A 1964 Ferrari 330 GT Nembo Spider sold for £609,50 at the H&H Classics auction, staged March 29, 2017 at the Imperial War Museum in Duxford. The Ferrari was part of a 121-car sale that made £4.4 million.
Racing driver and motor enthusiast Richard Allen, who passed away on November 26, 2016, gifted the car in his will to sell for the benefit of the East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA). His generosity was motivated by a memory — an EAAA helicopter coming to the help of one of his fellow race drivers after a crash.
The metallic blue Ferrari had been estimated to sell for a figure in excess of £500,000. The car is widely acknowledged as the fourth and final Nembo Spider to be built even if it was completed some twenty-five years after its siblings. The only right-hand drive Nembo Spider, it was also the sole example to be powered by a 4-litre V12 engine. Richard Allen acquired the two-seater from Italy in the mid-nineties and decided not to drive it on the road but display it regularly at Ferrari Owners’ Club of Great Britain concours events. The car became the most beloved of all the Ferraris in his extensive collection.
Patrick Peal CEO of the EAAA said, “The gift opportunity which this legacy offers will enable to us to proceed with the building of a bespoke hangar to house our Helicopter, Anglia 2, at Cambridge airport some 400m from our base. Having our own hangar just next door would mean adding some 180 available shift hours a year significantly increasing the number of lifesaving missions we could fly each year.”
“The estimated investment needed to build the Hangar is close to £200,000 so the hammer price achieved by H&H will also enable us to evaluate the possibility of introducing a 24/7 service (something our ground crews, pilots and medical staff have already selflessly volunteered). The EAAA is all about changing what could be the last day of your life into one that is merely the worst day in your life. We feel deeply honoured to have been the recipient of Richard Allen’s thoughtfulness and generosity – his legacy will be to help us save many more lives,” continued Peal.
Dominic Lyncker, MD of H&H Classics, said, “We are honoured to have been tasked with this sale which will bring help from the skies in much the same way as the Richard Colton Ferraris we sold for the RNLI for £10m will bring help at sea.”
The car was sold with an artistic bonus, an image of the car by automotive artist, Martin Tomlinson of Duxford, artist in residence with H&H Classics. Tomlinson said, “It was a great joy to paint this one-of-a-kind Ferrari, given its stunning looks and its ultimate benefit to EAAA which will help to save lives.”
The 2001 Ferrari 360 Spider previously owned by football legend, David Beckham OBE, was offered for sale with H&H Classics at the Imperial War Museum Duxford with an estimate of £85,000 – £95,000. It sold for £92,000. Finished in Nero black with full Sabbia leather interior, the two-seater was photographed dozens of times during the early 2000s with the superstar footballer behind its wheel. He was certainly a fan of the model reportedly acquiring another 360 Spider in 2003.
A 1958 Ferrari 250GT PF Coupe which had been rebodied as a LWB California Spider, sold for £580,750. The car was offered from the stable of one of the UK’s foremost Ferrari collectors. It is based on an original 250GT PF Coupe chassis (Tipo 508D) which is interchangeable with that of a 250GT LWB California Spider. Correct-type subframe and bodywork copied from chassis 1487GT (an original 250GT LWB California Spider Competizione formerly part of the vendor’s collection), it has had a recent £75,000 + VAT mechanical overhaul by marque specialist GTO Engineering.
Other notable results included the 1965 Ferrari 330 GT 2+2 for £196875, a 1975 BMW 2002 Turbo that made £67500, the ‘garage find’ 1925 Bentley 3-Litre Speed Model Vanden Plas Tourer for £253,000 and the 2004 Aston Martin DB7 Zagato that fetched £253,000.
For complete results, visit H&H Auctioneers.
[Source: H&H Classics]
