Ferrari 500 Mondial Spider chassis wrecked
© RM Sotheby’s
The remains of a 1954 Ferrari 500 Mondial soon to go up for auction in California may not look much, but its history means it will likely sell for mammoth sums.
When it comes to collector’s grade cars (or ordinary cars, really), it’s a generally accepted notion that if you want to make some cash off of it, the car has to be in good condition. For instance, you wouldn’t take a beat-up old truck with two flat tires to the dealership and expect to walk out with a shiny new trade-in.
That said, there is a certain degree of rarity that a car could theoretically achieve, at which point even its mere chassis could sell for more than 10 brand-new trade-ins. It is this level of rarity that the burned-out husk of an old Ferrari successfully achieved.
This week, auction house RM Sotheby’s successfully sold off a 1954 Ferrari 500 Mondial Spider Series I for a hefty $1.8 million price tag. Ferrari has long been a luxury brand, so a classic Ferrari in good condition could definitely fetch that kind of price easily. This particular Ferrari, however, is in anything but good condition.
There are no wheels or internals, and the body has been subjected to horrific fire damage. It’s the kind of thing you’d see as set dressing in a junkyard movie scene. How the heck did what is effectively one-fifth of a Ferrari crack a million dollars?
© RM Sotheby’s/Archivio Foto Locchi Florence
This blasted-out Ferrari was the property of one Franco Cortese, a former Ferrari factory driver who purchased the car circa-1954 for the express purpose of hitting the racetrack. If that name sounds familiar, that’s because Franco Cortese was the driver who scored Ferrari’s very first professional racing victory at the 1947 Rome Grand Prix.
The Mondial Spider was the car that Cortese drove at the Mille Miglia in 1954, where he finished fourth, followed by an eighth-place finish at the Golden Shell race at the Imola Grand Prix.
Cortese’s Mondial Spider changed hands a few times in the years that followed, though it still remained a regular suspect at big-name racing events like the Gran Premio Supercortemaggiore, and the Evergreen Trophy Race. At an indeterminate point in the late ’60s, though, the car was involved in a severe crash, resulting in the fire damage we see now.
Even in its decimated state, this Mondial Spider is an incredible collector’s item, with a worthy pedigree for both Ferrari fans and racing buffs. The new owner of the car has not been publicly divulged, but should they have time, money, and guts to try it, the Mondial Spider could serve as the focal point for one of the most ambitious restoration projects in automotive history.
This article first appeared on slashgear.com.