Gooding Christie’s, the official auction house of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance® for the 21st year, is proud to present blue-chip headliners for its 2025 Pebble Beach Auctions from leading marques, including Ferrari, Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz, Shelby, Bentley, and more. All of these offerings will be presented for live auction on Friday, August 15 and Saturday, August 16 at the Gooding Christie’s Pebble Beach marquee.
Two of these offerings, the 1958 Ferrari 250 GT Tour de France Berlinetta and the 1952 Jaguar C-Type, will be on display for public viewing at Christie’s Rockefeller Center galleries from Thursday, June 5, to Monday, June 16 in conjunction with Luxury Week. Prospective bidders interested in inspecting these vehicles are welcome to schedule an in-person appointment with a New York-based specialist throughout this period. Please contact [email protected] to do so. For the public viewing address and hours, please see below.
“We are proud to lead with such a strong selection of offerings for our Pebble Beach sale,” said Gooding Christie’s President, David Gooding. “From Ferrari’s legendary 250 GT series, we have our headlining lot, the gorgeous Nocciola over Tobacco California Spider with a robust resume including several period Italian films, as well as a Tour de France Berlinetta owned by some of the most respected names in collecting. Among other English and American offerings, our pair of Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadsters highlight the sheer excellence of this model as one of the greatest road-going automobiles of all time, from the very beginning of its run in 1957 to its final year of production in 1963.”
The auction house will continue its tradition of presenting the finest Ferraris at Pebble Beach this year with an iconic 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider (Estimate: $8,000,000 – $10,000,000), among the headliners of the sale, as well as a 1958 Ferrari 250 GT Tour de France Berlinetta (Estimate: $4,500,000 – $5,250,000). The California Spider, chassis 2277 GT, restored in its original color scheme of Nocciola over Tobacco, was sold new to VIP Ferrari customer Dino Fabbri of Milan, co-founder of one of Italy’s leading publishers, Fratelli Fabbri Editori. Its second owner was Antonio Ciaccia, a.k.a. Little Tony, the famous Italian rock ‘n’ roll singer and actor. During the 1960s, the California Spider featured in several Italian films, including Riderà (Cuore matto) starring Little Tony, La più bella coppia del mondo, and Sissignore, where it famously raced a Lamborghini Miura P400. This Ferrari Classiche-certified example, with its star-studded Italian provenance, is an especially attractive and enticing example of one of the most sought-after Ferrari road cars.
The 250 GT Tour de France Berlinetta, chassis 0925 GT, is among the 36 examples fitted with the classic single-louver treatment and features lightweight aluminum bodywork with elegant covered headlights. Never raced in period, it is one of the finest examples extant, and is highly regarded for its originality. Acquired new by famous American collector and casino magnate William F. Harrah, it remained in his world-famous collection until 1986, when it was sold to another renowned collector, the California-based John Mozart. Sympathetically restored and presented in its original color scheme of dark red over tan, it has since participated in European rallies and concours events.
English offerings include a notable 1952 Jaguar C-Type (Estimate: $3,750,000 – $4,500,000) and a 1953 Bentley R-Type Continental Fastback (Estimate: $900,000 – $1,200,000). The Jaguar, chassis XKC 028, is one of only 53 C-Types built, and one of 43 which were available for private purchase. Upon delivery to the US, this C-Type, originally finished in silver, was used as a road-going car; consequently, it has a well-documented history and retains its original chassis, engine, body, and gearbox, as well as other seldom-seen original details not common in heavily-raced counterparts. Sympathetically restored to preserve its extraordinary originality, this car has taken part in vintage racing and several C- and D-Type tours. Fueling a different kind of appetite for English motoring is the Bentley R-Type, one of 43 left-hand-drive examples with desirable lightweight bucket seats and the rare column-shift manual gearbox. Delivered new via J.S. Inskip to DuPont heir William Kemble Carpenter, this R-Type would later join the collections of famed Rolls-Royce and Bentley connoisseur Dr. Samuel L. Scher and American sculptor Seward Johnson. Restored in the elegant combination of maroon over tan, this R-Type Continental retains its original, matching-numbers engine.
American innovation is represented by the 1965 Shelby Cobra 427 Competition (Estimate: $2,250,000 – $2,750,000), used by Shelby American as a press car during the famed Cobra Caravan promotional tour. This example, CSX 3011, was also featured extensively in the Elvis Presley film, Spinout (1966), and its first owner was Formula One driver Moisés Solana Arciniega, who campaigned the car in period races. In recent years, CSX 3011 was the recipient of restoration work by specialist Cobra Automotive, Inc. of Wallingford, Connecticut.
A pair of Mercedes-Benz offerings that bookend the 300 SL production run add German expertise to the lineup of offerings. A 1957 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster (Estimate: $1,500,000 – $1,800,000), the second 300 SL Roadster built, presents with numerous early production details, while the 1963 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster (Estimate: $2,000,000 – $2,500,000), among the finest in existence, is one of six examples built in the final week of the legendary model’s production. The 1957 example shows less than 42,000 miles on the odometer and was sympathetically restored by 300 SL expert Hjeltness Restoration in its original color scheme of Elfenbein (Ivory, DB 608) over red leather upholstery with a black soft top. The 1963 example, on the other hand, is a disc-brake, alloy-block 300 SL Roadster, complete with fitted luggage, hardtop, and period Rudge-style knock-off hubcaps. Confirmed to retain its matching-numbers engine per factory records, it presents in its attractive, factory-original paint scheme of White Gray with a Graphite Gray hardtop and black leather upholstery.
Additionally, the Pebble Beach Auctions will present an eight-time 1000 Miglia veteran 1952 Cisitalia 202 SC Gran Sport Cabriolet (Estimate: $400,000 – $500,000) featuring coachwork by Stabilimenti Farina, as well as a 1962 Alfa Romeo Giulietta SZ ‘Coda Tronca’ (Estimate: $375,000 – $450,000) wearing revised Kamm-tail coachwork, applied to approximately 40 such Coda Troncas at the end of SZ production. No stranger to the foremost automotive events, the Cisitalia has been exhibited at some of the most prestigious concours events, including Pebble Beach, Villa d’Este, and Amelia Island. The Alfa Romeo was once part of the famed Rosso Bianco collection in Germany, and has received several concours awards, including First in Class at Pebble Beach and Best of Show at the Desert Classic Concours d’Elegance in Palm Springs. Also on offer is a rare 1957 Mercedes-Benz 300 Sc Roadster (Estimate: $450,000 – $500,000, Without Reserve), one of 53 300 Sc Einspritzmotor (fuel injection) roadsters built. This 300 Sc Roadster has remained in the long-term ownership of E. Duke Vincent, the famous American producer and the former business partner of Aaron Spelling, since the mid-1960s. Mr. Vincent, a former member of the Blue Angels, adored the car, nicknaming it “Baby.” This 300 Sc is a charming offering, having spent most of its life with one family in Southern California.
Current Display Info
Christie’s New York Luxury Week
Location: 20 Rockefeller Plaza
Public Viewing: June 5 through June 16, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. EDT, daily
Previous Gooding Auction at Pebble Beach
Above content © 2025 Gooding Christies, reviewed and edited by Rex McAfee
