A rare 1962 250 GT SWB California Spider was sold at the Gooding & Company during Florida's Amelia Island Concours collector car week celebration for a whopping $18,040,000. It's one of only 37 built between 1960 and 1963 with covered headlights, and this model features a unique Azzurro Metallizzato paint and Naturale leather interior combination.
The Azzurro Metallizzato California Spider is chassis number 3099 and is powered by the stock Ferrari 3.0-liter V12 engine with a four-speed manual transmission but equipped with larger carburetors and wider Borani wheels. Its price is close to the record for a California Spider, which is $18.5 million.
The car was last bought for $2,400 in 1971 by Ferrari enthusiasts Charles Betz and Fred Peters in the San Pedro area of Los Angles while they were looking for Porsche parts. According to the listing, it was built specifically for the 1962 New York International Auto Show - the 250 GT variant was developed specifically for the North American market, and the name was revived for the modern Ferrari California, itself succeeded by the Portofino and Portofino M.
It was aimed at young enthusiasts with money to spare that wanted a sports car they could drive to work during the week and race at weekends. As a result, it features a swept-back windscreen, a minimal set of interior features, a lightweight folding top, and competition-inspired bucket seats.
The color (MM 16240 Azzurro Metallizzato) is a rarity that originally appeared on a limited number of Pininfarina-bodied 250 GT models built between 1960 and 1962. After the show, the car went to Los Angeles, but its ownership history is murky until it showed up in the 1960s with burgundy paint and the interior re-trimmed with black leather.
By the 1970s, it wasn't a particularly valuable car and was damaged in an accident. While not a severe accident, sourcing parts was a problem, and it was sold to Rudi Klein of Porsche Foreign Auto Wrecking in Carson, California. Klein wasn't a fan of Ferraris and sold it to Betz and Peters for less than they offered.
It wasn't until the early 2000s that the enthusiasts returned the car to its original condition and specs, with the paint matched from areas of the car left untouched. How much the restoration cost, we don't know, but even if they spent hundreds of thousands, the return on investment is still insane.