Yellow Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spyder
Yellow Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spyder
Acrylic on 3-D Shaped Stretched Canvas
29" x 96" x 6"
74 cm x 244 cm x 15 cm
$10.9 Million Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spyder
On Saturday May 17, 2008, a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spyder sold at auction for the highest auction price ever paid for a vintage car, $10.9 Million Dollars. It is powered by a V12 engine mounted in the front. The car was once owned by actor James Coburn. The auction was held in Maranello, Italy, the home of the Ferrari factory, for Ferrari buffs.
The auction car was, surprisingly, black in color. In those days most Ferraris were red. Even recently, special Ferraris are usually red. The Enzo, the ultra fast and ultra expensive, limited edition Ferrari of a few years ago, with only 399 produced, was ordered mostly in red. In fact, 85% were Ferrari red, 10% black, and 5% fly yellow.
Here is a photo of the $10.9 Million auction car, a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spyder.
The Story Behind My Painting Yellow Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spyder
Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spyders were produced for five years from 1959 to 1963. Total production was 55 cars. Each was handmade, so there are minor differences between some of them. My painting is modeled after a 1959 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spyder, in my opinion one of the most beautiful Ferraris ever made.
Ferrari also made 51 long wheelbase (LWB) California Spyders during that period which do not handle quite as well, are not quite as beautiful, and not quite as valuable.
I am a car buff and love the elegant and sculptural lines of classic and even modern 12 cylinder Ferraris. I also usually like the 8 cylinder Ferraris, although they are beautiful in a different way. So I wanted to create a 3-D shaped stretched canvas (3DSSC) painting of a car and had to choose one car to start with. I chose a beautiful and valuable vintage Ferrari, the Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spyder.
Perhaps you remember the 1986 John Hughes movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off starring Matthew Broderick. The car in that movie was a red 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder. Do you remember what happened to the car at the end of the movie? Fortunately the movie car was a replica created for the movie.