Next Tuesday, at Maranello, Sotheby's will hold an unprecedented and already highly anticipated, auction of rare and valuable, modern and historic, Ferrari and Maserati cars, parts and merchandise.

This auction, conducted by the famous auctioneers, Sotheby's, and held at Maranello, the home of Ferrari, marks a new and important event for the 'Prancing Horse' marque. Collectors from around the world are set to besiege this historic event, which breaks new ground. New records for many of the painstakingly researched and factory-authenticated cars and items, are expected to be set. Sotheby's have issued a 256-page auction catalogue, featuring a historic grainy photo of Enzo Ferrari himself in the racing cockpit on the front cover, which lists each of the 114 lots in great detail. This full colour, glossy catalogue, with a forward by present-day Ferrari Chairman Luca di Montezemolo, will itself be a highly collectible tome, offering as it does detailed references, along reams of factory-gleaned information and ownership history never seen previously.

LOTS 1-81: FERRARI F1 AND VINTAGE MEMORABILIA

The catalogue is split into two sections, and kicks off with a plethora of Ferrari Formula 1 memorabilia, peppered with other historical nuggets. It will all start with Lot 1, a black-painted, Goodyear logo emblazoned front wing which was fitted to a Formula 1 Ferrari F300, which is recorded as having been driven to victory by Michael Schumacher at the 1998 British and French Grands Prix. Lot 2 is a front wing endflap from a 1994 Ferrari F412T1, while Lot 3 and 4 are a full gear cog set from an F2001B and the exhaust cover panels from an F300. The lots continue the F1 theme of the last decade or so with air intakes, rear wings, engine covers, wheels, pistons, crankshafts, cylinder heads, harnesses, camshafts and brakes all being offered, before Lot 23 introduces a complete Type 046 F1 engine, the first V10 built by the Suderia, as fitted to the F310B and raced by michael Schumacher. More F1 related parts fill the next chunk of pages, interspersed with gems such as a 1992 fibreglass 456 GT scale model used in the windtunnel (Lot 31), a Ferrari 250 LM owners manual (Lot 63) which is detailed by somewhat of an understatement: 'very rare', and a blueprint for a 1935 Grand Prix Alfa Corse (Lot 69) which Sotheby's expect will fetch 4,000-8,000 euros.

Leafing through the pages, another F1 engine appears, a Type 049 V10 (Lot 75) which won the driver's and constructor's titles in 2001 and is listed as having 'exhaust pipes, but some internal parts are missing'. Sotheby's estimate it fetching 50,000-60,000 euros. The final lots in the 'F1 and vintage Memorabilia' section include an unusual 18-inch high, 35 lbs 1949 Le Mans trophy (Lot 80, estimate 60,000-76,000 euros) which in the catalogue's words was "a tribute to the rebirth of the Italian automobile industry, to Enzo Ferrari, and to the primary driver, Luigi Chinetti, who drove 23.5 of the 24 hours," and finally, a the complex all carbon-fibre steering wheel from an F2001 (Lot 81) used by Schumacher on his way to the 2001 F1 Driver's title.

LOTS 101-133: FERRARI AND MASERATI AUTOMOBILES

The thirty three Ferrari and Maserati cars being offered by Sotheby's is truly amazing, each one an icon with a superb history, and few auctions will have ever presented such a diverse and significant array of automobiles from two such illustrious carmaker's histories.

The Sotheby's catalogue presents each of the cars in the greatest of detail. Accompanying the dual-language description, history, and technical specification are glossy colour photos, and where it is applicable, original photos, many in grainy black and white, which serve to instantly transport you back to the eras when these cars first stunned the world with their prowess.

The first car up under the hammer is a recently restored 1963 Ferrari 250 GTE 2+2 (Lot 101), which Sotheby's expect will fetch 80,000-90,000 euros. This is followed by a 1988 Ferrari 328 GTS (Lot 102) with just 3,000km on the clock, a 1985 Maserati Quattroporte Speciale (Lot 103), a 1956 Ferrari 250 GT Boano Coupé (Lot 104), one of just 80 built, and with 3km of use since a total restoration was carried out, and a 1966 Ferrari 365 California (Lot 105) which has had the same owner for 37 years.

Lot 106 and 107 will see the tension of the auction cranking up as two unique Maseratis come under the hammer. The opener, a 1959 Maserati 5000 GT, is the first of just 32 cars built, and the first of the three to utilise the 420bhp V8 450S engine. One rumour has it that Maserati engineer Alfieri had the idea of fitting a 450S engine into a reinforced 3500 GT and asked Touring to produce a 'haute couture' body' for the project, while another theory says that the Shah of Iran did not want to purchase an 'ordinary' 3000 GT and instead ordered one with a powerful V8. Either way this exceptional car (chassis no 103 002), which was finished in bright blue on the Shah's request, has only 9,000km on the clock. The next lot is a 1957 Maserati 450 S Coupé, styled by Zagato and driven by Stirling Moss, a car with distinctive looks, a race-winning pedigree, and one which Sotheby's expect to be one of the stars of the auction, fetching an estimated 4,000,000-4,500,000 euros.
 

Next, the attention will switch to single-seaters, kicking off with a restored Maserati 4 CL Grand Prix racer (Lot 108), which was raced by Scuderia Milano (the unofficial 'factory' team) with much success between 1946 and 1947. This is followed by a Ferrari F1-90 (Lot 109), designed by Pier Guido Castelli and Steve Nichols, and raced to F1 victory by Alain Prost in 1990. The focus then will switch to a former factory-run Ferrari Dino 246 SP (Lot 110) which won the 1961 Targa Florio and 1962 Nürburgring 1000kms, and which is expected to fetch in the region of 2,400,000-2,900,000 euros. Offered in original condition, the Dino 246 SP is a significant racing Ferrari as it is their first rear-engined sportscar and the first to employ a spoiler.

Lot 111 is a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB (estimated 800,000-1,200,000 euros), and will be followed by a rare and exclusive 1964 Ferrari 500 (Lot 112), a Ferrari F512LM (Lot 113), a Ferrari 212 Inter (Lot 114) - which is recorded as having won in 1956 at the Circuit de Casablanca - and a 1966 Ferrari 330 GTS (Lot 115) before the sale moves bang up to date with the Maserati Trofeo Light which contested the 2004 Daytona 24 hours, eventually finishing 11th in the GT class.

Matters then switch swiftly back to F1 with a Ferrari 312 B2 (Lot 117), driven during the 1971 and 1972 F1 World Championships by Clay Regazzoni, Mario Andretti and Jacky Ickx amongst others. Back to sportscars and an ex-factory Ferrari 121 LM from 1955 goes under the hammer as Lot 118, while the next lot is another mouthwatering ex-factory run treasure: the Ferrari 330 TRI/LM which conquered the 1962 Le Mans 24 Hours, in the hands of Phil Hill and Oliver Gendebien.

A huge amount of excitement has been generated by Maserati's return to top-line motor racing with the awesome (and somewhat controversial) MC 12 sportscar - a fearsome beast that thrust the Trident marque firmly back into the international racing's winners circle last year during the FIA GT Championship's round at Oschersleben in Germany. In the hands of Mika Salo and Andrea Bertolini, a 37 year wait for honours finally came to an end. Rarely has a car embodied so much emotion and fixed so its place so firmly in the future history books, and rarely has a car of such significance been made available for sale, less than a year after it claimed such an historic victory. Sotheby's reckon the MC 12 will fetch upwards of one million euros, and how collectors view this car will be just one fascinating aspect of the sale.

Another car steeped in history will be up next, a Ferrari 412 S (Lot 121) from 1958, followed by a Ferrari 512S/M, another car with a winning pedigree, designed by Mauro Forghieri, and built to the then-new Group 6 sportscar regulations of 1970. Lot 123 is a road Ferrari 308 GT4 from 1979, followed by a 1984 Ferrari 512 BBi (Lot 124) - with 300km on the clock - while Lot 125 is a Maserati 8CL, painted in yellow and blue - the traditional South American racing colours - which competed in the 1940 Indianapolis 500, and is estimated to sell for more than two million euros. A 1949 Ferrari 166 Inter (Lot 126), and a F1 Ferrari F310B (Lot 127) come up before the Ferrari 575 GTC which won outright the FIA GT Championship's round at Donington Park last summer in the hands of Karl Wendlinger and Jaime Melo get the auctioneer's nod.

Bringing the proceeding up to the climax will be an ex-works, 1954 vintage Ferrari 750 Monza Spyder (Lot 129), and an unusual Ferrari Enzo Prototype 'mule' (Lot 130) which contains elements of the 348 and 355 Challenge, as well as the Enzo's V12 lump. Then arrives a Ferrari Enzo, no 400, an additional car specially built and presented to the late Pope John Paul II on 17th January 2005, and which will be auctioned off by his express instruction, for the benefit of the Caritas charity. Sotheby's are pulling a lower end price of one million euros on this car, again open questions will be answered when the hammer drops on this exotic car for the final time.

A Ferrari 625 LM sportscar, which won the 1956 Supercortemaggiore GP at Monza in the hands of Peter Collins and Mike Hawthorn, as well as racing at Le Mans that year, will bring the auction up to the high point of the sale, and so expect feverish bidding centering on Lot 131: a Ferrari F2004. Last year the F2004 simply crushed its Grand Prix opponents: 16 wins, 14 fastest laps, 12 pole positions and 29 placings. The example being offered (chassis no 234) won five races last year with Michael Schumacher at the wheel. Never before have Ferrari sold an F1 car used in anger the previous season, at an auction, and Sotheby's have not detailed in the catalogue an estimate of its value. Bidding is sure to be sky high - and it will round out this new venture in style.

by Edd Ellison