And now you know why Cameron was in such trouble in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.”
An ultra-rare Ferrari like the replica that was famously kicked out of a window in the comedy classic has been auctioned for $18,040,000.
The 1962 250 GT SWB California Spider was sold at the Gooding & Company event during Florida’s Amelia Island Concours collector car week celebration.
As its name implies, the open-top car was designed with the U.S. market in mind and the SWB, or short-wheelbase, model developed to improve the handling of the LWB, long-wheelbase, model it succeeded.
Only 37 were built between 1960 and 1963 with the covered headlights on this one, which features a unique Azzurro Metallizzato aquamarine blue paint and Naturale leather interior combination.
It is powered by a 3.0-liter V12 like the rest of the lineup, but this particular one is equipped with larger carburetors and wider Borani wheels. A four-speed manual transmission sends its 240 horsepower to the solid rear axle and disc brakes take care of stopping it.
The car, serial number 3099, was once purchased in 1971 by a previous owner, Charles Betz, from car collector Fred Klein for $2,400, according to Gooding & Company.
“One day Fred and I drove out to his wrecking yard in San Pedro area to get a couple of Porsche items. We had driven out in a nice 250 GT/E we had for sale and while there we had our usual conversation with Rudy about Ferrari cars,” Betz.
“No mention of 3099 was made, he knew we wanted to buy it and we had, on other occasions, told him what we were willing to pay. He would not sell. Rudy was quite negative about Ferraris. As we were preparing to leave, I reached into the car [Betz’s GT/E] and started it. It started instantly and idled perfectly. There was no smoke coming from the exhaust and it sounded great. Rudy had stopped talking and was listening carefully, after a brief pause, he said ‘OK, I sell you damn car!’ When we went to the Alameda facility where 3099 lived, along with numerous really great cars, he presents us with the invoice, the total, including sales tax and license fees was less than we offered to pay him.”
An example 250 GT SWB California Spider was the first car ever sold at a public auction for over $10 million, netting $10.9 million in 2008.
As high as the price paid in Florida was, it did not set a record for the model. In 2015, another that was found under a pile of magazines in a French barn, where it had been sitting for decades, was auctioned for $18.5 million.
As for the car used in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” several fiberglass-bodied replicas built by Modena Designs for production.
One was sold by Bonhams at Amelia Island for $313,000, while the car that went out the window, which has since been restored was auctioned last year for $337,500.