Weekly Motor Fix: Pebble Beach’s record-breaking 1964 Ferrari 250 LM

18 August, 2015

 

Ferrari’s 250 LM — powered by a mid-mounted, 3.3-litre V12 — was originally developed for GT racing, but was forced to compete as a sports prototype instead. Ferrari reckoned that the 250 LM was simply a ‘development’ of the existing 250-series cars, but motorsport authorities thought differently. Only 32 examples of this iconic sports racer were ever built — one of which was raced in New Zealand by Andy Buchanan during the ’60s.

Back in 1964, you could pick up a brand new 250 LM for around $32,000. But if you want to purchase one today, you’d need to have won Lotto at least a couple of times. It’s safe to say that 250 LMs don’t come up for sale very often, which made it very interesting when this ’64 example was present at the famous August 15–16 Pebble Beach auction.

With a body by Scaglietti, it went on to be the star of the event. As the actual display car from the 1966 Earls Court Motor Show, this 250 LM has never been damaged, despite being regularly campaigned throughout its life. At auction it managed to fetch an eye-watering US$17.6 million, or NZ$25.4 million, at the final fall of the auctioneer’s hammer.

Cheaper options at the same sale included a McLaren F1, which sold for NZ$20 million, while a Ferrari Enzo, originally built as a gift for Pope John Paul II, was a relative bargain — priced at a mere NZ$9.2 million.

Better get onto opening that KiwiSaver account!

Travelling companion

It’s easy to see why the Morris Minor Traveller was one of the best-loved variants of the Morris Minor. Introduced in 1953, it was equipped with the same independent torsion bar front suspension, drum brakes, and rack and pinion steering as its saloon sibling but, with their foldable rear seat increasing versatility, many Travellers were used as trade vehicles, says Derek Goddard. Derek and Gail Goddard, the owners of this superbly restored example, have run Morris Minors since before they were married in 1974.
“Our honeymoon vehicle was a blue Morris Minor van — it was a rust bucket,” says Derek.

Super Leicht Gullwing

It’s fair to say that nothing much in the classic Mercedes world gets past Mercedes-Benz Club stalwart Garry Boyce so it wasn’t surprising to learn that around 15 years ago he had sniffed out an extremely rare 300SL lightweight Gullwing as well as a 1958 300SL Roadster hiding away in the Waikato. The cars were not for sale but Garry eventually managed to persuade the owner to allow him and his restoration team to take a look at the Roadster. They discovered a very distressed but largely unmolested car. The car was so original that the body had never been off the chassis, meaning most of the parts and fittings were still present and correct, as they had been fitted by the factory.