One-of-10 2016 Ferrari F60 America Heads to Auction
Where Prancing Horse meets Screaming Eagle.
Following in the footsteps of the F40 and F50, Ferrari's first halo car of the new millennium was expected to be named F60. However, that car became the Enzo and the F60 badges wound up sitting on the shelf for another decade before Ferrari finally slapped it on an even rarer V12 supercar, the F60 America; a limited-production roadster built in the image of an obscure, States-only historic Ferrari.
F60s were commissioned in 2014 to commemorate 60 years since Ferrari had entered North America, which it did in 1954 with Le Mans-winning racing driver Luigi Chinetti. Then the brand's sole importer, Chinetti pumped Prancing Horses by fielding them in motorsport with his outfit North American Race Team (or NART), which competed in both endurance racing and Formula One, and may have been involved with an unusual GM concept car. With a foothold established, Chinetti sought to fill a hole in Ferrari's lineup left by the 250 California and commissioned a series of two-seat convertibles based on the successful 275 GTB/4, which became informally known as the NART Spiders.
Though Chinetti supposedly ordered 25 examples, just 10 were built, making the America-only model a rarity and thus a fitting muse for a tribute. In 2014, that tribute manifested as the F60 America—also a two-seat convertible with a V12 under the hood. It seems to have been only loosely derived from the F12 Berlinetta with a naturally aspirated V12 based thereon, but a completely new chassis.
Presumably, Ferrari reengineered the F12's frame to account for the rigidity lost by the removal of the roof, which casts natural light on an asymmetrically styled interior. If desired, a ragtop can be attached to protect occupants from the elements, or a three-piece carbon-fiber hardtop can also be deployed. One seat's red, the other navy blue, both with a stylized star and stripes running down their backs. All examples were sold before their public debut, making the F60 America a rare car even by Ferrari standards.
Now, though, the first of the 10 has resurfaced with a mere 2,105 miles on the clock, ready to be sold the Friday after next by RM Sotheby's at Monterey Car Week. The consignor anticipates a hammer price of $3.5 to $4.5 million or about what an unfurnished two-bedroom apartment in a questionable neighborhood sells for on today's hot real estate market. With tenacity like Victoria Scott's, one can live out of either... though you can't take an apartment on a race track, can you?
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