Bargain 275GTS? post auction sale by Gooding

Next to my Ferrari favorite - the 330GTS, I follow the market for the 275GTS as a close second choice. 7987 was a "no-sale" at $1M (+/-) at the Gooding Monterey auction - but sold post auction in recent days for $925K. The car was described as mostly original, with some recent service work completed. Significant paint flaws and a few dents are present, while the convertible top is also in tough shape. It was also noted that it has a replacement block that was restamped - that is perhaps a permanent value hit and keeps it from being collector grade. The interior looks very presentable. Clean underhood as well. Appears to be a decent driver grade car that shows well at a distance.

Did anyone get a close look at this one? Under $1M seems like a bargain for any 275GTS...but perhaps that is market correct for this particular car given it's condition?

https://www.goodingco.com/lot/1966-ferrari-275-gts-1a/

 

The non-matching engine was the killer. Besides the OA condition.

Marcel Massini

 

What would be a good guess as to how much this car would have gone for with the original block? Just curious.

 

Usually a non-original engine but of the correct type on a vintage Ferrari is a 25% discount

 

Good to know, thanks.

 

Quick story. I used to restore old Triumph motorcycles (I know, I know...). I had a guy sell me a set of punches. He said dealers used them to restamp blank engine cases when the original blew up.

I've always wondered if any car companies did the same.

 

That would put this car at ~$1.25M if it had it's original engine. Still needed paint, a top and an interior. Call that another $100K. These cars trade for around $1.5M +/- with no issues... perhaps making this a small bargain if you were willing to settle for it never being "quite right". The driving experience would be the same, though...and you could feel OK parking it at Walmart... ;-)

 

I think paint/top/trim for $100k would be an incredible deal if it could be done (properly) for anywhere near that sum.

 

JAM1 is correct, you will have $25,000 in plating and polishing alone. Times have changed.

 

Points well taken. I would say that means that cars such as the 250GTE, 330GT 2+2, etc. are still a challenge to properly restore and come out OK on...

 

Johnny: Absolutely true and an important point. There was a time a few years ago, when the increased values of the GTE and 330 2+2 made restorations feasible. However, now with inflation rampant in the general economy, restoration costs have increased again to where these cars are not necessarily good restoration candidates.

 

Well it just goes back to a more normal situation where a quality restoration needs to be a labor of love.

 

Yet and as always, there are countless people who continue to spend same or proportionally similar kind of monies (or even more) building/restoring far less interesting, obscure or valuable, i.e. dime-a-dozen vintage cars, but again, they’re doing it for the love of those cars, not for speculative reasons.

Many/most even know there will never be a chance to recover most of the expenditure, let alone make a “profit”, but that’s how true enthusiasts approach their hobbies/leisures/pleasures and separates them from dreamers, speculators and wannabes.

 

Can't we have it all? ;-) I'm a "True Enthusiast" in terms of maintaining and/or improving the interesting cars I already have - often no matter the cost. Being a "Dreamer " drives one to the next stretch goal...and being a "Wannabe" has us appreciating what we can't have. And, of course, everyone hopes that "their car" is the next one to catch on in popularity (and thus value), which perhaps makes us passive "Speculators" as well. I have a "modern" Ferrari already - and it's great, but sure would like to get to the next milestone of owning and experiencing one from the 60s...

 

Perhaps the good news is that many of these have already been restored...

 

Restored is not a permanent condition nor is it a term with a well defined meaning or consistent result.

 

Johnny: If you want a 1960s Ferrari, set your sights on a 330 GTC. They are superb automobiles, beautiful, very reliable (once set right) and today, undervalued. Less than 1/2 the cost of a 275 GTS.

 

I must be anomaly, since 45+ years into this hobby/passion of vintage cars (have no ownership interest in anything introduced within past +/-50 years), I've never had "hopes" my cars becoming popular or valuable.
Every car I own or just about every one of the, mostly vintage, cars I've owned over the 4+ decades, I bought for myself to enjoy, i.e. drive and tinker with, damn the consequences of costs/values/etc or what someone else thinks/thought about them, but some I had to sell merely because I didn't have sufficient means (i.e. money, space & time) to keep and properly maintain them all.
The ones I would still like to add to my stable are (and have always been) far, far beyond my means, so I don't waste much time dreaming about them.
And some of the cars I've bought (& still have), I paid far more than what "others" (interested in same/similar cars) thought they should be worth, but again, I just wanted and had enough $$s at the time to get them. One of them took almost all my cash savings at the time, but I owned and drove it for 20 years/70000+ miles and when I had to sell it, the first person who came to look at it promptly paid my asking price which was 4 x what I had originally paid for it.

 

Agreed...

 

I love GTCs. I had one. But I'd rather buy a Daytona.

 

Oh, yes...I follow these as well and understand what they represent. One with AC would actually make a more practical car for Florida vs a GTS. Not far from affording one...if I sold a couple others. That's the tough part...

 

I enjoy both for very different reasons but the Daytona would never get used as much as the GTC if both were in the garage.

It is my go to model when advising a client who is a first time vintage Ferrari shopper.

 

I'm a slut. When you romp on a Daytona's loud pedal, it gets fun. I think a Daytona is more fun to drive than a Maranello. A Shark is a great car, but it is a modern car. You don't get the small analog feel you do with a Daytona.

Ps This assumes you put steering assist in the Daytona.

 

From the perspective of many that is the one joy of driving one. Maranello is a well rounded car. Spent the day with one on Laguna Seca. Had a blast. 330 is a very well rounded car too. Had a client with a nice but small collection of Ferraris. One was an F50. He lived in Nevada when I was in SF Bay Area. He picked up a car and had been planning on driving F50. Showed up in Stradale. Said he went to garage and just could not do it. Soon after sold F50. Never got driven. I have other clients withe several including Daytonas. For some reason those stay in Garage.