HomeMediaLe Mans-winning Ferrari withdrawn from Paris auction docket

Le Mans-winning Ferrari withdrawn from Paris auction docket

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A little more than two weeks before its scheduled auction, Artcurial Motorcars announced that the 1964 Le Mans-winning Ferrari 275P that was to be the star of its Retromobile sale has been withdrawn by the consignor.

“The heirs of Pierre Bardinon have informed Artcurial Motorcars that, due to the ongoing proceedings concerning the estate, they are suspending the sales agreement for the Ferrari 275P for Retromobile,” Artcurial Motorcars said in its news release.

At speed | Artcurial photo by Bernard Beaumesnil archives

“Two weeks before the sale, we share the enormous disappointment of all the enthusiasts looking forward to the event, as well as collectors who were already positioned to bid on this exceptional automobile,” the auction house added.

The car, according to an article published by The Revs Institute, “had a fair chance of becoming the highest-priced car ever sold at auction, topping the $38 million dropped on a Ferrari 250 GTO at the Bonham’s Quail Lodge auction in 2014.”

However, writer John Lamm added, “it’s just the latest episode of drama for a car that starred in one of the legendary showdowns in auto-racing history.”

That showdown was Ford vs. Ferrari, GT40 vs. 275 P, with both cars driven by a who’s who of motorsports. By the end of the 24 hours of racing, it was 275 P chassis 0816 that took the checkered flag.

Lamm said there was speculation that the car could bring as much as $40 million at the Paris auction next month, and quoted David Gooding, of the Gooding & Company auction house as saying, “You could sell that car in the middle of a snowy field in Kansas tomorrow and all the people who want it are going to go there because there’s not another chance to buy another one.”

And now even that one will have to await its day on the auction block pending the settlement of the Bardinon estate.

Larry Edsall
Larry Edsall
A former daily newspaper sports editor, Larry Edsall spent a dozen years as an editor at AutoWeek magazine before making the transition to writing for the web and becoming the author of more than 15 automotive books. In addition to being founding editor at ClassicCars.com, Larry has written for The New York Times and The Detroit News and was an adjunct honors professor at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.

1 COMMENT

  1. I am sure Pierre Bardinon is balefully looking down at both the seller and his "family" for dredging up the muck of current "car collectors" with this sale. As anyone who knew him or knew of him, Bardinon "exercised" his car collection regularly…he drove most of them on the street. The very idea that this cars’ major legacy will NOT be that it was the last Ferrari factory entry to win at LeMans but rather – and much more fitting for these unenlightened but money-filled times – that it sold for the highest price. Disgusting, really. Then again, it works in a way: this way there will be that many fewer enthusiasts in the future who will see this car and/or appreciate it. Nice way to kill the gearhead hobby, no? Make all the items so expensive, so impossible to insure and so unlikely ever to be seen that no one will care. Excellent!

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