SCM Analysis
Detailing
| Vehicle: | 1967 Ferrari 330 GTS Barn Find |
| Number Produced: | 100 |
| Original List Price: | $16,800 |
| Tune Up Cost: | $3,000 |
| Chassis Number Location: | Left frame member by steering box |
| Engine Number Location: | Right rear above motor mount |
| Club Info: | Ferrari Club of America |
| Website: | http://www.ferrariclubofamerica.org |
| Investment Grade: | B |
This car, Lot 149, sold for $2,062,500, including buyer’s premium, at the Gooding & Company auction in Scottsdale, AZ, on January 18, 2014.
Radio commentator Paul Harvey famously based his program on the concept of “the rest of the story.” Of course, that meant you would have to listen to about five minutes of advertising before you got to “the rest of the story,” but Harvey’s delivery was usually worth the wait.
Gooding’s excellent catalog description presents a well-documented history of chassis 9343, but it missed the roller-coaster-ride story of discovering a barn find and getting it from the Pennsylvania garage to Scottsdale.
From chat room to the auction block
On October 12, 2013, a post titled “What to do with a ’67 330 GTS with low mileage” hit FerrariChat.com. The post started with this: “Many years ago my father bought a ’67 330 GTS and kept it in his garage ever since. He passed away several years ago, and my mother doesn’t know what to do with it.”
The writer went on to say that his father purchased the car at an insurance auction in 1969. The car had been totaled due to fire damage. His father was a truck mechanic who bought the car with the intention of restoring it. He partially disassembled the car in preparation for restoration and never completed the task. The son wrote that he never remembers the car being uncovered or worked on.
On November 26, 2013, a new post reported that the 330 was now sold. The reported price of $1m drew some responses, including calling the purchaser a “a predator” for preying on an elderly widow. The son said he thought it was a good — but not great — sale.
On December 20, 2013, a new post announced that chassis 9343 was going to Gooding’s Scottsdale Auction. A prominent West Coast dealer had gotten a tip the car was available and immediately flew out to see it. After some delicate negotiation, a deal was struck, and after 44 years, the GTS had a new owner. A second dealer had struck a deal with the first, and in turn, consigned it to Gooding.
On January 18, 2014, the winning bid on the Gooding & Co. block was $1,875,000 plus a 10% buyer’s premium, for a total of just over $2m.
Rough car, great story
It’s pretty obvious that someone made good money, but nobody was predatory. Up to auction day, high market was a $1.9 million sale that RM got for a nicely restored example in 2013. The RM sale was stunning in that it was double what Bonhams had gotten for a 330 GTS just months before.
Chassis 9343 was a rough car. It was an unrestored car rather than a survivor. It had a broken windshield, missing gauges, bare metal and other defects. The condition was past the point of patina.
With due respect to the preservationists, preserving this car would only be preserving bad paint, bad chrome and a worn interior. The car probably could be made to run with minimal effort, but it had sat too long to be a good driver without major work.
The buyer was a muscle car collector who was dipping his toe in European-car waters. Besides the Ferrari, he bought an unrestored Mercedes-Benz 300SL that was proudly touted as having sat on flat tires for three decades. His taste clearly runs toward unrestored cars.
As it is a barn find, just washing the car moves the value backwards. Chassis 9343 is too far gone to leave alone. It will be difficult to make any improvements without doing everything. The price paid should have bought a great car instead of a great story. This time, the seller got a gift. ♦
(Introductory description courtesy of Gooding & Company.)
