The 1962 Ferrari sold for a record five million dollars

A red Ferrari sold at auction by the Italian carmaker has become the most expensive car of its make and model to ever sell for more than US$50 million.

According to the New York Times, despite the amount fetched, it fell short of auctioneers’ expectations as geopolitical uncertainty and rising interest rates dampened activity in the markets.

This Ferrari initially had a 4.0 liter V12 engine – the only Scuderia raced GTO to get such an engine. But after Le Mans, the factory switched it to the standard 3.0-litre unit. A private person bought this car for racing in 1963.

This 250 GTO eventually made its way to America where the current owner acquired it in 1985. He used the car in vintage racing and on the high-end auto show circuit, winning the Best of Show award at the 2011 Emilia Island Concours d’Aliens.

Automobile Dealers RM Sotheby’s bought a controlling stake in 2022, offering a 1962 Ferrari 330 LM / 250 GTO by Scaglietti with an unpublished estimate of $60 million. Two bidders pushed the price to $47 million before auction house fees. RM Sotheby’s has declined to provide any information about the buyer.

Sotheby’s advertised the car as a luxury vehicle and offered it as a sole sale during a fine art auction in New York. Auctioneer Oliver Barker, who is also chairman of Sotheby’s Europe, presided over the auction at Sotheby’s York Avenue headquarters.

There are only 36 Ferrari 250 GTOs produced between 1962 and 1964. Owners of the car instantly become members of an exclusive club that includes fashion designer Ralph Lauren and Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason.

The auction includes official build sheets and 250 GTO conversions carried out by the factory to prepare the car for races at the Nürburgring, Le Mans. This document establishes the historical basis of the car for the buyer and adds value to the vehicle.

RM Sotheby’s described the car as ‘one in one’. Although it looks almost like a 250 GTO, it was originally built as a 330 LM, an even rarer car with a slightly larger engine.

It is the only GTO to be raced by the automaker’s racing division, Scuderia Ferrari, which later became the 250 GTO in 1962. Ferrari sold it to a Sicilian surgeon in 1964 for six thousand dollars.

The vehicle, known as chassis number 3765, failed to reach the current auction record for a classic car, set last year when RM Sotheby’s sold a Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Olinhaut Coupe for €135 million, or today It was sold for about 144 million dollars. (The Ferrari 250 GTO was also reportedly sold privately in 2016 for over $70 million.)

The $51.7 million price was still well above the last sale of nearly $500,000, according to Godduff, RM Sotheby’s global head of auctions, the paper said. A spokeswoman for RM Sotheby’s confirmed that the seller was Jim Jaeger, an Ohio collector and co-founder of a radar tracking business.

Geneva-based classic car dealer Simon Kidston says chassis number 3765’s unique history may have done it more harm than good. ‘It’s a very nice car. Unfortunately I don’t think everyone understands that. In a market where appearances are so important and people like to belong to a group of like-minded owners, anything that needs to be defined is always a bit of a challenge to sell.’