This stable of Prancing Horses could garner Gooding $58m in Pebble Beach

For enthusiasts and collectors of blue-chip Ferraris, next month’s auctions during Monterey Car Week are shaping up to be very exciting indeed. Gooding & Company’s latest haul of Prancing Horses is arguably the most special yet…

Anything you can do...

“Anything you can do we can do better.” That’s what the collector car auction world feels like sometimes, particularly in the weeks preceding the houses’ flagship sales in Monterey, when ‘star’ consignments seem to be ten a penny. No sooner had we shown you a mouth-watering selection of blue-chip Ferraris offered by RM Sotheby’s, than Gooding & Company, with perfect timing, showed its hand with an ensemble of Prancing Horses arguably more desirable.

Its leading star is one of just nine alloy-bodied Ferrari 250 GT LWB California Spider Competiziones ever built, with North American racing provenance and matching numbers throughout. It’s estimated to fetch an impressive 18-20m US dollars.

Multi-purpose ponies

Next up, and arguably the car we’re most taken with, is a beguilingly original Ferrari 166MM. Retained by the Works from new as an open Barchetta, a subsequent owner had Zagato modify the Touring-built body into a Berlinetta, giving the delectable little sports car an identity of its own. Later in its life, the ex-Mille Miglia and Targa Florio entrant served as a student’s transportation to university in Alabama, and still displays his parking permit to this day. Estimated at 6-8m dollars, it is a magical example of a model that won Le Mans, the Targa Florio and the Mille Miglia, with a fascinating history – both on- and off-track – of its very own.

Finally, Gooding rounds out the collection with a brace of Ferrari 250 GT SWBs – a late production steel-bodied Lusso (10-12m dollars) and an ex-NART alloy-bodied Competizione. With Ed Hugus and Augie Pabst at the wheel, the latter finished a very commendable seventh in the 1960 24 Hours of Le Mans. Accordingly, it’s estimated to garner 15-18m dollars – will this be the one to breathe life back into the SWB market? If, for whatever reason, the prime ponies from Maranello don’t quicken your pulse, you’ll find myriad delights in the rest of Gooding’s Pebble Beach Auctions catalogue, which can be found listed in the Classic Driver Market.