A concours auction wouldn't be a concours auction without a highly desirable competition-spec classic Ferrari on the docket, and this year's RM Auction event at Amelia Island will be no exception – even if the qualifying car in question is quite exceptional. What we have here is a 1952 Ferrari 225 Sport Belinetta, one of just two built on the vaunted Tuboscocca chassis and with coachwork by Carrozzeria Vignale. One of only six 225S competition berlinettas built, it's expected to fetch $1.25-1.75 million at auction.

Following on the earlier success of the 166 MM and 212 Export, the 225 formed an evolutionary bridge to the later 250 series that gave us the GTO and Testa Rossa. The 225 went on to score numerous motor racing victories, including a 1-2-3 finish at the 1952 Monaco Grand Prix. This particular example, chassis 0168ED, enjoyed a brief racing career under private ownership before the factory bought it back and sent it to its US distributor Luigi Chinetti. In America, it finished 8th overall and 2nd in its class at Sebring in 1953, beating the locals and coming just behind a factory-entered Aston Martin DB3S.

It raced for a while longer in America before heading to Cuba whewre it won the Cuban Sports Car Grand Prix, after which it remained in a private collection for 38 years. 0168ED underwent a comprehensive restoration in 1974, ditching the Chevy small-block V8 that had been fitted for racing and replacing it with the engine from a 250 GT. The original engine was lost along the way until RM found it again and will sell that as well to whoever places the winning bid on this beautiful piece of Ferrari history. (Photos by Darin Schnabel, courtesy of RM Auctions.)