1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta - Sold for $4,510,000
Monterey – twinned with Maranello. That’s not quite true; however, RM proved once again that Ferraris do well at Pebble Beach week, selling a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB for $4,510,000.
The ultra-desirable semi-competition car (actually a ‘Lusso’ street version) wasn’t the only successful Ferrari sold by RM at the Portola Hotel & Spa. Other cars included the 1967 275 GTB/4 ($1,925,000 – a type record for Monterey in 2008, a similar car at RM going for $1,375,000), two 365 ‘Daytona’ Spyders (a 1973 black car for $1,485,000 and a red 1972 at $1,127,500, original cars both) and a 1961 Ferrari 400 Superamerica Coupe Aerodinamica for $1,650,000.
Needless to say, there were other marques in the catalogue (the 1956 Ferrari 250 GT TdF had not sold, as we went online, by the way). Monterey week has a tremendous ability to throw up oddities from the annals of automotive history – and then someone comes along and pays a lot of money for them. None more so than the 1948 Tucker Sedan, estimated at $500,000 – 600,000, eventually selling for $1,017,500.
1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL - Sold for $852,500
RM is a good bellwether of the market, featuring as it does cars right across the collecting spectrum. So, Ferraris did well – assuming they were good examples at realistic estimates – but the age of low-run muscle cars (or VW Microbuses, for that matter) fetching colossal prices may well have passed.
Talking of ‘gold standard' cars, RM had two 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL ‘Gullwings’, one selling for $852,500, the other for $770,000 – at, or above, estimate, and considerably higher than elsewhere in Monterey.
1948 Tucker Sedan - Sold for $1,017,500
1933 Rolls-Royce Phantom II Special Town Car - Sold for $2,310,000
Moving pre-War and typical Pebble Beach entries such as the 1930 Duesenberg Model J Dual Cowl Phaeton ($1,760,000) and the 1933 Rolls-Royce Phantom II Special Town Car ($2,310,000) did well. The latter featured the most extraordinary, raked windscreen and imposing bodywork by Brewster.
As is the way in the USA, the entries were driven over the block for sale. Part of the fun of this is waiting for the next car to start up and drive on. Few were more eagerly awaited than Lot 451, the 1981 Porsche 935/78 ‘Moby Dick’. The car sold for $550,000 and just goes to show why machinery solely usable on the track never fetches as much as ‘streetable’ machines like the USA-spec 1990 Ferrari F40 ($753,500), a model of which over 1000 examples have been made.
1961 Ferrari 400 Superamerica Coupe Aerodinamica - Sold for $1,650,000
1967 Chevrolet Corvette 427/435 Roadster - Sold for $138,000
One of the hotly tipped entries, the 1958 Chrysler Diablo Convertible Coupé, failed to sell on the night but found a new owner post-sale at $1,200,000.
Please CLICK HERE to see the full results for the RM 'Sports and Classics at Monterey' Auction.
We have also put together a complete overview of the 2008 Bonhams & Butterfields/RM/Gooding Monterey sales by marque and model. This can
be viewed here on Classic Driver.
Text: Steve Wakefield
Photos: RM Auctions / Classic Driver
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