Ferrari values succumb to recession

Buyers cautious as prestigious Italian cars struggle to sell at auction.
By Paul Hudson

Desirable Ferraris have usually been considered less vulnerable to the vicissitudes of the world’s financial markets than most other marques, but car collectors kept their hands firmly in their pockets at last weekend’s Bonhams sale of Ferraris and associated memorabilia in Gstaad.

Many of the star lots failed to reach their estimates and were consequently not sold, although most of the more affordable lots found buyers. Even then, they struggled to achieve the lower end of their estimated prices.

The annual ‘Ferrari et les Prestigieuses Italiennes’ auction at Gstaad featured a host of not only desirable but seminal Ferraris for sale, most notably a 1955 121LM Spyder Corsa that competed in the 1955 Le Mans 24 Hours and that year’s Mille Miglia road race in the hands of Phil Hill, Eugenio Castellotti, Umberto Maglioli and Carroll Shelby. It was estimated at £2,808,450 to £3,945,000 but the price for one of the most collectible competition Ferraris to emerge on the open market for many years was apparently too steep as buyers responded to current financial woes with extreme caution.

An immaculate, 192 F40 also failed to sell, as did the 1951 212 Export Spider that came third overall in the 1951 Mille Miglia.

A 1967 275GTB/4, estimated at £717,000 to £836,000, had reached only £595,000 before the hammer fell.

The Ferrari ‘Daytona’ (proper name the 365GTB/4) coupe has been fetching high prices but one of the examples at Gstaad, one of only 530 Series 1 cars and estimated at £232,800 to £268,600, failed to sell.

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