1957 Ferrari 250 GT Tour de France Estimated $8.5 To $11 Million At RM Sotheby's Monaco May 12
Mark Ewing
,
Contributor
Automotive design, engineering and technology.
Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.
A life well spent
around sports cars started in childhood, clicking stopwatches at Vintage
Auto Racing Association (VARA) events. An Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spider
was my yowling first car, followed by a metal-dash MGB, nicknamed
Humbert. In my twenties, I took over a foundering sports car magazine,
building an international network of writers, photographers and fine
artists. Ford Special Vehicle Team recruited me to bolster management of
creative efforts, but the engineers soon had me along for clay reviews,
and engineering development drives. I drafted white papers that
ultimately led to several highly collectible performance cars. After a
study team project in Hiroshima to validate a relaunch of Mazdaspeed,
Scion and Toyota engaged me to develop website content, balancing
between marketing, product planning and legal review. And now home to
exceptional cars and gran turismo travel. For relaxation, I love to
shoulder a fine shotgun and cultivate our rose garden.
The author is a Forbes contributor. The opinions expressed are those of the writer.
RM Sothebys
1957 Ferrari 250 GT Competizione
Tour de France, matching numbers and never seriously wounded during its
racing career, is expected to pull $8.5 To $11 Million At RM Sotheby’s
Monaco May 12.
RM Sotheby’s will offer this 1957 Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta Competizione
“Tour de France” on May 12 at the Grimaldi Forum, Monte Carlo. The
fifteenth of only seventeen “three-louver” covered headlight versions of
the 250 GT Berlinetta Competizione Tour de France and
completed in January 1958, chassis no. 0879 GT was first sold to German
racing driver Wolfgang Seidel of Dusseldorf, nicknamed “The Golden
Bear.” Seidel campaigned a 250 TR (Testa Rossa) for the Scuderia Ferrari
during 1958.
RM Sotheby's
Chassis no. 0879 GT was first sold to German racing driver Wolfgang Seidel of Dusseldorf, nicknamed “The Golden Bear.”
Over the next few years Seidel competed in 22 events across Europe
with this TdF, posting 11 victories and a string of podium finishes,
including second overall at the Pau 3 Hours, second overall at the
Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps, first at the Grand Handicap de
Spa-Francorchamps, third in class at the 1959 Grand Prix de Paris at
Linas-Montlhéry, and fourth at the 12 Hours of Reims with co-driver
Wolfgang von Trips.
RM Sotheby's
Ferrari 250 GT Competizione, TdF.
Similar in basic concept to the Tour de France bicycle race we all
know today, the Tour de France motorsport competition was staged over
several days each year between 1899 and 1986. Ferrari’s 250 GT
Competizione
was produced from 1956 to ‘59 to suit the unique mix of circuit racing,
hill climb and drag race stages of the Tour de France. It so dominated
the event that the model was nicknamed for it.
Recommended by Forbes
RM Sotheby's
Ferrari 250 GT "Tour de France."
Chassis no. 0879 GT landed in 1973 with Christer Mellin, founder of
the Ferrari Club of Sweden. With guidance from the Ferrari factory,
Mellin restored the car over the course of two decades. In 1997, Mellin
sold the car to its current owner, who has maintained the meticulous
restoration while entering it in events like Ferrari anniversary
celebrations and the Mille Miglia reenactment.
RM Sotheby's
V12 of the 250 GT Tour de France.
Never grievously wounded during its racing career, chassis no. 0879
GT represents a special opportunity. The car has had only two owners in
the last 45 years and is one of few surviving 1950s Ferrari race cars
that remains fully matching throughout, as authenticated by its recent
Ferrari Classiche certification. Accompanied by an extensive history
file, chassis no. 0879 GT is estimated at €7 to €9 million, or $8.5 to
$11 million U.S.
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