Bonhams briefly set a new Scottsdale auction record when a 1966 Ferrari 275 GTB Competizione sold for $9,405,000. Four classic cars sold for over a million dollar while a further five cars achieved highest bids of more than a million but failed to clear the reserve margins. These included four top-end, multi-million dollar classic Ferraris.
2015 Bonhams Scottsdale Classic Car Auction Results
The following cars achieved results in excess of a million dollars at the Bonhams 2015 Scottsdale Auction on January 15, 2015:
| Year | Car | Price ($) | |
| 1966 | Ferrari 275 GTB Competizione | 9,405,000 | |
| 1955 | Mercedes Benz 300 SL Gullwing | 1,375,000 | |
| 1958 | Mercedes Benz 300 SL Roadster | 1,237,500 | |
| 1964 | Shelby Cobra 289 | 1,017,500 |
Record 1966 Ferrari 275 GTB Competizione at Scottsdale 2015
A 1966 Ferrari 275 GTB Competizione, a Le Mans GT class winner, sold for $9,405,000 at the 2015 Bonhams Scottsdale classic car auction. The car set a new record price for a classic car sold at the annual mid-January auction in Scottsdale, Arizona. The previous record was $8,800,000 paid for a 1958 Ferrari 250 GT LWB at the 2014 RM Auctions Arizona sale.
However, the new record was broken a day later when a 1964 Ferrari 250 LM sold for $9,625,000 at the RM Auctions Arizona sale.
The 1966 Ferrari 275 GTB Competizione on offer was the eleventh of only twelve produced. It participated in Le Mans in three consecutive years: 1967, 1968 and 1969. In 1967, it won the Le Mans GT class for the Swiss Filipinetti racing team with Porsche drivers Rico Steinmann and Dieter Spörry at the wheel. The Ferrari has also been class winner at 1000 Kms de Spa-Francorchamps and 500 Kms de Imola.
Mercedes Benz 300 SLs at the 2015 Bonhams Scottsdale Auction
Bonhams had three classic Mercedes Benz 300 SL cars on offer at the 2015 Scottsdale auction. All three sold at hammer prices just below the pre-auction estimates. (At the Gooding sale, all four 300 SLs on offer failed to clear the reserve margin.)
A 1955 Mercedes Benz 300 SL Gullwing achieved the highest result of the trio with a price of $1,375,000. This car originally belonged to the Right Honourable Lord Terence O’Neill, Baron O’Neill of the Maine – the later Prime Minister of Northern Ireland in the 1960s.
A 1958 Mercedes Benz 300 SL Roadster achieved $1,237,500 for a car with only 57,000 miles on the odometer and a hard top still in the original delivery wooden crate. A 1957 Mercedes Benz 300 SL Roadster sold for $902,000.
Ferraris Not Sold at the 2015 Bonhams Scottsdale Auction
The following four top Ferraris failed to clear the reserve margin at the 2015 Bonhams Scottsdale classic car auction:
| Year | Car | Estimate | Highest Bid ($) |
| 1966 | Ferrari 275 GTB Alloy Long-Nose | 3,300,000 – 3,600,000 | HB 3,200,000 |
| 1972 | Ferrari 365 GTS/4 Daytona Spider | 3,000,000 – 3,300,000 | HB 2,850,000 |
| 1955 | Ferrari 250 Europa GT Alloy | 2,800,000 – 3,400,000 | HB 2,750,000 |
| 1963 | Ferrari 250 GT Lusso Berlinetta | N / A | HB 1,925,000 |
Disappointingly for Bonhams, the four highest bids received at the 2015 Scottsdale auction, other than for the record breaking 1966 Ferrari 275 GTB Competizione, were for these Ferraris that failed to clear the reserve margins. With some bids only $150,000 and $250,000 below the lower estimates, deals could easily be done but Bonhams traditionally does not include post-auction trades in published results.
More on the 2015 Scottsdale, Arizona, Auction Week
- 2015 Scottsdale and Arizona Classic Car Auction Top Results
- 2015 Scottsdale and Arizona Top Classic Car Auction Houses
- 2015 Gooding Scottsdale Classic Car Sale Results
- 2015 RM Auctions Arizona Classic Car Sale Results
- 2015 Barrett Jackson Scottsdale Auction Results
- 2015 Bonhams Scottsdale Classic Car Sale Preview