After Ferrari's recent victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, there is a lot of talk about the La Sarthe classic. The house of the prancing horse returned to compete in the 24-hour race after 50 years and did so in the best possible way, achieving an incredible success, making all romantic motorsport fans dream.
What better occasion to reconnect with the last Ferrari car to win the historic transalpine competition? That's what they must have thought at Artcurial, not content with the auction prepared for the Le Mans Classic 2023. In fact, on Thursday 6 July, an auction will be held exclusively for a car identical to the one that, until recently, boasted the last Ferrari success at Le Mans: the 250 LM Berlinetta.
From debut to the “smart homologation”
The ferrari 250 lm Berlinetta makes its debut at the Paris Motor Show in October 1963. The limelight is all on the car that is to continue the winning streak of the outgoing 250 GTO and 250P. It was the first mid-engined Ferrari, designed by the team led by Carlo Chiti, who would bring so much joy to Alfa Romeo in the following decades.
Designed by Pininfarina, it was conceived with the intention of receiving homologation in the GT category but, burnt by what they did with the 250GTO, the Federation did not grant exemptions.
It would therefore take 100 examples to obtain such homologation, while production stopped at 32. The Drake is thus obliged to race them in the prototype category, against much more powerful cars such as the Ford GT40. This did not stop the story of the ‘little' Ferrari, which won the 1965 Le Mans 24 Hours driven by Jochen Rindt, Masten Gregory and the ‘mysterious' Ed Hugus. This was due to its handling and road-holding, as well as the reliability of its 3.3-litre V12.
Chassis ‘5901': the Ferrari 250 LM from the birth till Daytona
The auctioned car is fitted with chassis ‘5901' mated to engine ‘5901' and gearbox '18'. The chassis was delivered to the Scaglietti coachworks on 24 June 1964 while the engine and gearbox were assembled on 18 and 23 September of the same year respectively.
Luigi Chinetti's official N.A.R.T. order is dated 6 November and leads to the car's embarkation in Livorno. This takes place on the ship “Maria Costa”, used as a carrier to send the car to New York. Once in the States, the 250LM is bought by Raymond John Augusterfer and entered in the 1966 24 Hours of Daytona as a reserve car. The race takes place on 5/6 February 1966, but the car is not used as there are no withdrawals from the official cars.
The car thus returned to Chinetti, who bought it back in 1968 and sold it twice in the following years. In 1970 it became the property of William b. Kearden who keeps it for eight years. During this time, the 250LM that is the subject of our story appears in No. 37 of “Cavallino Rampante”, the magazine of the Ferrari Club of America.
It was later found at the Ferrari Club rally at Lime Rock on 01 July 1974 and in the Ferrari Parade before the Formula 1 GP held at Watkins Glen in 1975.
A true Globetrotter
In 1978 the car ended up in Minnesota, purchased by Robert Bodin. He attended the Ferrari Club of America rallies at Road Atlanta in 1978 and 1979. It then underwent some restoration work before meeting a new owner, Joseph Rosen, who would accompany it into the 1990s.
In 1995, it became the property of Massimo Ferragamo who paid $1,600,000 for it and then sold it to a collector from Geneva in 1997. The latter, Mody Enav, decided to have the car restored by Dk Engineering for two years.
Chassis ‘5901' made its social debut at the Louis Vuitton Concours d'Elegance at the Hurlingam Club, just before it passed to Jean Guikas in 2002. Guikas kept it very little, selling it almost immediately to a European collector who uses it very little to this day.
A jewel at auction
Since its restoration in the late 1990s, the car has travelled only 2000km and is almost perfect. After the first unsuccessful attempt to sell it at Retromobile, the car came up again and took centre stage.
The expected estimate ranges from 13,500,000 to 20,000,000€, considerably lower than the 25,000,000€ suggested for the last auction. Needless to say, these are decidedly ‘important' values for a car that has no equal in the world. It ended up fetching more 15,7 Millons Euro.
The preliminary inspection carried out by ‘ferrari classiche' on 19/07/2022 revealed the need to fit original front and rear brake discs, as well as a compliant exhaust tailpipe. These components are supplied to be fitted together with the car. The goal of the coveted Maranello ‘red booklet' is therefore well within reach for the 5901.
A ‘double' preview: the Artcurial auction
It will be visible by appointment only on Wednesday 28 June without time restrictions and on Thursday 29 June from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. It will instead be freely accessible on Thursday 29 June from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. and on Wednesday 30 June from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The next exhibition of the lot will take place at the Paris auction house on Thursday 6 July from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
An event for a select few
The auction will be held at the Paris headquarters of the auction house and will take place on Thursday 6 July from 7 p.m. To participate, one must follow an event-specific registration procedure to guarantee the exclusivity of the event.
In order to bid, one must contact the auction house's bidding office or car department at least 48 hours before the sale and no online bids will be accepted.