Around this time every year, the “big three” of the Monterey Car Week auction houses—Bonhams, Gooding and Company, and RM Sotheby’s—have a battle waging behind the scenes to bring the rarest, most valuable cars they can consign to the August festivities. To that end, Gooding & Company has just announced three classic Ferraris that it will send across the block at its Pebble Beach auction: a 1966 275 GTB/C, 1959 250 GT TdF, and a 1950 166 MM/195 S Berlinetta Le Mans.
According to Gooding & Company, the 1966 275 GTB/C, chassis 09063, is the most valuable of the trio, with a pre-sale estimate of $12,000,000 to $14,000,000. The “/C” in the model name indicates that this is one of 12 lightweight competition cars, with aluminum bodywork and Perspex (plastic) windows. Boranni wire spoke wheels and a high-spec 3.3-liter V-12 with 250 LM valves, competition pistons and a dry-sump oiling system, as opposed to the wet sump the road versions used.
The 275 GTB/C has impressive provenance, having originally been sold to U.S.-based Ferrari importer and racer Luigi Chinetti and his North American Racing Team (N.A.R.T.). Under Chinetti, the car was driven by famed Mexican driver Pedro Rodriguez, finishing first in class at the 1966 Nassau Tourist & Governor’s Trophy race. The car subsequently ran at the 1967, ’69, and ’70 24 Hours of Daytona before passing into a string of private collectors, among which former Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone is one.
The 1959 Ferrari 250 GT Tour de France, the premiere road racing Ferrari of its day, is estimated to bring $6,500,000 to $7,500,000 at the same auction. This car, chassis #0905 GT, is a veteran of the 1958 Targa Florio and the XVIII Trieste-Opicina hillclimb with Pietro Ferraro, placing third in class at the latter.
The car then went to Ferrari collector Fred Peters via Charles Betz by 1966. Since then, the car has been treated to a full restoration in its original metallic gray paint and light gray interior. This Tour de France also won the impressively Italian-sounding Coppa Bella Macchina award at the 25th Annual Palm Beach Cavallino Classic, a prestigious Ferrari-only concours.
Lastly, the 1950 166 MM/195 S Berlinetta Le Mans, chassis 0060 M is estimated to sell for $6,500,000 to $7,500,000. Based on the 166 MM/195 S chassis, this is one of six cars built to Berlinetta Le Mans spec with coachwork by Carrozzeria Touring. Early in its life, this car competed as a factory entry in several Italian races, along with being shown at the 1950 Paris Auto Show at Luigi Chinetti’s booth.
Briggs Cunningham, the legendary racer, team owner and car builder, then bought 0060 M and raced it at such venues as Sebring, Buenos Aires, Watkins Glen, and Bridgehampton until 1952. More recently the car has been enjoyed in England and entered in such events as the Goodwood Festival of Speed and the Mille Miglia Storica. The car today wears the same paint scheme as it did when it ran at Sebring all those years ago.
Want to watch these cars go under the hammer yourself? Check out Gooding & Company’s Pebble Beach auction at the Pebble Beach Equestrian Center on Friday, August 24, 2018.
Photos courtesy of Gooding & Company. Photos by Brian Henniker, James Lipman, and Mike Maez.