Stunning Quartet Of Ferrari V12 Convertibles Head To Auction

Dec. 04, 2018 12:45 PM ET by Noah Joseph Classic Cars / 3 Comments

RM Sotheby's has four vintage V12 Ferrari roadsters coming up for auction next month.

Twelve-cylinder convertibles are hard to come by, especially from Ferrari. Maranello only produces them on rare occasions, and even then it only makes a handful at a time. That's what it's expected to do with the 812 Superfast in the near future. But if you can't wait for that to come out, RM Sotheby's may have just the ticket... or four.

At its sale in Arizona next month, RM will sell off a quartet of classic V12 Ferrari roadsters to the highest bidders. And we'd be hard-pressed to choose between them.

The oldest of them is a 330 GTS of 1967 vintage, looking rather classic in deep red with a black interior, wood-rimmed steering wheel, and knock-off wire-spoke wheels. (And by knock-off, we mean with a spinner hub, not fakes.)

The 330 was essentially a 250 GT with a bigger engine, and shared much with the 275 that followed. A succession of coupes were made with two seats or four. But only a hundred of these GTS spiders were made before the entire line was replaced by the 365. And RM has a couple of those on offer, too.

Like this blue 365 NART Spider, based on the Daytona but rebodied by Michelotti for Luigi Chinetti – Ferrari's famed US importer and head of the North American Racing Team (NART). It's one of only three examples made, which leaves this as the rarest of the quartet here featured.

Don't dig the squared-off bodywork? The yellow 365 GTS/4 Daytona Spider could be more to your liking. Though not quite as rare as the NART Spider, it's still far less common than the Daytona coupe: while some 1,400 of those were made, only 122 left the factory with their tops chopped.

Far newer is the 2005 Superamerica. Based on the 575 M Maranello with the same 5.7-liter V12 producing 533 horsepower (like all later versions of the 575), it's fitted with an innovative Revocromico flip top that was far simpler than more complex folding hard-top mechanisms, but never really caught on (beyond the little Renault Wind).

With only 499 made, the Superamerica was far rarer than the 2,000+ coupes, but relatively common compared to the other, more sought-after classics shown here. Expect the Prancing Horse marque to take a similar approach (albeit with a different roof) when the 812 is ready to drop its top.

Stunning Quartet Of Ferrari V12 Convertibles Head To Auction

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Stunning Quartet Of Ferrari V12 Convertibles Head To Auction

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