Ferrari 250 LM Featured at RM Auctions Monterey 2014

A 1964 Ferrari 250 LM will be among the featured Italian offerings at the 2014 RM Auctions Monterey sale, to be held August 15–16 in downtown Monterey, California.

The 1964 Ferrari 250 LM on offer at RM’s Monterey auction was the 19th of 32 examples built. Completed in July 1964, serial number 6045 was sold new through Luigi Chinetti Motors to Modern Classic Motors in Reno, Nevada, for personal use by dealership owner and casino mogul William Fisk Harrah. Unlike other examples, which were put to competition use, Harrah elected to use the racing car exclusively as a road car.He drove the car sparingly during his two years of ownership, accruing only 800 miles before passing it on to its second owner, Dr. Hart Isaacs, of Beverly Hills, who displayed the car at the 19th annual Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in 1969. The car passed through a well-documented string of owners over the ensuing years and was lightly campaigned at various historic racing and Concours, including the Goodwood Revival, before being reunited with its original engine. Recently restored to original factory specifications and certified by Ferrari Classiche, 6045 was shown at the XIII Palm Beach Cavallino Classic in January 2014, where it received the Ferrari Classiche Cup and the award for the most outstanding 12-cylinder Ferrari at the show (Estimate available upon request).

“The 250 LM is an absolutely incredible car—rarer than a GTO, it is truly one of the greatest sports racing cars ever made. I’ve had the pleasure of driving these cars, and they are downright exhilarating. With the V-12 engine roaring behind you, it is a very poised, balanced, and thrilling ride,” said Max Girardo, Managing Director, RM Auctions, Europe.

“The 250 LM consigned to our Monterey sale is particularly special not only because it’s Classiche certified but also because it was driven on open Nevada roads. One can only imagine the sight of that throaty V-12 blaring through the city streets, past the typical American cars of the mid-1960s, wearing Nevada license plates no less. It’s a great privilege to offer this legendary Ferrari at our upcoming Monterey auction, where we expect it will comfortably rank among the top sales of the week,” Girardo added.

The 250 LM will be joined in Monterey by the previously announced 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4 formerly owned by Steve McQueen, along with no less than 24 other Ferrari examples. Additional recently secured highlights include a 1953 250 Europa and a 1963 400 SA LWB Coupe Aerodinamico Series II.

The 1953 Ferrari 250 Europa with Coachwork by Pinin Farina on offer at RM’s Monterey sale is the fourth of 21 units constructed. Delivered new to Italian industrialist Giovanni Latino, friend of coachbuilder Pinin Farina, the coupe was shown at two period Italian Concours within its first year, the Concorso Satorie Romana in Rome and the XI Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este on the shores of Lake Como. After stints in both Italy and the United States, the Europa was eventually purchased by its current owner in 2006. Following a six-year restoration, serial number 0305 EU made a return to the show field in July 2013, embarking on a second tour of Europe’s events. The tour recently culminated back at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este — a venue at which the automobile was shown 50 years earlier — where it was judged First in Class (Estimate: $1,900,000–$2,400,000).

The 1963 Ferrari 400 SA LWB Coupe Aerodinamico Series II with Coachwork by Pininfarina comes to auction following a restoration. The sixth of 18 Series II long-wheelbase examples and the third of just four open-headlight Series II Aerodinamico Coupes, serial number 4113 SA was completed in April 1963 and imported into the United States in the late 1960s. Over the years, this matching-numbers 400 SA has passed through the hands of a group of collectors, one of whom owned this car for three decades. Freshly restored by Motion Products Inc., 4113 SA has been certified by Ferrari Classiche, validating it as a factory-authenticated, matching-numbers example. It is accompanied for sale by proper manuals, a correct toolkit and jack, and extensive service documentation (Estimate: $2,500,000–$3,000,000).

The RM Auctions 2014 Monterey sale will also mark Maserati’s centennial — a theme that will be celebrated at this year’s Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance — by shining the spotlight on no less than four vehicles from the Italian marque. Leading the charge is a 1963 Maserati 5000 GT by Frua, one of only two produced of this design, and restored for noted collector John Bookout. Considered by many the most glamorous body style on Maserati’s most exclusive model, serial number AM103.064 was one of the most expensive production cars in the world at the time. It is expected to command between $2,200,000 and $2,900,000 at the upcoming August sale.

Additional highlights include:

• 1959 Maserati 3500 GT Spyder Prototype by Vignale, one of just three Vignale Spyder prototypes, presented in Navy with a Red interior (Estimate: $1,100,000–$1,500,000);
• 1962 Maserati 3500 GTi Spyder by Vignale, presented in its original shade of Argento Luna, with dark blue leather interior, and featuring a five-speed transmission and Borrani wire wheels (Estimate: $750,000–$1,000,000); and
• 1961 Maserati 3500 GT Coupe Speciale by Frua, one of only two 3500 GT chassis bodied to variations of the Frua 5000 GT design and the only true “junior” 5000 GT known to survive (Estimate: $525,000–$725,000).

  

  

  

RM’s flagship Monterey sale, held during the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance weekend, returns to the Portola Hotel and Monterey Conference Center in downtown Monterey, California, August 15–16, 2014. In 2013, RM’s Monterey auction generated $125 million in sales, the highest grossing collector car auction of all time. This year’s event will present a selection of more than 110 collector cars.

For additional information, visit www.rmauctions.com or call +1 519 352 4575.

[Source: RM Auctions]