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Ferrari 250 California record headlines $28.5M Baillon barnfind collection

Barn finds arise from time to time, bearing undiscovered treasures hidden away in some shed for decades before being unearthed and brought to the auction block. But few have ever compared to the Baillon Collection. And now its liquidation is complete, bringing in millions in sales on the back of frenzied bidding. Discovered just months ago, the Baillon Collection comprised some 100 vehicles said to have been rescued from the crusher by one Roger Baillon, a French transport magnate who intended to eventually put the cars on display in a museum. Unfortunately that never came to pass, but when the cars were found in sheds on his estate in rural France, the world took notice. In dire condition and in need of much TLC, 59 of the cars (those worth selling) were consigned to the auctioneers at Artcurial, which just handled their sale during the Retromobile classic car show this weekend in Paris. The highest price was fetched by a rare 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider with the highly desirable covered headlights found in the barn under a pile of old magazines. One of just 37 made, the drop-top Prancing Horse sold to an unnamed international collector for a record $18.5 million – far above initial estimates and, despite its condition, the most ever paid for a 250 GT of any kind. An American collector paid $2.2 million for the 1956 Maserati A6G bodied by Frua, also well above its pre-sale estimate range. A '49 Talbot-Lago T26 bodied by Saoutchik more than doubled even the top of its estimated value at $1.9 million, sold to a European collector. All told, the Baillon Collection brought in a staggering $28.5 million in sales, comprising over half the value of the lots, 89 percent of which Artcurial sold at the Retromobile auction.

How not to unload the 1 of 1 Ferrari P4/5 Competizione from a trailer

Believe it or not, unloading a car from a transport vehicle is a delicate science. It's alarmingly easy to damage a car in the tight, elevated confines of a dedicated car hauler, but as these gentlemen at the Monterey car week found out, even getting a car off a flatbed comes with its own unique set of challenges.
When the car you're moving off said flatbed is the only Ferrari P4/5 Competizione in existence, meticulously built to the specifications of Ferrari collector James Glickenhaus, we imagine the stress level is even greater. Yes, this is an unloading gone wrong, although it could have always been worse. The movers have the right idea, working boards underneath the car, but simply didn't account for the car moving them. The result is a racecar, resting ever so gracefully, on its carbon-fiber nose. Getting the car out of such a precarious position safely requires nearly as much skill as getting it off in the first place.
Take a look below for the full, cringe-inducing video.

These are the front-runners to take over at Ferrari

Yesterday Ferrari announced a changing of the scarlet-clad guard with the departure of longtime chairman Luca di Montezemolo. Having run the company since shortly after the passing of Enzo Ferrari himself, Montezemolo built the Prancing Horse marque up to the benchmark supercar manufacturer, victorious racing team and household name it is today. In short, Ferrari - and most crucially, its parent company Fiat - will face a most difficult challenge in filling il Advocatto's handmade loafers and putting the company back on the track which Montezemolo laid down over the course of the past two decades.
The question on everyone's mind is, to whom will that challenge fall? To quote Goose from Top Gun, the list is long, but distinguished. Join us as we run down the roster of potential assentors to the leather-clad, carbon-fiber bucket seat at the head of the big table in Maranello.