Why Spiders are good bellwethers
A 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider heads to Amelia Island
The presentation of 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider serial number 2871GT at Gooding & Company’s Amelia Island auction on March 11 is a reminder of how exciting the appearance at auction of a California Spider can be. It also is a chance to consider how Cal Spiders have appreciated over the years, always among the “1%” at the top of car collecting’s heap. Fortunately with 56 of them built, 37 with covered headlights, enough exist that they show up at auction relatively frequently.
They are, and always have been, avidly sought by collectors for their combination of Ferrari V12 performance, quick, responsive handling of their SWB chassis and the sheer joy of dropping the top and hearing the sound of all twelve cylinders shrieking away better.
Equipped with four wheel disc brakes and an updated chassis and suspension, as well as improved outside plug cylinder heads, the SWB Cal Spider has one other crucial asset: its gorgeous, seductive, aggressively voluptuous body refined by Sergio Scaglietti from Pinin Farina’s original design. It is the whole Ferrari experience distilled into a single superlative automobile.
At the turn of the century (the 21st, that is) a covered headlight 250 GT SWB Cal Spider was reliably a million dollar car, like 3119GT that brought $1,265,000 at RM’s Arizona auction in January 2000.
Following is the sales history of 250 GT SWB covered headlight California Spiders sold since the turn of the century.
| Date | Auction | Location | Chassis Number | Amount | Condition |
| January 2000 | RM | Arizona | 3119GT | $1,265,000 | 1 |
| March 2000 | RM | Amelia | 2903GT | $1,182,500 | 2- |
| May 2000 | Poulain-Sotheby | Paris | 4125GT | $1,023,798 | 3 |
| December 2000 | Brooks | Gstaad | 3007GT | $1,309,970 | 2 |
| May 2008 | RM | Maranello | 2377GT | $10,976,163 | 2- |
| The above was the ex-James Coburn car, a transaction so far off the radar it begged comprehension. | |||||
| January 2009 | Gooding | Scottsdale | 1963GT | $4,950,000 | 4+ |
| August 2009 | Gooding | Pebble Beach | 3163GT | $5,115,000 | 2- |
| August 2012 | RM | Monterey | 3119GT | $8,580,000 | 3+ |
| August 2014 | Gooding | Pebble Beach | 2903GT | $15,180,000 | 2- |
| February 2015 | Artcurial | Paris | 2935GT | $18,060,021 | 4- |
| The above was the Ex-Alain Delon, Baillon Collection barn find | |||||
| August 2015 | Gooding | Pebble Beach | 3095GT | $16,830,000 | 3 |
In the short space of sixteen years these exceptional and fairly rare Ferraris have gone from a million dollars to over sixteen million, a representative sampling of the market’s progression in top quality front engined Enzo-era V12 Ferraris. After nearly doubling in value from 2012 to 2015, recent sales (aside from the barn find fascination of the Baillon Collection car at Rétromobile last year) have leveled off.
Gooding & Company’s offering of 2871GT (an unrestored example with only three owners from new, the most recent since 1985, and estimated at a reasonable $15-17 million) at their upcoming Amelia Island auction will tell us if the frenetic pace picks up again or if it reflects the more measured bidding seen in Arizona in January.
