RM Sotheby’s is preparing for its largest single-day Amelia Island auction yet, bringing 88 automobiles with a value over $75 million to the Florida coast on Saturday, 4 March 2023. Offerings span eleven decades and are headlined by the ultra-sophisticated 1959 Ferrari 250 GT LWB California Spider by Scaglietti, the rarest and most comfortable driving version of the covered headlight California Spider.
Gord Duff, RM Sotheby’s Global Head of Auctions, stated: “With twenty-four years of tireless effort at Amelia Island and countless successes, we are preparing for our most memorable Amelia auction yet. We’ve brought over $75 million of the absolute best cars the market has to offer as our ‘farewell’ to the event that Bill and Jane Warner founded in 1996. This sale is a culmination of the talent, drive, and creativity that defines RM Sotheby’s as the world’s greatest automotive auction house. We have shaped the car auction world for decades and will continue to do so, just like we did with our Miami 2022 sale, which was just the beginning of our plans in Florida and our vision for the future of collector car auctions. We are honored to recognize the founders of the Amelia Island Concours weekend, Bill and Jane Warner, at this year’s event.”
Highlights:
1959 Ferrari 250 GT LWB California Spider by Scaglietti – The rarest and most comfortable driving version of the covered headlight California Spider, this LWB is an elegant vintage Ferrari perfect for a taller driver. Factory equipped with a competition engine and wearing a concours-level restoration, this Ferrari Classiche-certified example retains its numbers-matching engine, gearbox, and rear axle and was awarded at multiple events, including Salon Privé, Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, The Quail, and Cavallino Classic. Featured in the September 1959 issue of Sports Car Illustrated, it is now offered with the original owner’s manuals and its original build sheet. Further boasting the highly desirable covered headlamps and competition-tuned engine, 1203 GT is the metaphorical Holy Grail of sports car collecting, eligible for most any event worldwide, and sure to command the admiration of enthusiasts everywhere (Estimate: $9,000,000 – $11,000,000).
Select cars from two discerning private collections also join the lineup, the first featuring significant pre-war classics from Duesenberg, Packard, Bentley, Mercedes-Benz, and Cadillac. The feature car of this collection is the award-winning 1931 Duesenberg Model J ‘Disappearing Top’ Convertible Coupe by Murphy, largely coveted by connoisseurs and deemed one of the best surviving examples of its kind (Estimate: $3,850,000 – $4,500,000). In addition, select cars from the collection of the late notable enthusiast Terence E. Adderley will cross the stage, including the 1931 Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 Gran Sport Spider by Zagato. One of only 76 examples built during 1931, a sensational example of a verifiable racing legend (Estimate $2,000,000 – $2,500,000).
The great Italian marques are incredibly represented and include a fabulous, minimally driven 1995 Ferrari F50 displaying just 1,342 kilometers (Estimate: $4,750,000 – $6,000,000), a numbers-matching Italian pure-bred 1985 Ferrari 288 GTO fresh from private single-family ownership (Estimate: $4,000,000 – $4,500,000), a recently serviced euro-spec 1991 Ferrari F40 fitted with upgraded aluminum fuel tanks and offered without reserve (Estimate: $1,800,000 – $2,200,000), and a superb 1965 Ferrari 275 GTS by Pininfarina with a numbers-matching V-12 (Estimate: $1,300,000 – $1,600,000). Driven by racing legend Juan Manuel Fangio, a 1953 Maserati A6GCS/53 Spyder by Fantuzzi will also cross the block and is eligible for the finest vintage racing and touring events around the globe (Estimate: $2,800,000 – $3,400,000).
Rounding out the lineup is a duo of rare hypercars, including the ferocious 2010 Pagani Zonda R Evolution, the fifth of just 10 “R” examples produced between 2009 and 2011(Estimate: $4,800,000 – $6,800,000) and the 2019 Bugatti Chiron finished in a dramatic Nocturne over Beluga Black leather and Alcantara interior (Estimate: $2,700,000 – $3,000,000).
Important Numbers:
22 cars with low estimates at or over $1,000,000
45 cars with low estimates at or over $500,000
Total low estimate amount of $77,409,200
Click to view all Amelia Island lots
