1961 Ferrari 250 GT California SWB Spyder

Lord Laidlaw is one of Scotland's premier car enthusiasts boasting of a collection that is both rare and exceptional, a collection that would be the envy of just about anyone. In 2015, he would make one of the rarest pieces of his collection go free, and it couldn't be a more iconic offering.

There really isn't a more exotic and rare example of Ferrari's coveted 250 GT California Spider. Just a total of 37 examples of the short-wheelbase spider with the covered headlights would ever be produced. Each California Spider is a highly sought-after entity. The passion, the desire for this particular example, however, is beyond description.

Regarded as the most beautiful car in the world, the simple lines of the California Spider are without question. But the beauty wouldn't end just with the aesthetic look of the Scaglietti-bodied spider. No, the beautiful melody of the pitch of the 3.0-liter Tipo 168 V-12 engine was what completed the love affair.

Producing around 240hp through its triple Weber carburetors and 4-speed manual gearbox, the California Spider was the rare mixture of automobile that inspired ripping through tree-lined bends on some back road, but also, slow cruises through a city's streets. A driver wanted to go fast, and slow, at the same time, and this car more than made that possible.

3095 GT would be one of those 37 examples finished with the covered headlights. Completed in 1961, the car's early history is somewhat blurry. There are a number of suggestions and legends surrounding the car's early years, including the fact that it may have been owned by Gunther Sachs, the German who married Brigitte Bardot. This is one of those stories that cannot be varified. What does seem more certain is the fact the car was finished in a metallic blue and was first sold to a couple of Swiss gentlemen, one potentially coming to own the car through the gentleman racer and Baron Toulo de Graffenried. It seems then the car traded time between Europe and the United States over the next few decades.

Then came Lord Laidlaw. One of Scotland's wealthiest citizens and a passionate automobile collector, he would purchased the car and would make it a centerpiece of his extensive collection.

Though continually changing hands through private sales the car has not remained hidden in a private collection. Though it has not made many, if any, appearances in concours and other such events, the car hasn't exactly been hidden away. In fact, in 2014, the car would be front and center at Spa for the Belgian Grand Prix. At the race, the car would serve as the official parade car carrying Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen.

Finished now in the iconic red, this would be about the only update and change the car has undergone in more than a few decades. Because it has not undergone restoration efforts the car remains highly original, and, therefore, highly desirable.

Highly original, exceedingly rare and perhaps the ultimate expression of the California Spider, 3095 GT set the collector world abuzz when it was announced it would be made available for public auction for the very first time.

Consigned through Gooding & Company's 2015 Pebble Beach auction, 3095 GT could not have been part of a better event and would actually provide one of the biggest highlights of the record-breaking weekend.

Boasting of Ferrari Classiche certification and well documented by Ferrari historian Marcel Massini, 3095 GT would set off furious bidding. Initial estimates had the car selling somewhere between $16,000,000 and $18,000,000. Sure enough, the car would garner a sale price of $16,830,000.

By Jeremy McMullen