When Charlie Ross dropped the gavel on the one-of-two Duesy SSJ – a car more than worthy of its own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame – the reaction from the crowd was unbelievable. Its estimate was ‘in excess of 10m dollars’, which it promptly smashed, eventually hammering at 20m dollars – 22m with premium. An outstandingly significant car, let’s hope we see the SSJ on the lawns of Pebble Beach in the coming years. 

While Gooding’s headlining ex-Pedro Rodríguez Ferrari 275 GTB/C failed to find a new owner on Friday afternoon, both the grey 250 GT Tour de France and the Admiral’s Ferrari 500 Mondial Series II sold well, fetching 6.6m and 5.005m dollars respectively. 

Our personal favourite Ferraris, the charmingly curious Dino Berlinetta GT prototype and the regal 330 GTC Speciale, also performed strongly, each garnering over 3m dollars. Modern Prancing Horses, too, were quick out the gate – a red 575 Superamerica made 913,000 dollars all in, while the even rarer 599 SA Aperta broke the magical million-dollar mark. Finally, its menacing black LaFerrari fetched 3.08m dollars 

It’s telling of the changing trends in the collector car market that for exactly the same 522,000 dollars you could have paid for what is essentially a Ferrari GTC4 Lusso with some ‘special edition’ tinsel you could have also bought an exquisite Ferrari 330 GTC, one of the marque’s most admired 1960s Grand Tourers. 

Porsche-wise, it was the bizarre Bertone-bodied 911 Spyder that proved to be the biggest talking point – it hammered for an above estimate 1.3m dollars (that’s 1.43m including fees). A beautiful 550 Spyder fought off the later the slightly more athletic looking 918 RSK (4.45m dollars plays 3.74m dollars), though it was the RS Spyder prototype from 2007 that took the outright honours for the marque, selling for an impressive 4.51m dollars. 

Neither of Gooding’s Bugatti Veyrons sold and its ultra-important historic racing cars – the Gulf Mirage GR8 and the Ford GT40 MKIV – both fell flat on the day. 

There were a few surprises to write home about. The quirky Citroën DS19, whose custom-build siblings will be featured at tomorrow’s Concours d’Elegance, hammered at 175,000 dollars, 85,000 dollars above its higher estimate. Meanwhile, a delectable Series I Jaguar E-type Roadster sold for a very healthy 357,500 dollars all in. Less surprising is the 5.17m dollars one lucky soul paid for the Maserati A6GCS/53 Spider – arguably the most beautiful car in the catalogue. 

Photos: Stephan Bauer for Classic Driver © 2018