They Refused To Sell Their Car for $5.8 MILLION

ferrari 375mm In 1968, two college teachers bought a 1954 Ferrari 375MM Spider convertible for $1000.

One of the buyers saw Dan Gurney racing the exact same car in 1958 in Riverside California at the Times Mirror Grand Prix and knew it was capable of exceeding 170 mph.

They thought the price was too high

The engine was missing, the chassis had been shortened, and it was missing a whole bunch of other parts. The two buyers, who were good friends, thought the price was too high, but knew what the car had been and decided to buy it anyway and restore it to its original glory.

A 46 year long project

Little did they know at the time that this restoration would tax their patience, compromise their bank accounts, outlast their marriages, take close to five decades to complete, but ultimately make them millions of dollars.

ferrari 375mmBoth of the buyers, Charles Betz and Fred Peters, were college teachers and into restoring cars in their spare time before they bought the Ferrari. Betz restored Italian and English sports cars and Peters restored German cars. They both met at a dinner party because the host of the party thought they would hit it off…and they did.

They combined their knowledge and efforts and starting buying and selling Porsches, Jaguars, Maseratis, and Alfa Romeos.

Used Ferraris were cheap

After a while of working together they began to specialize in buying and selling mostly Ferraris. In the 60’s and 70’s used Ferraris were cheap  because they were hard to work on (Ferrari didn’t provide service manuals) and few American auto mechanics would touch them.

The problem is that the owners of Ferraris back then tried and failed at repairing them so these two guys were buying used Ferraris for $3500 to $4000 each. That was a lot of money for a couple teachers that made less than $14,000 per year.

ferrari 375mmPeters said “it was a hobby that got out of hand.” Often they had to sell a car to buy another car, or borrow money from a relative or bank to close a deal. They even resorted to putting up their furniture as collateral a few times.

A passion for old exotic sports cars

They made some money and lost some money but their passion for these old cars kept them going. They bought a Bugatti but never could get it running so after five years of trying they sold it. Peters remembers telling the new buyer: “Its a great car but just don’t try to make it run.”

No one wanted to buy used Ferraris

They opened a car lot in 1968 that sold used Ferraris that lasted only two years because they soon discovered that no one wanted to buy used Ferraris. One deal on a used Ferrari Berlinetta they bought for $5000 made them a $500 profit.

Their best deal then was a used Ferrari 250 they bought for $4000 that needed a new engine that they sold six years later for $12,000.

It was that deal that made them think they had arrived and had them formulating a 30 year plan that involved both of them retiring with a $300,000 nest egg. Everyone that knew them, including their wives, thought they were crazy.

They kept their teaching jobs but their side business continued to grow so they moved out of their garages and rented some industrial space. Soon they were restoring a dozen cars at a time.

Ferrari only made 14 of them

Throughout all of this they were still patiently trying to find the parts missing from the Ferrari 375MM. Ferrari only made 14 of the 375MM Spiders, and two were known to have been completely destroyed. Mind you, this was years before the internet, so finding parts like a door or door pull for an extremely rare exotic like this was a challenge.

ferrari 375mmMeanwhile, used Ferraris were starting to command much higher prices. In fact, the Ferrari 250 they sold for $12,000 sold ten years later for $80,000, and sold again a few years after that for a whopping $580,000!

This ever-rising appreciation of used Ferraris also meant that the price of Ferrari parts were going through the roof. For example, a pair of original headlights for the 375MM cost $5000 and a replica of the grill cost $10,000.

Appreciating prices and rising profits

Of course all of this meant their profits were rising too. The two friends started making money from selling parts they didn’t need and were selling cars for astronomical sums.

In 2002, they sold a rare 57′ Ferrari Testarossa they had spent years restoring and half the profit from it was more than one of the guys had made from teaching in the previous 38 years!

Regardless of what they bought, sold, or traded, they still hung onto to that 375MM, and in 1986 they were able to buy the last of the missing parts which included the original gas tank, hood, passenger seat, and stick shift knob. That meant that the last phase of the restoration could begin which included rebuilding the frame, assembling the engine, and repairing and repainting the body in the original color.

1.4 million dollar investment spanning 46 years

Apparently, over all those years, they put $400,000 into the 375MM’s engine and another $1 million in other parts.

After 46 years the car was finally showroom ready. The Ferrari-red paint was gleaming, the 12 cylinder engine was running, and the chrome wheels were shining. The leather seats, leather straps for the hood latches, and the wood of the steering wheel were all restored to factory perfection.

In 2014, the two friends and partners decided it was time to liquidate the collection they had spent almost five decades creating.

Betz said: “When you’re 75, and your partner is 83, you can’t have a 30-year plan.”

In August, the two men put the Ferrari 375MM on a flatbed truck and shipped it to the annual Car Week where it would be put up for sale by the Mecum auction house.

The two partners watched as collectors feverishly bid their car up to $5.8 million  – and then stopped before reaching the sellers’ minimum.

Thanks but no thanks

$5.8 million was tempting, but not enough for them.

“In terms of what we’ve spent, we would have been way ahead,” he said. “But we’ve owned it for 46 years, and $5.8 million just won’t do it.”ferrari 375mm

Back home, where the partners have the 375MM stored, as well as six other classics left in their collection, Peters and Betz continue to get inquiries on the 375MM. One collector made an offer but was unable to sell the cars he needed to sell in order to buy the 375MM. Another potential buyer offered the same price but couldn’t get the financing.

The two partners seemed almost relieved.

“The good news is that we like the car well enough to keep it,” said Betz.

The car looked amazing sitting in their garage all shiny, said Peters, and selling what required so much of your time, energy and money always comes with a bit of a “twinge.”

“You put your heart into these cars,” he said. “You remember what they were.”

Crazy or smart?

Were these guys crazy to not take $5.8 million for the car, or were they smart businessmen?

Well, considering they have over $1.4 million invested in it, and the most expensive car ever sold at an auction sold for $38 MILLION, and who knows how much their $1.4 million dollar investment really amounts to when adjusted for inflation, I think these guys are pretty dang smart.

I hope you enjoyed reading this. Please leave your thoughts in the comments section below.

Steve

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7 thoughts on “They Refused To Sell Their Car for $5.8 MILLION

  1. Zachary

    A 50 year long project! That was a very cool story.

    Reply
  2. Jon

    They were smart to hold out for more money!

    Reply
  3. Angela

    I agree with you that they were wise to wait for a higher offer.

    Reply
  4. Armando

    I think its interesting that there was a time in the US when no one wanted to buy used Ferraris.

    Reply
  5. Matthew

    Steve, do you think that with the insanely high prices these collectable cars are getting that its a bubble getting ready to burst similar to the housing bubble in the 2000’s?

    Reply
    1. Admin Post author

      Matthew,

      I find these exotics to be amazingly beautiful cars, and I’m amazed at the crazy high prices they are fetching, but I don’t follow the market enough for them to know if its a bubble about to burst or not.

      Steve

      Reply
  6. Kent

    I think they should have taken it. How many people are out there looking for this particular car in this economy? These guy’s may not be around long enough to see it sold. If the economy keeps sliding down, the price will also.

    I hope they have someone in their wills to leave it to. And let the squabbling/lawsuits begin between the two families that are left.

    Reply

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