A stunningly beautiful Ferrari convertible driven by Cameron Diaz in a the movie Charlie's Angels failed to sell at a London auction of classic cars Wednesday, apparently a victim of tight finances affecting affluent buyers around the globe.
The red Ferrari, a 250 GT California Spyder that was one of the last three short-wheel-base versions built, was expected to fetch as much as $5 million U.S., according to Bloomberg.
Still, some cars still sold at staggering prices. After the Charlie's Angels Spyder failed to sell, a silver 1997 McLaren F1 sports car sold for 2.5 million British pounds, more than double its estimate, according to Bloomberg.
The McLaren is one of only 64 road-going versions ever sold. The car that sold was an ex-Park Lane showroom model with only 437 kilometers on the odometer. RM Auctions, where the cars were sold, said that in 1998, a prototype of the McLaren F1 reached 391 kilometers per hour (243 miles per hour) on a test track, a record for a production car that was not broken for more than a decade.
"Good cars with good provenances still do well," said Max Girardo in an interview with Bloomberg. "There's still some money out there."
But he said "it's definitely more cautious. A certain number of buyers have been cut out of the market. A year ago, they would've thought about buying a car for 50,000 pounds, now they're not being paid a bonus or are worried about losing their job."
In all RM Auctions raised 14.7 million pounds including fees. Last year, the auction house raised 18 million pounds.
In May, at a joint RM and Sotheby's sale in Italy, a Nero- black 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spyder formerly owned by the Hollywood actor James Coburn sold for a record 7 million euros ($9.2 million), Bloomberg said, adding that the price - the highest ever at auction for a car - was paid by U.K. television and radio host Chris Evans.
Source: Driving.ca
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