1959 Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder LWB

This 1959 Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder LWB sold for $1,052,500 at Christie’s Monterey auction held August 12, 2004.
Next to the 500 TRC and the six-cylinder inline race cars, the California was undoubtedly the worst car ever to wear the Ferrari badge.-George Arents
George Arents was one of Luigi Chinetti’s business partners in the NART race team, and the purchaser of the first California Spyder, S/N 0769GT. His quote was taken from a letter he wrote to the late Stan Nowak, the author of Ferrari California Spyder. Arents noted that the Cal Spyder lacked reasonable weatherproofing, rusted easily, and was way too flexible. We can add to that list a relatively uncomfortable seating position and very little seat travel. Arents suggested that if it wasn’t for all Ferrari’s introductory hooplah, the project might have even been shelved.
Well, the marketplace didn’t agree with George. The Cal Spyder was popular from the beginning, and today it has ascended to the exalted plane of seven-digit Ferrari collectibles, proving that people will always buy beauty and performance over practicality.
Its long, low profile and short, raked windshield gave the California Spyder a clean look, further enhanced by a convertible top that stores completely out of view. Complementing the styling, Ferrari’s legendary 3-liter V12 is a perfect match for the car, giving it crisp acceleration and exceptional high-speed capabilities. Like the AC Cobra and the Porsche Speedster, the Cal Spyder’s virtues are so great that some rather basic flaws can be easily forgiven.
The long-wheelbase Cal Spyder was supplanted by a more aggressive and better looking short-wheelbase model in 1960. The SWB is considerably more desirable and LWBs tend to be worth about 40 percent less. (The SCM Price Guide lists SWBs at $1.8 to $2.2 million and LWBs between $1.1 to $1.4 million.) Throughout production, a few random Cal Spyders, including the car pictured here, received an uncovered open headlight arrangement, a less popular design that tends to cut values by about 10 percent.
So if being an LWB is strike one, and having open headlights is strike two against S/N 1217, its condition would have to be strike three. The assessment of “superb” cosmetics and “overall originality” was certainly over-enthusiastic. While this car might win a concours against other 45-year-old restoration candidates, SCM auction analyst and Cal Spyder owner John Apen rated the car as just a 3+. While getting yet another of his sports coats wrinkled by rolling around on the ground underneath a Ferrari, he spotted an incorrect rear Koni tube shock setup, some similarly wrong aluminum rocker panel trim, and a missing set of belly pans. The interior wasn’t great, nor were the bumpers, and it would take a $35,000 conversion back to drum brakes before the word “original” could even begin to apply.
But not all is bad for the 1959 250 GT. Indeed, it does have a well-
documented history with celebrity ownership. Fresh mechanicals with receipts from one of the best shops in the business is a great plus, as it means the car should perform without drama on any of the major automotive events for which it is eligible.
Last year the same money should have bought a car with fewer needs, but that was last year. The market for 250 SWBs, Tour de Frances and California Spyders is hot, appreciating about 20 percent in the past year, and all of those cars are hard to buy at any price. The alleged buyer here was representing a major Japanese collection, the sort of people who buy and sell high-end Ferraris like baseball cards. The price here was too much money by last year’s standards, all the money by today’s, and will seem like a great deal five years down the road. The market for these cars, where there will always be more demand than supply, will continue to rise.
(Historical and descriptive information courtesy of the auction company.)u