RM Sotheby’s announced several Ferraris — 275 GTB, 250 GT/L, and 550 GT1 — for the Milan 2021 classic car auction on the eve of the Mille Miglia.
Several top cars were announced for the new RM Sotheby’s Milan classic car auction scheduled for mid-June 2021. The lead car is a 1966 Ferrari 275 GTB that belonged to Roger Vadim and Jane Fonda. Further highlights include a 1963 Ferrari 250 GT/L Berlinetta Scaglietti, a 2001 Ferrari 550 GT1 raced by Toto Wolff, and a rare 1994 Ferrari 348 GT Competizione Michelotto. Non-Ferrari leading cars include a 1980 Lancia 037 Prototype, a 1951 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 Super Sport, and a 1950 Cisitalia 202 SC Cabriolet.
RM Sotheby’s Milan 2021 Classic Car Auction
The RM Sotheby’s Milan 2021 classic car auction is scheduled for 15 June 2021 at the Palazzo Serbelloni on the eve of the Mille Miglia historic race. It will be a live auction with limited on-site bidding as well as telephone and internet bids.
Top Ferraris at the RM Sotheby’s Milan 2021 Classic Car Sale
The early lead cars for the 2021 RM Sotheby’s Milan classic car auction include several Ferraris:
1966 Ferrari 275 GTB
The 1966 Ferrari 275 GTB (Estimate: €2,000,000 – €2,500,000) on offer in the RM Sotheby’s Milan 2021 sale boasts a sprinkling of Hollywood stardust. Chassis# 08641, a long nose and torque tube example, was sold new on 15 June 1966 by Franco-Britannic Autos to Roger Vadim, the famous French film director, who built a reputation for his extravagant and glamorous lifestyle as much as he did for his movies. Originally supplied to Vadim in metallic light blue “Azzuro” with a black leather interior, the car was first registered in his name in Paris, until three months later the car’s registration was transferred to his then wife, Hollywood royalty, Jane Fonda. There are numerous period photographs of the couple with the car and it is clear that it was much enjoyed by them.
After their ownership, the car moved to Lyon and in subsequent years to a handful of French collectors and Ferrari enthusiasts. In the early 1970s the car enjoyed some competition in the hands of a talented husband and wife team, who entered the car in this car in various Club Ferrari France events, including the Coupes des Dames in Mas de Clos in October 1974 and the Limonest-Mont Verdun hillclimb. The car was sold to the current owner about twenty years ago and it is presented today in its original Azzuro with black leather interior and is offered with the Ferrari Classiche red book certification confirming its matching numbers.
1963 Ferrari 250 GT/L Berlinetta
The 250 ‘Lusso’ is often regarded as the most accomplished Ferrari ‘all-rounder’ of the 1960s and one of the best-looking too. The 1963 Ferrari 250 GT/L Berlinetta (Estimate: €1,400,000 – €1,800,000) offered in Milan was the 65th of a total of only 350 units built and was sold new through official dealer Garage Fontanella & C. in Turin to the first owner Vittorio D’Agostino, at a declared purchase price of 5’750’000 Italian Lire. Fully restored by the best specialist in Modena, and presented in its original shade of metallic silver grey and fitted with a black interior, this matching numbers car is Ferrari Classiche certified.
2001 Ferrari 550 GT1
The 2001 Ferrari 550 GT1, (Estimate €1,800,000 – €2,200,000), is one of 2 cars built by Italtecnica for Team Rafanelli for the 2001 FIA GT Championship and driven by Naspetti and Schiattarella, which including leading the Spa 24 Hours. Reworked by JAS Engineering and sponsored by Red Bull for the 2002 Season, the car was driven by Riccitelli and the legendary Dieter Quester.
After a successful season of campaigning in 2003, it finally scored more wins in 2004, co-piloted by none other than Toto Wolff — now team boss of the all-conquering Mercedes-Benz Formula 1 team. An important contemporary racing Ferrari, this car is a veteran of the 500km of Monza, Spa 24 Hours, 3 Hours of Brno, and 3 hours of Silverstone, and recently benefited from gentle restoration and cosmetic overhaul to return it to its eye-catching 2002 Red Bull livery.
1994 Ferrari 348 GT Competizione Michelotto
Still rare but less pricey is the 1994 Ferrari 348 GT Competizione Michelotto, estimate €260,000 – €360,000. It is one of 11 hand-built 348 GT Competizione Michelotto racing cars. Chassis number #98226 is one of three cars with period racing history, and with only one owner from new, the car is extremely well documented and eligible for the Ferrari Club Competizione GT, Challenge and GT Days and Endurance Legends.
Top Cars for the RM Sotheby’s Milan 2021 Classic Car Sale
Further interesting non-Ferrari cars — but all Italian — already announced include:
1980 Lancia 037 Prototype
The 1980 Lancia 037 Prototype, (Estimate: €700,000-€900,000), was the very first Lancia Rally 037 produced and originally owned by Abarth. After Lancia’s rallying success in the 1970s, first with the Fulvia and later with the Stratos, a car which secured three consecutive World Rally Championship titles, 1980 saw the company move into the development of an all-new contender, the car which was to become known as the 037 and the last rear-wheel-drive car to win the World Rally Championship.
The Lancia offered in the Milan sale is chassis SE037-001, the first prototype for the legendary Lancia Rally ‘037’ which was commissioned to be constructed by the successful Italian race car constructor, Dallara, before final assembly and development at the Abarth factory, overseen by Sergio Limone. Once completed, chassis SE037-001 undertook extensive testing duties both on track and in the wind tunnel, and was driven extensively by the likes of Markku Alen, Adartico Vudafieri, and Giorgio Pianta. By 1982, the car was resplendent in the full Martini racing livery and it famously served as a Recce car in that year’s Acropolis Rally.
When its official duties were over, the car passed into the private ownership of Sergio Limone, who undertook a meticulous restoration, returning this important car to its original development specification, including the correct specification 1,995 cc supercharged engine.
Also recently consigned to the Milan sale are two further Italian greats. One of the most stylish cars of the early post-war period is the 1951 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 Super Sport ‘Villa d’Este’. The car offered here was fully restored several years ago in Italy following decades spent in the U.S. and is one of only thirty-six examples sporting Villa d’Este coachwork by Touring and carries a sale estimate of €575,000 – € 675,000.
Rare and desirable, the 1950 Cisitalia 202 SC Cabriolet to also feature in the sale is one of roughly 60 202 SC Cabriolets built. Combining coachbuilt bodywork with race-proven engineering and eligible today for a number of international motoring events, including the Mille Miglia, this beautifully restored example is estimated at €250,000 to €350,000 and offered without reserve.
RM Sotheby’s also announced a special single-owner sale in Liechtenstein in June 2021 of a 25-car collection of Rolls-Royces and Bentleys.
