4 that was delivered new to global racing phenom Jo Siffert, and a gorgeously specified 1972 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona Spider in the coveted combination of Verde Bahram over beige leather. This fantastic lineup of Ferraris will join the rest of Gooding & Company’s catalogue at the Amelia Island Auctions on Thursday, February 29 and Friday, March 1 at the Omni Amelia Island Resort.

 
"Exceptional originality and provenance are the qualities that set apart this significant offering of Ferraris," said Gooding & Company Senior Specialist, David Brynan. "The 500 Mondial is one of the finest four-cylinder Ferrari sports racers to have survived, complete with a list of former owners that speaks to its quality and distinction. Likewise, the 275 GTB/4 and Daytona Spider are two of the most iconic Ferrari GT models delivered in rare original colors to famous racing drivers of the era – Jo Siffert and Buck Fulp. Finally, there are two very exciting garage finds: a 250 GT Ellena Coupe that has been missing since the mid-1960s, and the 250 GT Pinin Farina Cabriolet, which has ties to Prince Dado Ruspoli and Robert Wagner, and was also featured in the movie The Pink Panther.” 

1954 Ferrari 500 Mondial Series I Spider (Estimate: $4,000,000 – $5,000,000)
Ferrari unveiled its first four-cylinder production sports car, the 500 Mondial, in December 1953, named in honor of Alberto Ascari’s back-to-back World Championships. The Mondial featured a Lampredi-designed two-liter, twin-cam, four-cylinder engine, internally known as the tipo 110. Its advanced specification included gear-driven camshafts, dry sump lubrication, hemispherical combustion chambers, twin-spark ignition, and a pair of Weber DCO carburetors. Each cylinder displaced just under 500 cc. Ferrari built just 22 examples of the Series I Mondial for the 1954 season, with most of them wearing handsome Pinin Farina-styled bodies. The 1954 Ferrari 500 Mondial Series I Pinin Farina Spider presented here, chassis 0434 MD, is among the finest examples of this rare sports racing breed of Ferrari. Delivered new to Jacques Swaters’ Garage Francorchamps in Ixelles, Belgium in May 1954, the Mondial went on to its first owner, Herman Roosdorp, a Dutch racing driver who immediately put the car to use and campaigned it  at the Sports Car of Sports Cars, Spa-Francorchamps, and Zandvoort. Its second owner, Dutch enthusiast Simon Maasland, commissioned his son, Hans, to race it with co-driver Dries Van der Lof at Zandvoort’s International Whitsunday Sports Car Race in 1955, where it won a 1st in Class finish.

0434 MD eventually made its way to Los Angeles in the 1960s, where it was purchased by pioneering Ferrari enthusiast Ed Niles. After years of on-and-off ownership, Niles commissioned the 500 Mondial for a thorough restoration before exhibition at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance® in 1978. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, 0434 MD would go on to join some of the world’s leading Ferrari collections, including those of Peter Sachs and David Sydorick.  It also participated twice in the Mille Miglia Retrospective, first in 1990, and then in 1994. This highly desirable 500 Mondial passed through several more hands before joining the current owner’s prominent, Los Angeles-based Ferrari collection. Today, 0434 MD is one of the only known 500 Mondial examples known to have survived with its original chassis, Pinin Farina coachwork, engine, and transaxle intact. The presentation of all of these remarkable attributes is supported by documentation on file, including a report by Marcel Massini, copies of the factory build sheets, period images, magazine articles, and correspondence. This beautiful, well-documented sports racing barchetta has graced some of the most important collections for the past 60 years, and its appearance at public auction is not to be overlooked by any discerning Ferrari collector. 

1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4 (Estimate: $3,000,000 – $3,500,000)
This impressively original, unrestored Ferrari 275 GTB/4, first owned by legendary racing driver Jo Siffert, spent the last 50 years in the care of one owner who happened to purchase it as a used car from an ad in The New York Times. It now comes to public auction for the very first time. Completed in March 1967, chassis 09689 was finished in Blu Chiaro (Light Blue) over full black Connolly leather upholstery with light grey carpets. Its first owner was none other than legendary Swiss racing driver Jo Siffert, one of the greatest racing drivers of all time. After a brief period in the ownership of Siffert, 09689 passed on to its second and third Swiss owners. The latter, a Zurich resident, had the Berlinetta repainted in traditional Ferrari red, which still remains on the car in unrestored fashion. 09689 was exported to the US in 1972, and in 1973, exotic car dealer Ed Jurist, proprietor of the Vintage Car Store in Nyack, New York, advertised it for sale in The New York Times. The following year, 09689 sold to an enthusiast in Massachusetts, remaining with him for half of a century. Driven sparingly since 1974 and housed in static storage for the last 25 years, this 275 GTB/4 presents today with lightly lacquer-checked red paintwork, adding a soulful touch to its character. The original leather upholstery possesses an attractive patina in the interior. It also boasts wonderful original details throughout, including its original glass, period seatbelts, and proper straight-eared knock-off spinners. Remarkably, it showed fewer than 64,000 kilometers on the odometer at the time of cataloguing. Never before offered at auction and very rarely seen in public, 09689 presents a fresh, exciting opportunity to acquire one of the most distinctive of all Ferrari 275 GTBs.

1972 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona Spider (Estimate: $2,500,000 – $3,000,000)
As the most exclusive of the road-going Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytonas, the Spider had a very limited production run, with only 121 examples built in total. Upon its debut, it became a true pop culture icon, making notable appearances in films like The Gumball Rally (1976) and A Star is Born (1976). The 1972 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona Spider presented here, chassis 15277, is the 44th of the 121 cars built by the factory, completed in June 1972. A US-specified example, it is one of just five to be originally finished in green. Factory records refer to the car’s original color as Verde Scuro (Dark Green), although Chinetti Motors notes it as Verde Bahram, a dark metallic green named after the thoroughbred racehorse. 15277 may very well be the only example originally delivered in this striking metallic green over beige leather color scheme. Imported into the US by Luigi Chinetti Motors, it was originally delivered to one of the North American Racing Team (NART) drivers, John “Buck” Fulp Jr. With just four owners from new, this Daytona Spider today presents in its attractive, factory-delivered color scheme, showing just 7,811 miles at the time of cataloguing. The condition of its unrestored interior is especially exceptional, with its original leather upholstery, carpets, and “mouse fur” dashboard flocking. It also comes accompanied by a history report compiled by Ferrari historian Marcel Massini. Fast, bold, and powerful, this beautiful Daytona Spider is particularly appealing due to its distinctive original color scheme, low mileage, and outstanding provenance. 

1960 Ferrari 250 GT Series II Cabriolet (Estimate: $1,000,000 – $1,300,000)
This offering, a fascinating 1960 Ferrari 250 GT Series II Cabriolet featuring Pinin Farina coachwork, is one of just 200 examples constructed between 1959 and 1962. It was delivered new to an important and suitably glamorous Ferrari client, Prince Alessandro “Dado” Ruspoli of Rome, the real-life inspiration for the main character in Fellini’s La Dolce Vita (1960). According to Pinin Farina records, chassis 1879 GT was originally finished in Grigio Conchiglia (Shell Grey) with red upholstery. Living a life as dazzling of that as its owner, 1879 GT was frequently surrounded by celebrities, as documented with a period image on file showing the car pictured next to Audrey Hepburn. 1879 GT remained with Roman owners until 1963, when it was sold to famed American actor Robert John Wagner. Mr. Wagner and his Ferrari 250 Cabriolet were prominently featured in The Pink Panther (1964), alongside David Niven, Peter Sellers, and Claudia Cardinale. Following Mr. Wagner’s ownership, the Cabriolet returned to Italy, where it remained from 1965 to 1969 in the hands of of Michele Romano Luccarelli of Civita Castellana. It was then sent back to California, where it eventually ended up in the ownership of Donald Nichols, an employee of respected Berkeley-based Ferrari specialist Griswold & Co. Mr. Nichols carefully disassembled 1879 GT and stripped its body to bare metal in preparation for a complete restoration, but the project never proceeded, and the Ferrari was kept in static storage for the past three decades. Recently acquired by the consignor, this Ferrari is today being offered at public auction for the first time, compelling buyers with its rich provenance and famous on-screen appearance. An ideal candidate for a thorough concours-quality restoration, 1879 GT is ready to make its return to the spotlight.

1958 Ferrari 250 GT Coupe (Estimate: $650,000 – $800,000)
Ezio Ellena’s carrozerria built just 50 bodies for Ferrari following the debut of its 250 GT Coupe in March 1956, distinguished from their contemporaries by a higher roofline intended for the taller drivers of the US market. One such Ellena was chassis 0837 GT, which until its discovery last year, was missing, and presumed lost. The 34th Ellena-bodied 250 GT Coupe built, the US-market car was delivered to Luigi Chinetti Motors, finished in the handsome color combination of Camoscio (Chamois) over light beige leather upholstery. The exterior paint was named after the Chamois, a goldish-brown relative of the antelope found throughout Europe. By the early 1960s, 0837 GT had relocated to the Midwest, where it was acquired by RRR Motors Inc. in Homewood, Illinois. For reasons unknown, the dealership swapped the identity of 0837 GT with that of another Ellena Coupe it possessed, going so far as to scrub their serial numbers from the engine pads. This Ellena Coupe, now identified as 0755 GT, was sold to Gerald S. Krupa of Palatine, Illinois. Mr. Krupa used the car for a brief period before parking it in his garage to attempt remedying its engine trouble. He removed and disassembled the engine, but found himself overwhelmed with the task of rebuilding the V-12, letting decades pass with the car sitting covered in static storage until his passing last year. Although the exterior had been repainted, the interior is particularly well preserved, with the leather upholstery and carpeting in patinated, original condition. Upon discovery, historian Marcel Massini verified that this Ellena Coupe was indeed the original 0837 GT, confirmed with frame rail and engine stampings. In need of an engine rebuild and mechanical recommission, this Ellena-bodied 250 GT Coupe makes an ideal candidate for a sympathetic preservation or a show-quality restoration. 

Ferrari Selections from the Iannelli Family Collection
 

In addition to these stellar vintage Ferraris, Gooding & Company will present selections From the Iannelli Family Collection, led by a 2011 Ferrari 599 GTO (Estimate: $800,000 – $1,000,000) finished in the unique specification of Argento Nürburgring over a Rosso interior. Showing under 6,000 miles on the odometer at the time of cataloguing, this 599 GTO is one of just 125 built for the US market. Also offered is a low-mileage 2005 Ferrari 575 Superamerica (Estimate: $350,000 – $425,000) equipped with the highly desirable GTC package, as well as an immaculate 2000 Ferrari 550 Maranello (Estimate: $300,000 – $350,000) presented in classic Rossa Corsa over a beige interior. The Iannelli Family Collection also features an exceptionally original 2004 Ferrari 575M (Estimate: $250,000 – $275,000) in Nero Daytona with Black Daytona-style seats, in addition to a desirable early steel-bodied, Weber-carbureted 1977 Ferrari 308 GTB (Estimate: $100,000 – $130,000, Without Reserve).

Amelia Island Auctions
Dates: Thursday, February 29 at 3 p.m. EST, and Friday, March 1 at 11 a.m. EST
Location: Racquet Park, Omni Amelia Island Resort
Public Preview: Wednesday, February 28 through Friday, March 1 
Auction Catalogue: $120, includes admission for two to the viewing and the auctions
General Admission: $50, includes admission for one to the viewing and the auctions
Bidder Registration: www.goodingco.com/register
Live Auction Broadcast: www.goodingco.com