$100M Worth of Cars to Park on the Common on Sunday

A red 2000 Ferrari 360 Challenge and a 1966 Mercedes-Benz 260 SE Cabriole will be on the Boston Common on Sunday, September 21 for the third annual Boston Cup. Sanjay Salomon/Boston.com Staff

By Sanjay Salomon

September 18, 2014

2 minutes to read

This Sunday, a fleet of cars will pack the Boston Common for the third annual Boston Cup, an annual gathering of classic cars. Two high-end vehicles that will be on display at the show made an early appearance Thursday morning in Roxbury.

A 2000 Ferrari 360 Challenge and a 1966 Mercedes-Benz 260 SE Cabriole both parked at the Shelburne Community Center on Washington Street for a quick photo-op with Boston Mayor Martin Walsh. Unfortunately, it looks like mayor’s Ireland trip caused him to miss this event.

But mayor or not, it was really the cars that stole the show. The Ferrari fits perfectly with this year’s Cup theme, “The History of Racing in New England.’’ Meanwhile the Mercedes represents a more vintage look that still feels at home at the public car show.

Bruce Ledoux, the Ferrari’s owner, said the car is still race-worthy and that he recently took it for a spin. It weighs about 2,700 pounds and has roughly 425 horsepower. Ledoux said it can go as fast as 165 miles per hour and from zero to 60 miles per hour in roughly four seconds. He estimates the car is worth between $90,000 and $100,000.

The Mercedes-Benz is in the custody of Edward Owen, Boston Cup co-founder and founding partner of Waltham-based European Auto Solutions.

Owen said this particular medium green Mercedes-Benz is one of the last vehicles to built by hand. It was one of the first cars to have crumple zones to protect passengers in the event of a crash, and one of the first cars to use a three-point safety belt.

But the real star of this year’s Boston Cup — a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO — was also MIA for this preview appearance. The GTO was once raced in England, France, and Italy by Hall of Fame driver Sir John Surtees. By some estimates, it is worth over $50 million, making it one of the most expensive cars in the world.

Boston Cup organizers also made a $25,000 donation to the city’s Parks and Recreation department. According to Cup co-founder Rich Doucette, the money was donated from car lovers, event organizers, and friends of the organization.

All told, the cars on display at this weekend’s Boston Cup are worth more than $100 million. If you want to get up close to one of the stars of the automotive world, you’ll have to visit the Parkman Bandstand on the Common on Sunday. The show starts at 9 a.m.