Ever wondered, why the Ferrari->ke252 250 GT LWB California Spider has "California" in its name? Here's why. A Ferrari dealer based out of the U.S. requested the company to make a car named after their biggest market and hence the name. The sunshine state of California has been the home of Hollywood for ages and money was never short.

Even today, the sheer number millionaires in the state is mind-boggling. That said, with the advent of the age of information and technology, a new generation of billionaires have emerged. Anyway, back to the California Spider. The 1958 Ferrari 250 GT California Spider LWB will hit the auction block soon.

Experts suggest, the car could be valued over $8 million! One reason for such a high price is the fact that back in the days, Ferrari only built 50 examples of the California Spider. Now, the Ferrari 250 GT was a thoroughbred racer on which the California was based. The "LWB" stands for "Long Wheelbase". The market for old and rare Ferraris is huge. Only this year, RM Auctions sold an equally rare Ferrari 275 GTB/4S NART Spider for 25 million dollars!

And that's not all, an even exclusive Ferrari 250 GTO fetched no less than $50 million. A short wheelbase version of the 250 GT California Spider also found a buyer recently. He apparently shelled out $11 million for the 250 GT California Spider SWB. The LWB California that is to be auctioned by RM Auction in Arizona is the 11th chassis (out of 50) produced by Ferrari and worked upon by the legendary metal worker Scaglietti.

Click past the jump to read more about the Ferrari 250 GT California Spider LWB

1958 Ferrari 250 GT California Spider LWB

The 250 GT California Spider shared its underpinnings with the 250 GTO race car. The body was hand beaten out of aluminium. The exterior styling was based on the Ferrari 250 GT Cabriolet Series I which was designed by, none other than Pininfarina. You can spot the slight tweaks that have been made on the California Spider's design.

Inside, the 250 GT California Spider isn't what you call luxurious. The interior stripped off any unnecessary stuff, in a true sports car fashion. The heater is the only comfort feature that has been left untouched.

Under the neatly rolled hood is a naturally aspirated V-12 with single overhead cams and 2-valves per cylinder. The engine develops 222 horsepower from a total of 3.0-liter it displaces. The fuel system consists of a set of Weber Carburetors.

The longitudinally mounted V-12 engine delivers power to the rear wheels via a 4-speed manual transmission. The car is able to accelerate to 60 mph in just 6.5 seconds and has a top speed of 145 mph. Like most modern cars, the Ferrari 250 GT California Spider uses disc brakes.