A priced-to-sell 1959 Ferrari 250 GT LWB California Spider Competizione is the lead car for the Broad Arrow Amelia Island 2025 sale.
A silver 1959 Ferrari 250 GT LWB California Spider Competizione with coachwork by Scaglietti is the most expensive car on offer at the Broad Arrow Amelia Island 2205 classic car auction. It has a pre-sale estimate of $10,000,000 to $14,000,000. It is clearly priced to sell — in 2017 it achieved a significantly higher $17,990,000 in a New York auction.
Broad Arrow Amelia Island 2025 Classic Car Auction
Broad Arrow (a Hagerty company) Amelia Island Sale: 7-8 March 2025 at the Ritz-Carlton Amelia Island in Florida, USA
In 2024, Broad Arrow replaced RM Sotheby’s as the official auction of The Amelia (Concours d’Elegance) in Florida. The 2024 auction earned $63 million with a sell-through rate of 92%. (RM Sotheby’s moved its Florida auction to Moda Miami, which in 2025 will be held on the final weekend of February.)
Top cars announced for the Broad Arrow Amelia Island 2025 sale include two with Le Mans racing history: a 1959 Ferrari 250 GT California Spider Competizione and a 1954 Jaguar D-Type “OKV 2” Works Competition. Both have come-buy-me estimates.
Ferrari 250 GT California Spider at Broad Arrow Amelia Island 2025
A 1959 Ferrari 250 GT LWB California Spider Competizione with coachwork by Scaglietti, chassis no. 1451 GT, estimated to bring $10,000,000 to $14,000,000, is the headline car of the Broad Arrow Amelia Island 2025 classic car auction. The California Spider is clearly priced to sell — it achieved $17,990,000 at the RM Sotheby’s New York 2017 auction.
The second of only eight aluminum-bodied Ferrari 250 GT LWB California Spider Competizione examples ever produced, chassis no. 1451 GT, boasts an impeccable Le Mans history. It was the first California Spider equipped from the factory with the competition-specification, outside-plug Type 128 F engine, among numerous other rare competition features including a Type 508 D ribbed gearbox, a 9.6:1 compression ratio resulting in 262.5 horsepower, an external oil cooler, stiffer suspension, and a long-range, 35-gallon fuel tank with an external fuel filler cap.
1959 Ferrari 250 GT LWB California Spider Competizione
The car was completed on June 15, 1959, a mere five days before the 1959 24 Hours of Le Mans, where it was campaigned by Luigi Chinetti’s N.A.R.T. in the hands of its first owner, American car dealer and gentleman racer Robert “Bob” Grossman and co-driver Fernand Tavano.
This hurried finish, nor the fact that it was Grossman’s first race at Le Mans, did not stop him from achieving the single most successful result in a 250 GT California Spider in competition, securing a remarkable fifth-place overall finish and third in the GT Class at Le Mans.
Following its racing debut, the Spider returned to the factory where it was finished properly in metallic silver, a livery it still wears today. The car was then imported to the United States, where it saw extensive racing success with Grossman throughout 1959 and 1960.
Under subsequent ownership, the car’s dual-purpose nature was particularly evident, seeing successful historic racing and rallying outings as well as a strong presence on the concours circuit, making appearances at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in the 1980s, 1990s, 2010s, and in 2024.
Auction Prices of Ferrari 250 GT California Spider Cars
Ferrari California Spiders from the late 1950s and early 1960s are amongst the most sought-after cars in the world, although none are amongst the 20 most expensive cars ever sold. California Spiders selling for over $10 million include:
| Rank | Year | Car | Price $ | Auction House | Auction | Year |
| 22 | 1961 | Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider | 18,649,760 | Artcurial | Paris | 2015 |
| 24 | 1959 | Ferrari 250 GT LWB California Spider Competizione | 18,150,000 | Gooding | Pebble Beach | 2016 |
| 25 | 1962 | Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider | 18,045,000 | Gooding | Amelia Island | 2023 |
| 26 | 1959 | Ferrari 250 GT LWB California Spider Competizione | 17,990,000 | RM Sotheby’s | New York | 2017 |
| 27 | 1963 | Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider | 17,875,000 | Mecum | Kissimmee | 2024 |
| 30 | 1961 | Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider | 17,160,000 | Gooding | Amelia Island | 2016 |
| 31 | 1960 | Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider | 17,055,000 | RM Sotheby’s | Monterey | 2024 |
| 32 | 1961 | Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider | 16,830,000 | Gooding | Pebble Beach | 2015 |
| 36 | 1961 | Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider | 15,180,000 | Gooding | Pebble Beach | 2014 |
| 61 | 1960 | Ferrari 250 GT LWB California Spider | 11,275,000 | Gooding | Pebble Beach | 2012 |
| 65 | 1961 | Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider | 10,894,900 | RM | Maranello | 2008 |
| 66 | 1959 | Ferrari 250 GT LWB California Spider Competizione | 10,840,000 | Gooding | Pebble Beach | 2021 |
Rank = estimated position on the list of most expensive cars ever as of early 2025.
The model records for both the SWB and LWB versions were set almost a decade ago but there were a couple of strong prices in 2023 and 2024.
The 1959 Ferrari 250 GT LWB California Spider Competizione, 1451 GT, sold for $17,990,000 as the top result at the RM Sotheby’s 2017 New York Icons classic car auction. The presale estimate was $14,000,000 – $17,000,000 — well below the estimate for Amelia Island 2025.