{"id":245080,"date":"2023-11-14T02:50:04","date_gmt":"2023-11-14T02:50:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automotobuzz.com\/?p=245080"},"modified":"2023-11-14T02:50:04","modified_gmt":"2023-11-14T02:50:04","slug":"check-out-the-most-valuable-ferrari-ever-auctioned","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automotobuzz.com\/news-features\/check-out-the-most-valuable-ferrari-ever-auctioned\/","title":{"rendered":"Check out the most valuable Ferrari ever auctioned"},"content":{"rendered":"

Factory-owned 250 GTO didn't meet its estimate – but still achieved the second-highest auction price ever for a car<\/h2>\n

By PH Staff \/ Tuesday, 14 November 2023 \/ Loading comments<\/p>\n

By definition, any Ferrari 250 GTO is special. Its maker only produced 33 Series I cars, and you needed Enzo\u2019s approval to buy one. Its rarity, place in history and – let\u2019s face it – extraordinary beauty, has made it one of the most sought-after objects in the world. So when one comes up for auction it tends to generate a fair bit of buzz. Sufficient in this case for the car to feature as part of Sotheby\u2019s New York Sales of Contemporary and Modern Art. The auction house simply called it \u2018The One\u2019. <\/p>\n

As it happened, the car easily outstripped the money paid for various minor works by Picasso, Dali, Cezanne – even a Rothko. Even a $30m Monet. When the gavel came down on the closed room auction, some lucky soul had parted with (including fees) $51.7m. A little behind the breathless estimates that suggested it might go for as much as $60m – but still sufficient to ensure that the car eclipsed the $48m paid for a 250 GTO back in 2018 at Monterey, and the $38m someone forked out in 2014 at Carmel. RM Sotheby’s reckons it’s the highest price paid for a Ferrari ever at auction. <\/p>\n

Of course, in absolute terms, it ranks a distant second to the $143m that an unknown collector paid for a \u201955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR \u2018Uhlenhaut Coupe\u2019 – thought to be one of two, ever – just last year, but that really was something extraordinary. This \u201962 GTO Tipo was merely a once-in-a-generation chance to own the only derivative raced by Scuderia Ferrari itself. It achieved 2nd place overall at the Nurburgring 1000KM and raced at the 24 Hours of Le Mans – where it featured a larger 4.0-litre V12 – but didn\u2019t finish. Returned to its \u2019standard\u2019 3.0-litre configuration by the factory, chassis 3765 was bought by a privateer and eventually found its way to America where it has spent nearly four decades in fastidious private ownership. Until yesterday evening. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe result, achieved through collaboration between Ferrari, RM Sotheby’s, and Sotheby’s, echoes our mutual pursuit of perfection\u2014mirroring the very ethos Enzo Ferrari embodied when designing this car,\u201d commented Global Head of Auctions, Gord Duff. \u201cFetching $51.7 million, this transaction adds a new chapter to a vehicle with an unmatched legacy. Now, it ranks among the most expensive cars sold at auction, a true testament to its singular place in history.” <\/p>\n\n