Story by Will Silk
Sports Car Digest is proud to revive our vintage classifieds column to reflect on the market that we all love and enjoy being a part of. In true Sports Car Digest fashion, hours were spent pouring through old sports car magazines that featured classified ads to their readers back in the day. After a few days worth of digging, the respirators were removed and the artifact brushes set aside, as the selection for the revival piece was made. The ad selected hails from a 1978 issue of Hemmings and is a spectacular example from the stables of Italy, the Ferrari 275GTB.
The 275GTB made its debut next to its topless sibling, the 275GTS in Paris, late in 1964. In many ways, the 275GTB was the perfect blend of everything Ferrari had learned up to that point in time. The 3.3 liter engine was initially rated at 280 horsepower, though this number would increase as production evolved over the next four years and modifications would be made to the V-12 engine. The transmission was rear mounted in trans-axle fashion aiding in obtaining better balance for the grand touring machine and using everything that Ferrari had learned going back a decade earlier to the famed Ferrari 500 Mondial. Suspension was independent in 250LM fashion and braking was handled via disc at all four corners.
January 1966 saw a revised 275GTB appear at Brussels with a lengthened nose and Campagnolo wheels like the ones featured on the car for sale in 1978. Later, during the summer of 1966, twelve 275GTB/Cs (Competizione) models were made. These racing variants of the GTB were lightened, used plexiglas windows, and sported dry sump oiling to keep all the precious bits of that monster twelve cylinder properly lubricated. These cars were rated at 300 horsepower, the same number of horses that the GTB/4 (4 signaling the use of four cam shafts) would be rated at in October of 1966 upon debut in Paris.
Without doubt, the $15,450 price tag of our 1978 Hemmings car seems like a bargain by today’s standards. The March 2010 Amelia Island auction conducted by RM Auctions saw a 1967 Ferrari 275GTB/4 offered in Fly Yellow over Black leather sell for a final price of $1,650,000. Of course, the fact that it was a nearly 100 point, four cam model greatly assisted the Fly Yellow masterpiece in achieving such an extraordinary result a few months ago. With numbers like these being tossed around today, it is certain that who ever may own the car from the 1978 Hemmings ad today will be losing no sleep over the possibility of having made a bad investment 32 years ago.
[Source: Hemmings]
Its amazing how the prices for exotics like Ferrari were fueled by greed in the 1980-onwards to where the prices at totally out of control even with the stock market crash. I wonder if a world wide depression will cause the prices to fall like a rock. The classic car bubble is bound to burst and then it will be interesting to see how far prices fall. Some the prices that are being asked today is insane.
Very good comment Frank. I think for the most part that, overall, the collector car market is entering a period of reality. Though cars deemed to have profound significance such as many of the pre 1968 Ferrari models will continue to see appreciable growth in value. With the recent economic turmoil in Europe, there is still much uncertainy within the economies of the world. Though certain cars are bound to be tagged “recession proof”, case in point, the sale of a Ferrari 250 GTO a few weeks back for something around $26 million. Just like many other speculative markets, the money and the value, is for the most part fluid, dynamic, and in a constant state of flux.
Should’a, could’a, would’a. I passed up a ’67 275GTB (red of course) at a luxo used car dealer in 1971 for $7,500. He hated sports cars – and all the exotic sports cars were priced the same (some really rare Jag’s – like a custom Italian bodied “C” type..) – $7,500. I passed on it because he thought it might need a clutch soon.
I didn’t feel so bad then when the selling price of them peaked about 15 years ago, and then fell like a rock – peak back then was around $1.2mil. Same car could be had 6 months later for less then $0.5mil. Would have lost all that money if I’d spent the $7,500 all those years ago.