Just six short months after it was withdrawn from Artcurial’s flagship Rétromobile auction by the heirs of the late Pierre Bardinon’s estate, RM Sotheby’s has announced that it will offer the 1964 Le Mans-winning Ferrari 275 P via its newly established Private Sales division.

But that’s not all! In what is a scarcely believable plot twist, Ferrari has confirmed that chassis #0816 also claimed outright victory at Le Mans in 1963 in the hands of Ludovico Scarfiotti and Lorenzo Bandini. That makes it the only Ferrari in existence to have won the legendary French endurance race twice and is bound to prick the ears of the most important collectors around the world.

Ferrari Classiche discovered the new information after it undertook extensive research into the car’s history. Allegedly, what was believed to be the 1963 Le Mans winner – the 250 P bearing the chassis number #0814 – crashed heavily at the Nürburgring a month before it was due to compete in France.

Because the Works had already entered that car and did not want to resubmit the paperwork, #0816 was simply stamped with the crashed car’s numbers and drafted in as its replacement. Furthermore, it’s been established that #0816 also won the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1964, driven by Mike Parkes and Umberto Maglioli. Talk about competition pedigree!

As is now well known, the 275 P wound up in Pierre Bardinon’s Mas du Clos collection in 1970 and has resided there ever since. Well until now that is – it appears the heirs to the estate have finally come to an agreement re the sale of the car and have given RM Sotheby’s their blessing to orchestrate a private deal.

It’s remarkable that such crucial information, which has essentially rendered an extremely desirable Ferrari one of the most valuable cars on the planet, has remained unknown for so many years. We wait with baited breath for the news of its sale. As Tony Blair once famously said, ‘education, education, education…’ Old cars, eh? 

Photos: Rémi Dargegen for RM Sotheby’s © 2018