Super-sexy Ferrari 250 California Spider

The rear-wheel-drive drop-top Californian beauty can accelerate from 0-60mph in just 6.5 seconds

Vijay Pattni looks back to the 1950s original Ferrari 250 California Spider – and how the drop-top Italian beauty scored eternal fame thanks to a lazy American teenager…

A simple request from an influential car dealer in the 1950s spawned one of the most beautiful Ferraris to grace the planet.

“I want a Spider”.

US Ferrari dealer John von Neumann wanted a version of the fabulous Ferrari 250 to appeal to his clientele.

This – the Ferrari 250 – was the car which helped define the prestigious and sexy Italian carmaker. Its body was handcrafted by styling gods Pininfarina and it was powered by a roaring 3-litre V12 powerplant slung over the front wheels – in true GT tradition.

View more images of the Ferrari 250 California Spider

As is true of all successful sportscars, the Ferrari 250 GT was honed for track success, but the road cars appeared soon after.

So sitting in his home on the west coast of America, Neumann immediately thought his buyers might want something with a little less… roof.

And speaking to Ferrari, he managed to convince the bosses to roll out the celebrated Ferrari 250 California Spider – taking its iconic name from the sun-kissed west-coast of the USA, which also happens to be Ferrari’s largest market.

The Ferrari 250 California Spider uses the same drivetrain as the famous 250 GT which won the Tour de France – a 3-litre V12 petrol engine producing 260bhp, which is the equivalent power of a 2008 BMW 330i Sport.

This means the rear-wheel-drive drop-top Californian beauty can accelerate from 0-60mph in just 6.5 seconds – quicker than a BMW Z4 and nearly as quick as the frenzied Honda S2000 – and race on to a top speed of 145mph.

And the Ferrari 250 California Spider came in two guises.

The longer version was the first to appear in the late 1950s, followed up by a shorter version (SWB) which was unveiled in 1960, based on the 250 GT – a SWB Ferrari 250 California Spider is up for auction this weekend in Maranello, Italy, previously owned by actor James Coburn.

But while award-winning actor James Coburn may have been the star to own the car, the stunning Ferrari 250 California Spider became a star in its own right in the 1980s – in 1986’s Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.

Ferris Bueller – played by Sex and the City star Sarah Jessica Parker’s husband Matthew Broderick – convinces his girlfriend ‘Sloane’ and best friend ‘Cameron’ to join him on his adventures, even managing to twist Cameron’s arm: to take out his father’s lovingly-maintained and mint condition Ferrari 250 California Spider out on the town.

However, the car in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off was a replica of a 250 Spider – the movie’s producers would have been unlikely to write in the catastrophic demise of the Ferrari 250 on-screen had they got their hands on a real one – just over 100 examples of the fabulous Ferrari exist.

And this weekend at Ferrari’s home in Maranello, a Ferrari 250 California Spider is up for auction – for an estimated value of £2.5 million.

View more images of the Ferrari 250 California Spider

Ouch! Cameron wrecks his Dad's Ferrari in Ferris Bueller's Day Off: