£5.9m Ferrari 250GT on top at Scottsdale sales

By Lizzie Pope

| 21 Jan 2019

Classic & Sports Car – £5.9m Ferrari 250GT on top at Scottsdale sales

The 2019 Scottsdale auctions saw a mammoth 2660 cars sold from a total of 3294 offered – and at the end of it all this 1963 Ferrari 250GT SWB Berlinetta was the top-seller.

A one-of-96 ‘Lusso’, it was by some margin the priciest sale all week, with the gavel falling at $7,595,000 (£5.9m) at Gooding & Company’s sale on Saturday (18 January).

It was far from only Prancing Horse to steal the limelight last week, though: Gooding’s top six lots were all Ferraris, and plenty of others were scattered across the seven sales, which took place in Arizona, USA.

ALSO READ: In pictures: the biggest sellers at the Scottsdale 2019 auctions

The 1953 250MM Spider Series II and the top non-Ferrari

Scottsdale 2019 proved an excellent one for Gooding: it had the three priciest sales of the week overall, with a 1958 Ferrari 250GT Tour de France Berlinetta going for $5.89m (£4.6m) and a 1953 Ferrari 250MM Spider Series II making $5.395m (£4.2m).

Other Ferraris to command a significant price tag included an ’84 Ferrari 288GTO ($2.5m/$1.9m), a 1952 Ferrari 212 Europa Cabriolet ($1.93m/£1.5m) and a ’63 Ferrari 250GT Lusso ($1.9m/£1.4m).

A 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing that sold for $1.435m (£1.1m) was the most expensive car at that sale that wasn’t a Ferrari. In all, nine lots went for over $1m.

“I am delighted to close out another fantastic week resulting in the top three sales across the board and new world records,” said David Gooding, President and Founder of Gooding & Company.

This one-of-252 BMW was the second most expensive lot at RM Sotheby's Arizona sale

It was a similar story over at RM Sotheby’s sale: the headline car was a fresh-to-market, 2900-mile 1985 288GTO that achieved $3.36m (£2.6m) after attracting enthusiastic bidding from a number of potential buyers.

And the number three spot at RM Sotheby’s was also held by a Ferrari, this time a ’67 Ferrari 330GTS by Pininfarina which sold for $2,012,500 (£1.6m).

But splitting these two when the hammer came down at $2.175m (£1.7m) was a 1958 BMW 507 Roadster Series II. Chassis number 70157, this Midnight Blue example is a former concours class winner and was sold with a rare factory hardtop.

Frua-bodied Maserati was the priciest at Bonhams' Scottsdale event

However, it was this 1951 Maserati A6G/2000 Spider with coachwork by Carrozzeria Frua that soared to the top at Bonhams’ sale, held at The Westin Kierland Resort & Spa in Phoenix.

It’s one of only three built with bespoke coachwork and features, and last Thursday it found a new owner for $2.755m (£2.1m).

Indeed, the Maserati was quite some way clear of the $1.11m (£857,908) price achieved by the sale’s second-top lot, a ’55 Mercedes 300SL Gullwing.

Over at Worldwide, meanwhile, there were several interesting pre-war lots: two 1935 Auburn 851 Speedsters sold for, respectively, $687,500 and $632,500 (£533,000 and £490,180) and a 1936 Duesenberg Model JN Rollston Convertible Sedan made $605,000 (£468,870).

Clockwise from top left: half-sized GT40; Porsche tractor; VW 'Thing'; eye-catching Amphicar

But, of course there’s much more to these sales than just the million-dollar supercars. So what stood out at the other end of the scale?

Well, remember that scaled-down Ford GT40? That went for $30,000 (£23,300).

RM Sotheby’s also sold a 1960 Porsche tractor for $29,120 (£22,620), a ’68 VW Beetle for $33,600 (£26,100) and a Thing – that is, a 1974 Volkswagen Type 181 ‘Thing’ – for $24,640 (£19,140).

Away from the star lots at Gooding and Co’s auction were cars including a 1951 Willys Model 6-73 Station Wagon which went for $33,600 (£26,100).

In addition, a 36,000-mile 1963 Cadillac Series 75 Eight-Passenger Sedan achieved $24,640 (£19,140) and the gavel came down at $71,680 (£55,681) on a 1963 Amphicar Model 770 that was offered without reserve.

Clockwise from top left: Minor went for under £5k; colourful Nash Metropolitan; eye-catching Crosley; Isetta sold for just under £20k

The most wallet-friendly sale at Bonhams’ auction was the restored 1965 Morris Minor 1000 that sold for $5600 (£4328).

Joining it with a four-figure price of $8960 (£6925) was a distinctive-looking 1951 Crosley CD Four Super Convertible, while a Nash Metropolitan Hard-Top Coupe from 1959 reached $13,440 (£10,387).

Other quirky classics consigned to Bonhams included a 1948 Fiat 500B Topolino Cabriolet which swapped hands for $28,000 (£21,640) and a ’56 BMW Isetta 300 Bubble Window Z-Bar that fetched $25,200 (£19,476).

Meanwhile, at Barrett-Jackson’s Scottsdale sale, $67,200 was raised for charity when the gavel fell on a 1952 Willys M38 Korean War Jeep.

SCOTTSDALE 2019 STATISTICS

Overall: $250.9m • 2660 cars sold • 3294 offered • sales-rate: 81%

Gooding & Company: $48.1m • 105 cars sold • 124 offered • sales-rate: 85%

Bonhams: $16.1m • 108 cars sold • 120 offered • sales-rate: 90%

RM Sotheby’s: $36.8m • 129 cars sold • 154 offered • sales-rate: 84%

Worldwide: $9.1m • 54 cars sold • 73 offered • sales-rate: 74%

Russo & Steele: $11.8m • 308 cars sold • 621 offered • sales-rate: 50%

Barrett-Jackson: $126.4m • 1817 cars sold • 1818 offered • sales-rate: 99%

Silver: $2.5m • 139 cars sold • 384 offered • sales-rate: 36%

For full details on all of the auctions, head to our classic car auction results database

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