GOODING RACES TO AMELIA LEAD
Top spot at Amelia Island this year went to Gooding & Co, which realised a total of $35,937,250 during its 9 March sale – helped by some 14 vehicles going for in excess of $1m. Of those, the highest price was paid for a ’66 Ferrari 275GTB at just over $2.5m, making it the most valuable car to change hands during the Florida concours. The Ferrari – one of 80 alloy-bodied ‘long-nose’ 275GTBS produced – had been in storage since 1991 and had shared garage space with a 1967 Shelby Cobra 427. The latter attained a strong $1,045,000.
Also boasting Ford V8 power was a 1967 GT40 MKIV. The last of 12 built, the racer had spent the past 24 years in the same hands and came with an additional chassis assembled from period spares. The Ford achieved $1,925,000. Another competition icon was a late-model Porsche 962C that had started on the front row at the 1990 Le Mans 24 Hours; it raised $1,595,000.
Porsches were much in evidence, and included a superb 964 turbo S ‘Leichtbau’ that set a new auction record for the model at $1.76m, while a 993 GT2 was $1,485,000 and a ’57 356A Speedster made $572k. A two-owner car – the first for 54 years – the Aquamarine Blue 356 had been beautifully restored. Rather more down-at-heel was a 1953 356 1500 Super. Having spent 62 years in the same family, the car was fitted with a VW engine but came with a period-correct Porsche unit and looked a fantastic candidate for an ‘oily-rag’ rebuild. At $88k it was a whisker short of its upper estimate. A 1957 356A 1500 GS Carrera that had been hidden from public view since 1972 also delivered a strong $506,000.
Among the other highlights was a 1952 Ferrari 212 Europa that set a new auction benchmark at $1.6m, as did a ’55 Mercedes-benz 300Sb coupé ($473,000) and a 1953 Fiat 1100 coupé ($418,000).