This Ferrari 250GTO is now the most expensive car ever

| 4 Jun 2018
This Ferrari 250 GTO is now the most expensive car ever

It's no surprise that a Ferrari 250GTO commands major money, but this striking example has sold for more than any other classic car in history. Ever.

The price? $70m – an eye-watering £52m.

Why? Well, apart from simply being a 250GTO and wearing this silver-and-Tricolor livery (more on that later), it has quite a special history.

This Ferrari 250GTO is now the most expensive car ever

Chassis 4153 at the Chantilly Arts & Elegance concours in 2015

Unusually for a racing car, serial number 4153 GT has never been crashed – but it has seen impressive competitive action, in a variety of disciplines.

Arguably its most notable result was a fourth-place finish at the 1963 Le Mans 24 Hours, in the hands of Pierre Dumay and Léon Dernier.

However it also took overall victory in the prestigious Tour de France the following year, driven by Lucien Bianchi and Georges Berger.

It's also been campaigned in hillclimbs and long-distance road rallies, and taken to the track regularly in historic races over the past decade or so.

That history, coupled with the fact that any GTO is a highly sought after vehicle – only 36 were built, after all – goes some way to explaining why it's changed hands for quite so much cash.

This Ferrari 250GTO is now the most expensive car ever

The 250GTO on track at the 2012 Goodwood Revival (credit: Alamy)

Although the car has always been painted silver, that Tricolor stripe has come and gone over the years.

It was present for its first races in 1963 – the Nürburgring 1000km and the 24 Hours of Le Mans – but following the latter outing the car changed hands and was subsequently campaigned by Belgian teams Ecurie Francorchamps and Equipe National Belge.

As you might expect, they swiftly replaced the French colours with Belgian yellow; the French livery returned in 2015.

This Ferrari 250 GTO is now the most expensive car ever

The car was restored in the 1990s by DK Engineering

Over the years it's been through several owners across Europe, with the most recent being German racing driver Christian Glaesel, who bought it in 2003.

British company DK Engineering restored the car in the 1990s, and the firm's James Cottingham says it's one of the best GTOs around.

He said, "DK was not involved in a sale so cannot comment [on its sale], but as a company we have known the car for many years and have looked after it in the past having restored it in the late '90s.

"If a sale has taken place then the figures being mentioned seem realistic given that this is categorically one of the best GTOs in existence with its Le Mans history and of course being the overall winner of the Tour de France in 1964."

This Ferrari 250GTO has been sold to an American collector.

Images: Alamy, DK Engineering, Eric Manesse


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