This Ferrari just became the most expensive car ever auctioned

One seriously show-stopping lot

Back in July, a Ferrari 250GTO changed hands for a hefty $70m (£52m), making it the most expensive car ever sold.

But that was a private sale. RM Sotheby’s sale in Monterey on Saturday (25 August) was not. Which makes this fine classic – another Ferrari 250GTO – the most expensive car ever sold at a public auction.

The price tag? A cool $48.4m (£37.7m, including buyer's premium) – comfortably eclipsing the previous record of $38m, set by yet another Ferrari 250GTO at Bonhams' Quail Lodge auction in 2014.

So what exactly makes chassis 3413 so special – and why did someone pay so much for it? Read on to find out.

Top 250

Even outside of Ferrari circles, the 250GTO is a fabled machine – as those sale records show.

Built between 1962 and 1964, it was the ultimate evolution of Ferrari’s 250 line of sports cars.

Scarce stallion

Built to race, just 36 gorgeous GTOs left the production line, with most wrapped in arguably one of the greatest GT shells of all time – an uncluttered, all-aluminium Scaglietti design.

Similarly unique

As was often the case with mid-century Ferraris, though, not all GTOs were equal.

Besides a handful of examples which received revised bodywork in 1964 (‘Series II’ cars), differences were common across GTOs due to the hand-built nature of the model.

Light and fast

In the nose of each machine sat a 3-litre Colombo V12 engine, good for a claimed 300bhp – which, in a car weighing just 880kg at the kerb, meant incredible performance for the era, as the GTO’s race results proved.

Winning ways

The 250GTO was a dominant force in competition in the early-’60s, claiming victories in the Tour de France and Goodwood Tourist Trophy, as well as class wins at Le Mans, the Nürburgring and in the Targa Florio.

Valuable past

Why is this particular GTO special enough to sell for $48.4m (£37.7m)? A quick delve into its history shows that chassis 3413 has had quite the storied life – and one arguably deserving even of that stratospheric price tag.

Third of 36

Chassis 3413 left the Ferrari factory in 1962 as a Series I car – just the third of the 36 that would eventually be built.

Racing out of the gate

Shortly after, it was test-driven by one Phil Hill – history’s only American-born Formula 1 World Champion – ahead of the 1962 Targa Florio road race.

Known first owner

The 250GTO was then sold to its first owner, a certain Edoardo Lualdi-Gabardi – an existing privateer customer of the Prancing Horse.

Champion combination

The Italian would enter the GTO in 10 races in ’62 and, as testament to his skill and the car’s racing prowess, would win all but one – claiming the Italian National GT Championship in the process.

Stylish second owner

Come 1963, the lucky Mr Lualdi-Gabardi took delivery of a second GTO, selling his successful first machine to Gianni Bulgari – yes, that Bulgari – who at that time dabbled in racing.

Top in the Targa

At the hands of Bulgari and its next owner, Corrado Ferlaino, chassis 3413 showed well – claiming class wins in the ’63 and ’64 runnings of the Targa Florio, a gruelling race held in Sicily.

Bringing it home

In total, this 250GTO competed in 20 races in its prime. Remarkably, it finished every single one and was never involved in an accident.

Original gear

Even more remarkably, it went to auction with its original engine, gearbox and rear axle – together with the factory Series II body it gained in 1964, also at the hands of famed Italian coachbuilder Scaglietti.

Italian body

These second-series shells were designed by Pininfarina and fitted by Scaglietti, and closely resembled the racing 250LM.

Subtle series tweaks

Differences between the ‘Series I’ and ‘Series II’ bodies were small, with the later variant carrying vertical cooling slots on the nose, recessed side lights and a rear spoiler riveted to the body.

Several caring owners

Thus fitted, the GTO retired from racing and entered a chain of ownership that can be traced through to the present day, being stabled across the decades with several renowned Ferrari collectors. Above, the car can be seen with one Jack Le Fort in the late 1960s.

Toured and competed

Come 2000, the last owner – former Microsoft man Dr Greg Whitten – bought the GTO and subsequently entered it into a host of vintage events, as well as four of the famous GTO anniversary tours, which began in 1982.

Third time lucky

It went under the hammer at RM Sotheby's Monterey auction on Saturday 25 August – and it was only the third time since 2000 that this remarkable 250GTO had been offered at a public sale.

Impeccable pedigree

Prior to the sale, Shelby Myers, Car Specialist at RM Sotheby’s, said of this Ferrari, “The fact that the GTO exists as it did in period, along with Dr. Whitten’s long-term, enthusiastic ownership, only adds to the car’s impeccable pedigree.”

Best of the best

He described chassis 3412 as an “exceptional example of Ferrari’s most successful racer and the world’s most sought-after collector car, full stop.”

Big bids

And, when the GTO's moment came on Saturday, the bidders in the room clearly agreed: the hammer finally fell on the Ferrari for a record-breaking $44m.

Top of the lots

With the buyer's premium added on, the total price paid for this 56-year-old Ferrari was an incredible $48.4m – making it the most expensive car ever sold at auction, topping the $38m claimed by another Ferrari GTO in 2016.

Big money weekend

That sale came off the back of several other huge lots at the Pebble Beach weekend: a 1933 Duesenberg SSJ sold at the Gooding & Company auction on Friday for $22m, making it the most expensive American car of all time, while an Aston Martin DP215 prototype – also at the RM Sotheby's sale – fetched $21.5m.

In the record books

No lot could top the Ferrari, though, which is now comfortably the most expensive car ever sold at a public auction.

Big win in Cali

And the sale certainly helped auction house RM Sotheby's, which reckons the 2018 Monterey sale could break its own record for the highest sales at a single auction – a figure that currently sits at $173m.