This is the first-ever Ferrari 250 GT SWB Spider built, and it could fetch up to £15m at auction

Fancy making your vintage Ferrari collector friends green with envy? This 250 GT SWB California Spider may just be the way to do it, because it was the very first 250 GT SWB California Spider ever built, and the exact one that Ferrari unveiled to the world at the 1960 Geneva Motor Show. So it’s… important.

And valuable, at that; expected to fetch between £12-15 million when it goes under an RM Sotheby’s hammer at Monterey Car Week in mid-August. Given its historical significance, it would be of no surprise to see it switch hands for substantially higher than the guide price, which would make it one of the most expensive cars ever sold at auction.

The spec’s not half bad either: it’s chassis number ‘1795 GT’ and contains some of the most coveted traits of the 56 examples ever made. Those include covered headlights and a factory removable hardtop, while the cabin’s black upholstery and dashboard are believed to be unique to this vehicle alone.

Its ‘Tipo 168’ 3.0-litre V12 is also left in competition trim - one of only three cars ever thought to be so - which rates it at close to 260bhp. Relatively frugal by today’s standards, but the lightweight construction (estimated 1,020kg) combined with the analogue transmission and eargasmic soundtrack will, quite quickly, make numbers redundant here.

Is this 250 GT’s price tag justified?