The auctions of the Monterey weekend

 

Monterey, August 17, 1998

 

Monterey and the three auctions

Christie’s and the unrestored rarities

Ingrid Bergman and a sale for charity

The MSCA and Wolfgang Seidel’s 250 GT California Spider LWB

Brooks

The Results

Monterey and the three auctions

Since the late 1980’s / early 1990’s, the auctions have become a vital part of the Monterey weekend. Since the high society and the "who is who" of the classic car world have declared the weekend of the Monterey Historic Races, the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elégance and the Concours Italiano the weekend of the year, many of the important auction companies have decided to go there, too. Even in the USA it does not happen that often that so many potential buyers for expensive collector’s cars gather in one place.

Christie’s and the unrestored rarities

The undoubtedly most renowned auction is the one of Christie’s; the auctioneers from the UK host their sale at the well-known Pebble Beach Golf Club, and it is always the highlight to mark the end of the eventful weekend.

This year, there has been quite a number of remarkable lots, especially for Ferrari fans: Having entered the tent – which was held in black completely inside – one was stunned immediately by two completely original rarities: the 750 Monza Spider Scaglietti s/n 0568M and the 212 Inter Coupé Vignale s/n 0217EL. Both of them had spent decades with their last owners, and so this was the first occasion to buy one of these Ferrari after a very long time.

Ingrid Bergman and a sale for charity

Another Ferrari of particular interest: 212 Inter Coupé Pinin Farina s/n 0265EU, formerly owned by Ingrid Bergman. Her husband Roberto Rosselini, who had an excellent relationship to Enzo Ferrari, had bought this small sports car as a present for the famous actress. Since especially American collectors show very often a weak spot for once celebrity owned cars, it is somehow no wonder that this car was eventually sold for the impressive amount of 260.000,-$.

Lot 47 was one of the ten original 275 GTB/S4 NART Spyders, s/n 10691. This car was sold for charity – the Scripps Research Institute will be happy with the hammered 1.900.000,-$...

The MSCA and Wolfgang Seidel’s 250 GT California Spider LWB

The largest of the three auctions was the Monterey Sports Car Auction: One had so many cars to offer that it needed two evenings to perform the sale! Of course the impressive number of classic cars included some Ferrari as well, including 340 America Coupé Vignale s/n 0196A and the 500 Mondial Spider Pinin Farina s/n 0414MD.

There was also a Ferrari which was of particular interest for visitors and / or buyers from Germany: The 250 GT California Spider LWB s/n 1489GT, sold new to the German privateer Wolfgang Seidel from Düsseldorf who subsequently entered this car in some motor racing events.

A real one-off was the 250 GT Spider Fantuzzi s/n 2235GT. This 1963 250 GTE had been rebodied on behalf from Luigi Chinetti to be shown at various motor shows in 1965, including the San Francisco Sports Car Show. The new body style resembles the then quite successful 250 P, although s/n 2235GT did of course not adopt the latter’s mid-engine.

One more Ferrari among many hammered at the Double Tree Hotel: 500 Superfast, s/n 7817SF.

Brooks

For Brooks Specialist Auctioneers, this was the first time to perform a sale during the Monterey weekend. One had decided to host the auction at the Quail Lodge, site of the Concours Italiano. The sale – which was already held on Friday – included the 500 TRC Spider Scaglietti s/n 0706MDTR and a 275 GTB/4, s/n 10711.

Text Gregor Schulz

Translation Andreas Birner

The Results