MARANELLO, Italy—On May 18 some 40rare Ferraris are hitting the block inRM Auctions? second annual FerrariLeggende e Passione auction, heldin conjunction with Sotheby’s at theauto company’s headquarters, inMaranello, Italy. Among the lots aretwo of the most desirable cars of thelate 1950s and early ’60s: a pair of250 GT California Spyder convertibles, one formerly owned by theactor James Coburn. If you’ve seenthe movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,you’ll recognize it (the thoroughlywrecked film version in red was, fortunately,a replica). Last August, duringCalifornia’s Pebble Beach Week, a1963 Ferrari coupe once owned byCoburn’s pal Steve McQueen sold for$2,310,000—roughly four times itsexpected value—and RM/Sotheby’shopes Coburn’s black ’61 roadster willget a similar star-power boost. It carriesa high estimate of €3.7 million($5.7 million), versus the 1959 model’s€3 million ($4.7 million) valuedprice tag—a gap due not only to itsHollywood provenance but also to itsshorter wheelbase.

"Ferrai Capital" originally appeared in the May 2008 issue of Art+Auction. For a complete list of articles from this issue available on ARTINFO, see Art+Auction's May 2008 Table of Contents.