This Ferrari 500 Superfast just sold for $1.96million

The Bugatti might not have sold on the day, but plenty of the 100 other cars up for grabs did – and some went way past their guide prices. So what did the great and good of the collector-car world splash the cash on at this sale at Fernandina Beach in Florida? Here, in reverse order, are the top 10…

10. 1985 Modena Spyder California

Sold for $313,000 (incl premium)

No, not a real Cali Spyder from Maranello (they go for around £15m) but a Ford-engined and fibreglass-bodied replica made for use in a movie. Yep, this was the car Ferris Bueller drove around Chicago in for his “day off”. It is one of four made for the film by a Californian auto design company, and as the young Master Bueller found it makes a pretty convincing stand-in for the real thing. Not quite the power though (just 165PS, 123kW) from the 302 cubic inch (5.0-litre) pushrod V8. And it’s automatic to boot – legend has it the actor who played Ferris Bueller couldn’t drive a manual!

9. 1966 Ferrari 330GT

Sold for $318,500

For just 5000 bucks more you could have had the real thing: an elegant Blu Scuro Ferrari 2+2 coupe from the 1960s. Complete with 12 cylinders, three Weber carbs and 300PS (224kW) for stirring performance along with GT creature comforts like comfy seats and power windows. It’s all as originally owned by the ‘60s crooner Pat Boone. As a Series II it comes with five-speed gearbox, four-wheel disc brakes and alloy wheels.

8. 1923 Duesenberg Model A

Sold for $335,000

Like Ferrari three decades later, Duesenberg started out in racing and a lot of its 1920s Model A tourer model was influenced by motorsport of the day. It might not look it now, but this car’s overhead-cam inline eight, four-wheel brakes, three-speed transmission and semi-elliptic leaf springs made it one of the most sophisticated cars of its era. It’s thought there are just 40 survivors of this type, and this one has its (restored) original coachwork and matching-numbers mechanicals. 

7. 2005 Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren

Sold for $340,500

With fewer than 5000 miles under its wheels there’s masses of life left in this McMerc, a car that was never under-endowed in the first place. Its 620PS (462kW) supercharged AMG V8 means performance well lives up to its famous 300SLR predecessor’s reputation. As a follow-up model to the McLaren F1 from Woking, there’s carbon aplenty here: the entire monocoque, the ceramic brake discs and the seats – large on the right side, and extra-large on the left. As Bonhams says, the perfect supercar for the, ahem, larger person... 

6. 1992 Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R Group A

Sold for $379,000

Godzilla’s last hurrah came at the Fuji Speedway in 1993 when this R32 GT-R won the Group A race – the final time this giant of Japanese motorsport took the Japanese Touring Car chequered flag. It came third in the series that year with five podium finishes thanks to drivers Hisashi Yokoshima and some bloke called Tom Kristensen. Four years later Tom won at Le Mans – and went on winning to take the record as Le Mans’ most successful driver ever. The car – as raced, original and unrestored – is now following in Tom’s footsteps into historic racing. it would be great to have this pair reunited at Goodwood some time…

5. 1962 Maserati 5000GT

Sold for $417,500

Sixties supercar royalty was no more royal than the Maserati 5000GT. The request to have a luxurious touring car powered by the four-cam V8 of the 450S racer came from the Shah of Iran. Maserati was happy to oblige, in double quick time and with a guaranteed 174mph top speed. After the Shah got the first one, another 31 were made including this Series II with mechanical fuel-injection and four-wheel discs. Alas this particular “car of kings” has fallen on hard times and, despite the megamoney it sold for, now needs complete refurbishment. 

4. 1928 Mercedes-Benz 630K ‘La Baule’

Sold for £731,000

La Baule on the Brittany coast is best known today for its beautiful beach but in the 1920s this French resort for the rich and famous was the venue for elite concours events. So well known was it that French coachbuilder Jacques Saoutchik named his new “disappearing top” transformable body after it. The La Baule style became his signature design. And fitted to the mighty chassis of the Merc 630K – with its Ferdinand Porsche designed supercharged 6.3-litre engine – it made for a masterful combination of engineering and craftsmanship.

3. 1951 Jaguar XK120 Works

Sold for $775,000

Not just any XK this, but one of three lightweight Works racers that Jaguar built with one eye on Le Mans. They never made it to France – the C-type went instead – and Jaguar, not knowing what to do with them, sold two of them to US West Coast Jag distributor Charles Hornburg. He found plenty of racing action for them in the US, installing a young driver called Phil Hill in the car you see here, known as LT3. Hidden away in a private collection for the past 20 years, today the car is said to be substantially original, including its lightweight aluminium body, and potentially ready to race – at Goodwood (yes please) or maybe even at Le Mans after all. No wonder it sold for $775,000 when its guide price was $400-600,000. 

2. 1959 Lister-Jaguar

Sold for $775,000

This is another car from what Bonhams billed as the “lost Jaguars” collection, a stash of Coventry cats unseen by the public for 20 years. In fact while it has a Jag XK six under the Frank Costin-designed Lister bodywork today, in period it was powered by a Chevy V8. It raced in this form in the UK, including at Goodwood for the Whitsun meeting in 1959, with drivers such as Ron Brightman, David Beckett and Chris Drake. Its last race was in 1973 for the Le Mans 50th anniversary event, meaning that for the past 50 years this “lost” Lister-Jag has had a quiet life – and so retains what Bonhams says is an incredible degree of originality. 

1. 1966 Ferrari 500 Superfast

Sold for $1.93m

Way out in front for Bonhams at its Amelia Island sale – and almost half a million over its guide price –  was this beautiful Ferrari with one of the most evocative names ever: Superfast. And fast it was, 175mph fast thanks to 400PS (298kW) from its 5.0-litre V12. This is a Series II of the Pininfarina designed model, with five-speed gearbox, of which there were only 12 made from the Superfast total of 48. In its day it was considered the ultimate Ferrari in terms of performance, luxury and style – and at almost $2m, it clearly still is.