Who could forget the movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off?
Starring Mathew Broderick it was a hit with critics and audiences alike, a modern milestone in movie comedy and a car movie to boot.
Remember the scene where the priceless Ferrari 250 GT, set to run in reverse, falls off the blocks and shoots backwards into the abyss below.
It was hilarious EXCEPT the car wasn’t a Ferrari at all, as everyone was led to believe, but a Modena GT Spyder California — one of three used in the movie.
One of these cars has just sold for more than $400,000 in the US, among 394 vehicles that went under the hammer at Mecum’s Monterey auction that generated a massive $47 million in sales.
The Modena GT Spyder Californias were built by Modena Design and Development in El Cajon, California.
The car in question had been restored and came complete with documents from Modena Design attesting to its authenticity.
The Modena looked like a Ferrari and incorporated a number of Ferrari-style elements, such as the windshield, turn signals, grille, bonnet scoops, fender vents and a custom fibreglass body that was supposedly modelled after an MG, creating a close profile to the original Ferrari.
The chassis was of a rectangular steel-tube frame design, built by Bob Webb, who worked on Roger Penske’s Zerex Special.
After nine months of refreshing and updating by one of the founders of Modena Design, Neil Glassmoyer, this car emerged looking stunning.
Chassis No. 0003 is powered by a 5.0L V-8 engine fed by four down-draft carburettors, and the attention to detail largely sets the Modena GT Spyder California apart from its competition.
The engine uses black crinkle-finished valve coves, retina-searing red paint on the exterior, and the interior reflects all too well the timeless beauty of this machine with rich tan upholstery, exquisite gauges, inspiring switchgear, a period-looking radio and wooden steering wheel.
Although the Ferris Bueller Modena attracted some serious attention, finally selling for US $407,000, the star of the show was a stunning 1933 Duesenberg Model J Convertible Coupe Disappearing Top Roadster that sold for US $3.85 million.
Other highlights included a 307-mile 2014 hybrid-drive Ferrari LaFerrari that brought US $3.19 million, 2003 Ferrari Enzo that brought US $2.86 million and a 1989 Porsche 962 that sold for US $2.2 million.
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