1959 Ferrari 250 GT LWB California Spyder Review and Buyer's Guide

This car sold for $1,217,500, including buyer's premium, at Christie's Pebble Beach auction, held August 18, 2002. My pocket guide to used-car advertising terms says paint that is "polished through in a few places" and has "some minor scratches" means the car needs to be repainted. "Carefully aged" 43-year-old leather means the seat panels have been resewn by hand where the thread has rotted. How is it that a car of dubious merit sells for twice the low estimate of $500,000? Call it Christie's Monterey magic, as well as the growing interest in cars that are original rather than restored. In all fairness, the car in question was pretty special. It featured disc brakes and an outside spark plug engine found only in the late long-wheelbase Californias. It also had a documented and admirable history. Originally delivered to the highly successful amateur racer, Alfred E. "Erwin" Goldschmidt, the car was passed on to Bill Ruger when Goldschmidt's SWB California Spyder was due to arrive. Ruger was the founder of Sturm, Ruger & Company, the largest gun manufacturer in the US. While he was widely recognized as America's greatest gun designer, he was also an avid car collector with an impressive collection of more than 30 classic cars. Ruger bought #1581 when it was only about six months old. He used the car sparingly and in the mid-1960s the Spyder was retired and sent to his Arizona home. While certainly very original, this was not a survivor. Its paint was very thin, making the car a sure candidate for a respray-for rust prevention if nothing else. The interior really was starting to come apart and featured sections of Kmart-grade carpet. Even the underhood details, like incorrect spark plug wires and Pep Boys hose clamps, kept the car from being a wash 'n' show example. Christie's tried to represent the car as oozing with patina, but that wasn't the case. This California may have run great and driven strong, but it will need at least a complete major service before the new owner tries the Copperstate Rally again. The paint and the interior need work and can not be updated without making them noticeably nicer than the rest of the car. Without question, any serious refurbishing done will quickly avalanche into a full-blown restoration. Good California Spyders are difficult to find. They're relatively rare and most are in the hands of well-heeled owners who simply aren't interested in selling them unless they get a price that exceeds the current market. Admittedly, the pre-auction estimate of $500,000 to $700,000 was low, and seemingly didn't take into account the value-add of the Ruger provenance. The buyer was a phone bidder who must have put a high value on the car's originality. At $1.2 million, he paid full market and then some, but in doing so set the new bar for California Spyder values. More importantly, the new owner is getting a car with which he can set the standards for the restoration, without having to undo any shadetree body, paint or mechanical work. This is a true no-bad-stories car, and when properly and correctly restored, it will rank as one of the most collectible and desirable of the LWB Cal Spyders.-Steve Ahlgrim