This car, Lot 193, sold for $1,166,458 against an estimate of $870,000 to $1,075,000 at RM Auctions’ Automobiles of London sale on October 27, 2010.
Ferraris tend to be known by their model designation rather than their year of production. Each model stands on its own, with little regard to its production date.
Few know or care if a 250 Lusso or 250 SWB came first, or that 275 GTB/4s were built until 1968 and 330 GTC production began in 1966. This is noted to help clear the popular misconception that the 365 California was a derivative of the 365 GT 2+2 Queen Mother.
The 365 California and the 365 GT 2+2 sport similar front ends, interiors, 2+2 configurations, and 365 model designation. Open top Ferrari models usually trail the closed versions, so it’s logical to assume the California was a chop top version of the 2+2, but that’s wrong.
Why is this important?
This distinction is important because the California is Ferrari blue blood, sired from a line of royal Ferraris. The 365 GT 2+2 is a Ferrari commoner—if there can be such a thing.
The California was designed for beautiful people to cruise the Rivera, while the 365 GT 2+2 was designed to drive to the office, stop at the store, or drop off the kids at school. Any similarity between the models would be passed from the California to the 2+2, not the other way.
It’s a well-known story that from the earliest days of production Ferraris, an exclusive “top-of-the-line” model was available to Ferrari’s best customers. These cars were low-production luxury touring models with powerful engines, the finest trimmings, and distinctive coachwork.
The models progressed from the America series through the Superamericas (1960s vintage) and on to the Superfasts. It is a lesser-known story that the bloodline ended with the 365 California.
A design exercise lives
The 365 California began as a Pininfarina styling exercise for the 1966 Geneva Salon. American designer Tom Tjaarda was working at Pininfarina at the time, and he was charged with doing an original design for the 500 Superfast’s successor.
Tjaarda tells a story of having to work on the design while on summer vacation because Pininfarina had a tight schedule. He turned in the drawings and left the company soon afterwards. The next summer, he was in Santa Margherita, Italy, and saw “some rich-looking guy” driving one.
“That really surprised me because we had a running joke at Pininfarina—we thought it would be a show car only,” Tjaarda said.
The design of the car had to contain recognizable Ferrari styling cues yet look fresh and modern. A 500 Superfast-style front end was the starting point, with its familiar egg crate oval grille and deep set covered headlights. A raised center 275 GTB style hood was another recognizable feature. A scoop down the door into the rear fender was borrowed from Pininfarina’s 206 GT show car. On the Dino the scoop was functional, but on the California it was just for show.
Mechanically the California’s engine was basically a bored-out version of the 330 GT’s Colombo V12. It’s true that Ferrari’s 365 P2s used a similar engine, but the California’s 320-horsepower version was certainly not race tuned.
Weakness underneath
The California’s underpinnings were the weak link of the car. The chassis was a carryover from the 500 Superfast and the 330 GT. It featured an independent front suspension with a solid rear axle suspended by leaf springs. The suspension was hardly state of the art, but it was adequate for the period. The frame however, was not. The open top California lacked the rigidity of a closed top body.
When stressed, the chassis would flex. The problem was significant enough that after positioning a California on uneven terrain, a magazine photographer found the door jammed and would not open.
RM’s sale of California 08347 for more than $1,100,000 probably speaks more to the tremendous desirability of vintage open top Ferraris than the California’s appeal. The ungainly proportions and confusing styling of the California has never been a crowd pleaser.
Additionally, the 2+2 seating is not a popular Ferrari configuration, and the California’s performance is not particularly impressive. In its favor, 08347 is one of less than 1,000 pre-1975 open top Ferraris in existence.
Chassis 08347 was the original show car and the prototype for the model. It was also the car featured in Ferrari’s line catalogue. Its history is known from new, and Ferrari’s Classiche certification virtually insures there are no skeletons in the closet. If you want a 365 California or an open Ferrari, 08347 is a good choice.
It takes nearly $500k to get into the open top vintage Ferrari game, and a $1m for an important car is not unreasonable. RM sold another 365 California in 2007 for nearly the same price, and another one is currently on the market at a $1,100,000. Chassis 08347 broke the auction estimate—but not by much.
The seller and buyer met at market price and both should be happy with the transaction.
