Ferrari Spider fetches R332m at Amelia Island auction

Gooding & Company achieved $72.6m (R1.33bn) at the classic-car auction Amelia Island in Florida, the US, on March 2-3 — its highest-grossing auction to date.

It sold 148 out of 155 lots, with 15 cars achieving figures of more than $1m (R18.2m). 

The auction house also sold the most valuable automobile in all of Amelia Island history — a 1962 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider. The car with a one-off aquamarine-hued Azzurro Metallizzato exterior and covered headlight treatment sold for $18,045,000 (R332m). 

That is still some way off the $48.8m (R887m) record price paid for a 1962 250 GTO, the holy grail of Ferraris, at Monterey in 2018. 

Prancing horses from various eras were well represented at Amelia Island, and among the star cars was the 1953 Ferrari 250 MM Spider Series II that sold for $3,525,000 (R67m). A largely original, unrestored low-mileage 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4 achieved $3,525,000 (R67m), as did the 1973 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona Spider, which sold for $2,535,000 (R46.5m).

A 1990 Ferrari F40 sold for $3,085,000 (R56.5m) and the 1974 Ferrari Dino 246 GTS achieved $967,500 (R17.7m).

Additional top lots included a pre-war 1931 Duesenberg Model J convertible sedan that fetched $2,205,000 (R40.4m) and a 1955 Alfa Romeo 1900C SSZ which achieved $1,545,000 (28.3m).

German blue-chip classics included a 1958 BMW 507 Series II for $1,82m (R33.3m), a Blutorange 1998 RUF Turbo R for  $1,550,000 (R28.4m) and a 1962 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster for $1,792,500 (R32.8m).

Highlights of the motorcycle collection auctioned at Amelia Island included a 1974 Ducati 750 Super Sport for $201,600 (R3.6m) and a 1941 Indian Four Model 441 for $106,400 (R1.9m).