Ferrari 250GTO sells for record-breaking $48.4m

By Chris Rowlands

| 26 Aug 2018

Classic & Sports Car – Ferrari 250GTO sells for record-breaking $48.4m

RM Sotheby’s has cemented its reputation as a Monterey record-breaker with the sale of a 1962 Ferrari 250GTO.

When the hammer fell on Saturday 25 August, the top bid for the Italian tourer was $44m (£34.2m). The additional buyer’s premium took the total price to a bank-breaking $48.4m (£37.7m).

That makes chassis 3413, one of just 36 GTOs built, comfortably the most expensive car ever sold at a public auction.

Classic & Sports Car – Ferrari 250GTO sells for record-breaking $48.4m

© Patrick Ernzen/RM Sotheby's

Chassis 3413 left the Ferrari factory in 1962 as a Series I machine and, shortly after, was test-driven by Phil Hill ahead of that year’s Targa Florio.

It went on to enjoy an accomplished racing career, competing in 20 races in period and finishing every one of them.

In ’64 it gained rare Series II coachwork designed by Pininfarina and fitted by Saglietti, before retiring from racing and entering a chain of ownership that can be traced through to the present day.

Classic & Sports Car – Ferrari 250GTO sells for record-breaking $48.4m

Classic & Sports Car – Ferrari 250GTO sells for record-breaking $48.4m

Classic & Sports Car – Ferrari 250GTO sells for record-breaking $48.4m

© Patrick Ernzen/RM Sotheby's

On the auction block, the all-original Prancing Horse easily eclipsed the previous record for a car sold at a public auction – $38m, set in 2014 by a 250GTO at Bonhams’ Quail Lodge sale.

Another Ferrari 250GTO changed hands for a staggering $70m back in June of this year, but that was at a private sale, so didn’t affect the record.

RM Sotheby’s believes the successful sale of chassis 3413 could help the 2018 Monterey auction break the company’s own record for total takings at a single sale, which currently sits at $173m (£134.6m).

Classic & Sports Car – Ferrari 250GTO sells for record-breaking $48.4m

© RM Sotheby's

The sale of an Aston Martin DP215 prototype probably helped, too, with the one-off Le Mans machine – the first car to officially break the 300kph barrier – fetching $21.5m (£16.7m) on Friday 24 August.

RM Sotheby’s didn’t have all the biggest lots, mind: a 1933 Duesenberg SSJ claimed $22m at the Gooding & Company sale on Friday, making it the most expensive American car ever sold.

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Chris Rowlands

Perennially on the road, Chris has to content himself with writing about classic cars instead of owning them – though he’s sure he’ll one day have the keys to an E-type. A regular contributor to Classic & Sports Car, his first love is motorsport.