by Ferrari barn finds are not the most common of discoveries in the world. With how rare and expensive Ferraris are in general, finding a large amount hidden in a barn does not happen often. However, Vehicle Virgins on YouTube has found quite the collection of Ferraris as part of Monterey Car Week, all part of the RM Sotheby’s display, which have been hiding away in barns.
These barn finds are equally some of the rarest Ferrari sports cars in the world, and despite their condition they will still likely sell for millions of dollars when they go under the hammer. Highlighting just how popular and collectible Ferrari barn finds can be.
All These Ferrari’s Were Allegedly Hurricane Destroyed
The Ferrari collection on display consists of cars that were all damaged in a severe hurricane, yet these machines will still sell for big money when the time comes. The first up is a Ferrari 275 that has clearly born the brunt of some bad weather with dirt and dust all over it, as well as peeled paintwork. Despite that, it sold for $3.3 million at auction. Restored, this particular Ferrari would likely go for between $7 and $8 million, although a it would require lot of money to restore it back to its former glory.
Next to it is a Ferrari 250 GTO, one of the rarest and most desirable Ferraris in the world. The 250 GTO is a Ferrari grand tourer produced from 1962 to 1964, to race in the FIA Group 3 Grand Touring Car category of racing. The record for a sale of a 250 GTO came in 2018, when 1963 250 GTO chassis 4153GT was sold in a private auction for a staggering $70 million. Even in the damaged condition that the Ferrari in Monterey is in, this Ferrari is still likely to fetch several million at auction. The potential within this particular Ferrari is immense, especially with the value it is likely to gain.
via Vehicle Virgins YouTube Channel
Some Ferraris in the show are also displayed in a very creative manner, with one example having a tire smashed through its windshield to show off the damage. Another one has a tire on the front with a large section of wood smashed onto the roof of the Ferrari. These Ferraris have certainly seen better days, with some in better condition than others but all very much not factory fresh. One of the most remarkable Ferraris that is part of this collection, however, is simply preserved in nearly a bare from state such is the damage to it.
A Ferrari 500 Mondial Sold For Nearly $2 Million
A Ferrari 500 Mondial in a wrecked state, with just the bare chassis and some section of bodywork still attached to it. The engine is completely gone and all its tires are all stacked next to it. Yet this remarkably poor example of a 500 Mondial sold for $1.8 million at auction. The rarity and sheer value of the 500 Mondial is evident by that crazy price for this wrecked example. The Ferrari 500 Mondial was first launched in 1953 as a sports prototype.
The example on show in the video is a 1954 fossilized Mondial 500, except this is the Spider Series 1. Only 13 examples of the spider were ever built, with these examples designed by Pininfarina before Scaglietti rebodied the cars. This example was then raced by Franco Cortese and finished 14th at the Mille Miglia, before it changed hands several times, and it was also involved in several accidents. A US collector would buy the car in 1978, and then keep it in his barn along with 19 other Ferraris for decades until it was recently discovered.
via RM Sotheby’s
The 500 Mondial came off the back of Alberto Ascari’s Formula 1 titles in 1952 and 1953, at a time when Formula 2 races counted towards the F1 title due to a lack of competition in the latter. During this time, Ferrari ran Aurelio Lampredi’s 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine, which had 170 hp on offer and used fewer parts and was lighter than the old V12 Ferrari engine. Ferrari would put that engine into a sports car, creating the 500 Mondial, and this would also result in the 13 examples of the Spider produced by Pinin Farina. The four-cylinder engine is long gone from this example, as at one time it had an all-American V8 under the hood before it was burnt out in a crash.
Why Ferrari Barn Finds Are So Rare
Barn find Ferraris are exceptionally rare, for a variety of factors. Cars like the 500 Mondial and the 250 GTO were all produced in very low numbers, even compared to modern supercars and hypercars. So the chances of a large number ending up in barns is exceedingly low. Their value is already high simply due to the Ferrari badge on the front, and as time goes on that value only goes up and up, and it is something most people are aware of.
When they are found hiding away however, they will sell for big money. For example, a Ferrari Daytona recently sold at an auction for a staggering €1.8 million or roughly $1.9 million. This 4.0-liter Ferrari had a short production run from 1969 to 1973, and it was hiding in the barn of a collector in Japan, stored for some 40 years, seemingly lost to the world. What makes this Ferrari extra special is it is a one of one, 365 GTB/4 Daytona Alloy. Adding even more to its value.
Modern Ferraris Can Be Found In Scrapyards
via RM Sotheby’s
More modern Ferraris can often crop up abandoned in unlikely locations. We recently looked at a whole host of crashed supercars residing at Copart Auctions in Dubai. As you might expect, a few Italian supercars were there including a red Ferrari 458 at the head of a long line of wrecked exotics. A Ferrari 812 Superfast in maroon was another of the unlucky Ferraris that had found a new home hiding away in a Dubai scrapyard.
Other examples are perhaps more famous than that. A 1982 Ferrari 308 GTSi was part of the Baillon Collection discovered in France in 2014, and it went under the hammer back in 2014 with RM Sotheby’s. Compared to some of the Ferraris on display in Monterey, damage to this example was relatively light, however its interior was totally gutted. All examples spoken about here, however, will have a lot of value, and as such it seems any Ferrari barn find will simply sell for big money.
Source: Vehicle Virgins YouTube Channel
