Why this ultra-rare Ferrari only sold for $300,000

A Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder fetches up to $20 million at a classic car auction. Why, then, did it bring in starvation wages of this magnitude?

Just over a hundred examples of the 250 GT California Spyder were built in the 1960s, half with a short wheelbase and half with a long wheelbase. The short ones are the most valuable. In 2015, one was slammed for $21 million.

This is not a real Ferrari

This Ferrari – which has just been auctioned off at Bonhams – is a very special 250 GT California Spyder ‘Passo Corte’ of which only four were made. So it should bring in tens of millions, you think, not $313,000.

The problem is: This is not a real Ferrari. This is a 1985 Modena Spyder California developed by the California company Modena Design & Development. It is a replica with a Ford V8 on board and an automatic transmission.

Ferris turns blue

You may recognize the car from the movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off starring Matthew Broderick, Alan Ruck (now known from the HBO series Succession), Mia Sara, Jennifer Gray (from Dirty Dancing) and Jeffrey Jones.

One of the most famous films of the 1980s, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is simply about a bunch of truants: Ferris, Cameron and Sloane, who go off in Cameron’s father’s Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder SWB.

“It’s his fault he didn’t lock the garage door,” Ferris defended his decision to take the Ferrari. It goes without saying that the rare Italian sports car has not escaped unscathed.

Ford V8 with 167 hp

As early as the 1980s, the California Spyder was too expensive for film producers, so they commissioned Modena Design & Development to build four replicas. The 5.0-liter Ford V8 produces 167 hp. And because Broderick couldn’t shift, an automatic was added.

The Modena is based on a spaceframe chassis, has independent front suspension, a rigid rear axle and four disc brakes. The body is made of fiberglass with a steel cage underneath for reinforcement.

Of the four replicas, three were drivable (this is one of them). The latter had no power train and was used for the crash at the end of the film.