Super-Rare Ferrari roadster fetches $385k at Amelia auction
There are Ferraris, there are rare Ferraris, and then there are the exceptionally rare Ferraris, the likes of which collectors and enthusiasts wait to hit the auction block with bated breath. At last month's RM auction of vintage motor cars at the Amelia Island Concours D'Elegance, one such special Prancing Horse hit the auction block, selling at a price significantly lower than its estimated value.
The Ferrari 365 GTS/4 was the convertible version of the car nicknamed the Daytona, although officially it never received that nameplate. Only 121 such Daytona Spyders were built by the factory; the rest were chop-jobs performed on Daytona coupes by Carrozziere. Serial number 16467 was the 71st authentic 365 GTS/4 built by Maranello, and had a rather eventful history. The car was originally sold in the Reno, Nevada to an American customer named Mr. Greer. In 1975 it appeared in the Warner Bros. movie "A Star is Born" starring Kris Kristofferson and Barbara Streisand, and was severely damaged in the production. (Why they didn't use a mock-up like in the original Miami Vice series or at least a chopped-roof Daytona coupe is beyond reasoning.) The bashed-up car was sold to a Mr. Luigi Chinetti, who commissioned the coachbuilder Giovanni Michelotti (not to be confused with the Ferrari racing specialists Michelotto) to rebuild the damaged roadster into the one-of-a-kind special you see here. It would be among the last Michelotti would ever design.
Since being displayed at the Turin motor show in 1980, the Ferrari 365 GTS/4 Michelotti NART Spyder has changed ownership only a few times. Although its value prior to the auction was estimated between five and $700,000, the Spyder sold for only $385,000. It just goes to show that an item is only worth as much as someone's willing to pay for it, but this is one example that's bound to appreciate in value over the coming years.
[Source: RM Auctions]
_opt_thumbnail.jpg)
_thumbnail.jpg "2011 Audi A8: Live from Miami")
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
John 3:21PM (4/23/2007)
It is probably worth a lot more with its original bodywork. If I had just bought the car, I would remove the current body, store it, and have an original Daytona Spyder body built for the car.
I believe a similar thing has happened with some AC 428 Frua cars, they've been converted into Cobras.
Reply
Phil 3:22PM (4/23/2007)
Looks like a Triumph TR7
Reply
mustangcharlie 3:26PM (4/23/2007)
I would immediately box it up and send it to Allegretti to be refitted with the correct Daytona bodywork.
Also, Richard Straman from California did numerous 365GTB chops as well as Carrozziere.
Reply
georgejetson 3:37PM (4/23/2007)
"sold to a Mr. Luigi Chinetti"
Do you guys really not know who Chinetti was and what his place in Ferrari history is? That's, like, really basic automotive history, kids. This thing is kind of ugly, but it isn't just a random rebody by some random rich guy -- if it were, putting a proper Daytona body back on it would in fact be a good way to go.
Reply
Mike 3:37PM (4/23/2007)
$700k?! Maybe if Enzo's body is in the trunk.
What would make anyone think this car is worth more than $250k is beyond me. It's basically a salvage vehicle with an Italian after market body on it.
The original Daytona drop-tops, while rare, looked like hell and are only famous and desirable in America and Japan due to American TV. This is one of those cars in serial number only...otherwise it's just a Ferrari-based kit car.
No one with half a brain would pay the final sale price this car got, it will cost nearly half that price just to restore it.
Reply
nardi 3:43PM (4/23/2007)
It looks like a TR7 because Giovanni Michelotti designed the TR7 allong with many other Triumph model: spitfire, vitesse etc.
Reply
BOB 4:02PM (4/23/2007)
WOW! WOW! WOW!
#5 DID NOT SAY IT STRONGLY ENOUGH! Amazing gaff!
and #6 gave a little on Michelotti, but anyone writing about European cars should know who he was. All his cars were pretty similar.
Noah, you seem surprised that the rebodied car sold lower than you thought. May I point out:
1 - most any Michelotti designed car was considered a bit low-brow at the time, and to this day.
2 - the original body was many times better looking. This is a real hack job.
Reply
John 4:21PM (4/23/2007)
I know about all the people involved in this story, Chinetti and Michelotti. I still think the car should be restored to its original configuration.
Save the bodywork and interior, but this car has no history and it is not an improvement on the original.
Reply
06VistaBlueGT 5:41PM (4/23/2007)
#5, I know who Luigi Chinetti was. He was the original Ferrari Importer for the USA. He was responsible for getting all the Ferrari's here when they first made cars. He imported all the greats back then (GTO, GT Lusso, 250 GT, 275, 330, the list go on). He even the fellow who commissioned the ultra-rare 275 GTS N.A.R.T Spyder. Only 10 were made, with one of them having a small role in the original version of "The Thomas Crown Affaif" Staring Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway.
Reply
forza 6:37PM (4/23/2007)
http://www.cars-galore.de/images/brilliance/20060222-jinjue.jpg
Reply
TigerMil 8:44PM (4/23/2007)
It's a sin to say "A Mr. Luigi Chinetti" except tongue-in-cheek.
I met Luigi in 1965 in NYC at his dealership as a teenager on a National Merit Honor group train trip...I'll never forget the cars in the showroom and the V12 in the showroom window.
About the car...sorry, it's just fugly. I never thought I say that about a Ferrari, but it's kind of like a Z06 with a Thunderbird body on it.
Please restore it back to stock Daytona bodywork...then maybe it will be worth $700K.
Reply
Nellydesign 7:28AM (4/24/2007)
Never before have I thought a Ferrari would look better with a Pontiac badge on it...
Well, the one in the earlier story had a flaming chicken on it... no... wait, it was just on fire.
Reply
cluebyfour 2:25PM (4/24/2007)
"Why they didn't use a mock-up like in the original Miami Vice series or at least a chopped-roof Daytona coupe is beyond reasoning."
Well, perhaps for the same reason Ferrari provided the Miami Vice production with two genuine Testarossas--they didn't want a cheap knockoff diluting their brand image. They could, however, have used a mock-up for riskier stunts as they did in MV, but I'm having a hard time imagining what kind of driving stunts there would be in a Barbra Streisand movie. . . .
Reply