Rare Concourse Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider Heads to Auction

The Ferrari 250 is one of those much-loved classic cars that will always turn heads. Despite only being made from 1959 until 1964, the sleek sports car has remained an anomaly; it sits in a unique and craved after category – it looks pure classic, yet somehow not dated. Most of the Ferrari 250 range also came with the splendid growl of a Colombo V12 3-litre engine to attract attention to those beautifully designed curves and lines. Ferrari inadvertently added to the pending legend status of the 250 by only making 106 models in its short lifespan, and only 56 of those were designated to become short wheelbase versions.

Heading to auction in the USA in early spring is a fantastic example of a Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider that is gaining quite a bit of attention in the automotive media, and rightly so. This classic sports car was built in 1962 with design and coachworks by Carrozzeria Scaglietti. Scaglietti first began in the 1950s, operating out of Italy and just across the road from Ferrari who naturally began to take note of the company’s design and interiors. Scaglietti soon became the go-to coachbuilder for Ferrari’s race vehicles, with the ‘Scaglietti and C’ badge adorning those vehicles exclusively designed by Scaglietti. The Ferrari 250 California Spider was built by them to a design brief from Pinin Farina.

The paint that you can see here is a one-off metallic paint in ‘azure’ that is way ahead of its time, and it has been resprayed and matched to the original colour by Stan Betz, a bit of a legend in the hot rodding and custom car fraternity in California. Sadly, Stan passed away in 2017, but he leaves behind many high class automobiles that look simply stunning.

This particular Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider was rescued by Fred Peters and Charles Betz – a duo who have made a bit of a name for themselves for rescuing old Ferraris and restoring them to pristine levels. Their first was an engine-less 1954 375MM Spider Convertible that they acquired for around $1,100. Even back then and in the following years it was an expensive process, with replica Ferrari 375MM grille costing a cool $10,000 while original headlight replacements would set the determined twosome back $5,000.

Now, this beautiful California Spider is set to sell for an estimated £14 million when it heads to auction courtesy of Gooding & Company who are fittingly based in Santa Monica, California. Gooding & Co is recognised as one of the leading rare classic car auctioneers in the world, and they have surely made sure that they keep that reputation with the reveal of this beautiful Ferrari 250 GT.

The classic Ferrari Spider will go up for sale in Gooding’s annual Amelia Island Auctions, situated on the beach front at Amelia Island Resort. If this takes your fancy, then the auction will be active from Thursday 2nd March until Friday 3rd March 2023. At the very least, it sounds like a fantastic day out.

Images: goodingco.com