£52m Ferrari 250 GTO becomes most expensive car ever sold

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Source: AUTOCAR || A Ferrari 250 GTO has fetched £52 million upon sale, making it the most expensive car to be sold on record.

This particular 1963 250 GTO, reports AutoClassics, won the Tour de France the year after it was built and got its record price tag through never having crashed in its 55-year lifespan.

The buyer, American businessman David MacNeil, is a known collector of Ferraris and is currently CEO of car weather protection accessories company WeatherTech. UK Ferrari restoration specialist DK Engineering restored the car in the 1990s, but MacNeil reportedly bought the car from German racing driver Christian Glaesel, who has owned the car for 15 years.

Its racing history, having competed in the 1963 Le Mans 24 Hours, Angolan Grand Prix and others, makes this 250 GTO’s uncrashed status all the more remarkable. Its more recent outings were at the Goodwood Revival while under the ownership of Nicolaus Springer between 1997 and 2000.

The next most expensive car ever sold was at auction. It was another 250 GTO, which fetched £30,750,300. That example was raced by Jo Schlesser.

Seven of the top 10 most expensive cars ever sold have been Ferraris, three of them being 250-badged. The most expensive non-Ferrari in the list is a Mercedes-Benz W196 racing car, which was sold for £23,880,600 at auction in 2013.
 
The buyer is going to win a free Ferrari 250 GTO as a Daily Workout gift tomorrow. :D

Jokes aside, why is this car more valued in auctions than others?
 
The buyer is going to win a free Ferrari 250 GTO as a Daily Workout gift tomorrow. :D

Jokes aside, why is this car more valued in auctions than others?
Recent topic on FChat about it with different opinions. Some believe a 330 P4 in original configuration would fetch a much higher return if it ever sold.
https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/why-the-250-gto.570306/

Basically, it ticks all the right boxes for a collector. It's a Ferrari. It's a vintage Ferrari. It has a classic Ferrari V12 engine, I think the last Ferrari to use the 3-liter V12 that propelled the Testa Rossa to victory at Le Mans. Additionally, that motor & the chassis basically made the 250 GTO a mixed bag of Ferrari competitiveness, so much of the car was based on successful racing endeavors. With that, the car also ended up having a solid race history of its own with class victories in the FIA in all 3 years of its conception. Better yet, every 250 GTO was built to race and regardless of whether an example was successful or not, the overall racing history of the model itself is applied to every car; they rarely come up for sale, so owners aren't picky if one example didn't have the pedigree of another (1 example actually has a driver death behind it, was rebuilt after the leading-accident, and years later, still sold for a high value). There are some other quirks that can be argued such as its looks, being built in an era of pretty Ferraris, or that the same era lends itself to a time where the race cars weren't far off the road cars, so many owners find the 250 GTO a capable road car that doesn't sacrifice much; Phil Hill believed the 300Hp was the perfect amount of power for the car, iirc. And then last of course, is its rarity. Not so rare where there's less in existence than your fingers, but just enough to still be part of an elite club of 30 or so.

Essentially, what it comes down to is that not only is the perfect embodiment of the Ferrari, but it was just a car built in the right place at the right time that lends to its success. Its era of design, its era of racing, its era of how sports cars were built.

To truly understand the craze behind the values though, is to look at its history on the market. Much of these higher prices have been completed during the last 20 years. 1980-2000, there were trading values of under $10 million. The mid-early 90's saw a couple offered at $3-$5 million. Around 2000, many had traded for $6 million and one failed to sell for $10 million. Only one in 1989 broke and set the record for $20 million up until the late 2000's where another couple sold for $20 & $26 million. There was an example rumored to be offered at $52 million 10 years ago, but the selling company would never advertise its listing or actual agreed price. Only in the last 5 years have we truly seen the upside with $42, $44, & $70 million headlines. I'm not sure if this last car will set the tone for GTOs altogether as the values of privately traded cars are rarely known, but it may or may not cause the next publicly auctioned example to reach similar numbers.
 
I think the last Ferrari to use the 3-liter V12 that propelled the Testa Rossa to victory at Le Mans.
Indeed the same displacement (73mm bore and 58.8mm stroke) and basic configuration (60° SOHC Colombo V12), but I'm given to understand the tipo 128 used in the TR and the tipo 168/62 competition motor used in the SWB/GTO/GTL are otherwise very far removed from one another. The latter was used also used a year longer, until 1964.
 
Indeed the same displacement (73mm bore and 58.8mm stroke) and basic configuration (60° SOHC Colombo V12), but I'm given to understand the tipo 128 used in the TR and the tipo 168/62 competition motor used in the SWB/GTO/GTL are otherwise very far removed from one another. The latter was used also used a year longer, until 1964.
According to Ferrari, they list the GTO as using a Testa Rossa version of the V12, but with dry-sump instead of wet-sump. Maybe there's the issue.
The power unit was essentially a 250 Testa Rossa specification version of the Colombo single overhead camshaft per bank 3-litre V12 engine, with bore and stroke of 73 x 58.8 mm, but using dry sump lubrication, with factory type reference 168 Comp/62. The spark plugs were outside the vee of the block, and there was a bank of six twin choke Weber 38 DCN carburettors, with a twin coil and rear of engine mounted distributor ignition system, to produce a claimed 300 bhp.
https://auto.ferrari.com/en_US/sports-cars-models/past-models/250-gto/

But, to my understanding, that V12 also evolved a lot as well from its original configuration over the years as Ferrari tweaked it.
 
Basically, it ticks all the right boxes for a collector. It's a Ferrari. It's a vintage Ferrari. It has a classic Ferrari V12 engine, I think the last Ferrari to use the 3-liter V12 that propelled the Testa Rossa to victory at Le Mans. Additionally, that motor & the chassis basically made the 250 GTO a mixed bag of Ferrari competitiveness, so much of the car was based on successful racing endeavors. With that, the car also ended up having a solid race history of its own with class victories in the FIA in all 3 years of its conception. Better yet, every 250 GTO was built to race and regardless of whether an example was successful or not, the overall racing history of the model itself is applied to every car; they rarely come up for sale, so owners aren't picky if one example didn't have the pedigree of another (1 example actually has a driver death behind it, was rebuilt after the leading-accident, and years later, still sold for a high value). There are some other quirks that can be argued such as its looks, being built in an era of pretty Ferraris, or that the same era lends itself to a time where the race cars weren't far off the road cars, so many owners find the 250 GTO a capable road car that doesn't sacrifice much; Phil Hill believed the 300Hp was the perfect amount of power for the car, iirc. And then last of course, is its rarity. Not so rare where there's less in existence than your fingers, but just enough to still be part of an elite club of 30 or so.

Although you touched on it, i think it's looks were the thing that made it stick out for collectors in the late 60's and early 70's when it was no longer competitive as a race car. It was it's beauty as much as anything else that made it collectable in that early period, back when no one could have predicted the way the classic car movement has skyrocketed prices to astronomical levels - but also the fact that it was from the era one of the last purpose built racing cars that was not just fully road legal, but also quite usable as a road car. Technically that slightly later period of the first sports prototypes were also road legal - GT40's, 330P3/4, Porsche 908 etc, but they were too compromised for that to be practical. The GTO wasn't.
 
Its doubtful that the supercars of today will hold as much value down the line, sure they will appreciate but not at that kind of level. They don't have the same feel as the older stuff.
 
Its doubtful that the supercars of today will hold as much value down the line, sure they will appreciate but not at that kind of level. They don't have the same feel as the older stuff.

The McLaren F1 has done.[/olderpersonwhostillseesthef1asarecentvehicle]
 
That's likely who'll buy it, it's just that bigger crowdfunds are called "Investment Managers".
Yes. I saw one on FB a while back called SuperCarinvestmet. They offering 2500 shares for £500 and they plan on selling it in 3 years. Would be interesting for normal folk like myself to be involved in something like that. We should do a GTP investment group and buy an F1 car lol.

Its doubtful that the supercars of today will hold as much value down the line, sure they will appreciate but not at that kind of level. They don't have the same feel as the older stuff.
I kind of feel the same way. Maybe it's because it's easier for far more people to build a super car today than it was back in the day due many being hand built or largely hand built. Maybe they will just be art pieces though when we go all electric though.
 
The McLaren F1 has done.[/olderpersonwhostillseesthef1asarecentvehicle]

:lol: I mean more like now :sly:

In the past few years there has been a boom in astronomically expensive small production run supercars and they don't seem to have much soul in them.
 
:lol: I mean more like now :sly:

In the past few years there has been a boom in astronomically expensive small production run supercars and they don't seem to have much soul in them.

Collectibility is wrapped up in scarcity and demand. The important bit for the most recent supercars is demand, because if it's not well remembered, and it has been outdone, and there's nothing interesting in terms of technology or characteristics, even if what's interesting is to remind you of the period, then demand won't be there.

I think maybe the Veyron. It was a super noteworthy car that generated a ton of interest and demand. Maybe the GTR (I know there are a fair number of them). Maybe the R8. Certainly some of the 911s. M3. You need to love it in the future for what it represented today. I don't know or guess how today's Ferraris and Lambos will hold up.

Here's the thing though, if you think the days of there being just one special car that everyone wanted, at the top of line, that was beautiful and exciting, are gone... well then... I can start to understand the figures behind the GTO. Perhaps the reason the price is going so high is because of a recognition of something that will not be repeated by today's vehicles.
 
According to Ferrari, they list the GTO as using a Testa Rossa version of the V12, but with dry-sump instead of wet-sump. Maybe there's the issue.

https://auto.ferrari.com/en_US/sports-cars-models/past-models/250-gto/

But, to my understanding, that V12 also evolved a lot as well from its original configuration over the years as Ferrari tweaked it.
Okay, so I had an exchange today with a friend who knows previous-era Ferrari V12s (Colombo, Lampredi and Jano), and he informed me that the biggest difference between the early TR V12s and the ones used in the GTO/GTL was larger valves and, in turn, larger throated Weber DCNs (38 vs. 36). Both were dual coil and dual distributor. The tipo 168/62 was dry-sumped, but all of the competition 168s were such starting in 1961.

Certainly not the dissimilarity I thought to be the case. He indicated I may have been confusing Colombo and Lampredi 250s, where the head studs line up but water jackets and oil passages don't, in addition to equal 68mm bore and stroke in the Lampredi.

He said the first big change in the Colombo V12 came with the Four-Cam, and that included larger oil passages to feed the big heads. The larger passages were retained for all subsequent Colombo V12s and the next big change came with the 4.8 and 5.0 that required clearancing for the longer stroke.
 


Another one is going under the hammer in August and might take the record. It's a '62 Series I rebodied as Series II by the factory. Nice racing history too.


RM Sotheby's PR:

Perhaps the ultimate collector car, Ferrari’s 250 GTO was effectively the final evolution of the marque’s famous 250 model, which debuted in 1953 and ended with the last GTOs in 1964. In total, a mere 36 examples of the 250 GTO were ever produced, all of which have survived. Widely considered the most beautiful Ferrari design, the model was one of the most successful road/racing cars that the marque ever built, claiming overall victory or 1st in class in nearly 300 races worldwide. Decades down the road, the Ferrari 250 GTO has become the car collector’s “holy grail”, thanks not only to its incredible pedigree, but to a group of French collectors who organized the first gathering of GTO owners in 1982. Occurring every five years since its inception, the meeting is a glorious driving and dining tour across the country of their choosing, and the only entry into this exclusive club is ownership; making the GTO the hottest ticket in the collector car world.

The Ferrari 250 GTO on offer, chassis no. 3413 GT, is the third of the 36 examples built, and began its life as a Series I car. Under Ferrari factory use, the GTO was a test car driven by Phil Hill for the 1962 Targa Florio road race. The car was then sold to its first owner, one of Ferrari’s most favored privateer customers, Edoardo Lualdi-Gabardi. The Italian gentleman racer entered the GTO in 10 races in 1962, winning all but one (in which he placed 2nd in class) and securing him the Italian National GT championship that year. Lualdi-Gabardi’s incredible track success with the early GTO, right out of the gate, contributed significantly in cementing what would become the GTO legend and legacy as known today.

Mr. Lualdi-Gabardi received a second GTO in 1963 and sold chassis no. 3413 to then race car driver Gianni Bulgari, who went on to lead the renowned Bulgari jewelry company from the 1960s to the 1980s. Under both Bulgari and subsequent owner Corrado Ferlaino’s ownership, the GTO handily won its class in the 1963 and 1964 Targa Florio. The car contested a total of 20 races in period, never involved in an accident, and not once failing to finish. A rare case and incredible feat for any race car, it retains its original engine, gearbox, and rear axle, as well as its factory Series II body, in which it was clothed by Carrozzeria Scaglietti in 1964.

Following its racing career, the GTO has passed through an unbroken chain of ownership that includes some of the most prominent Ferrari collectors in the hobby. In 2000, it was acquired by current owner Dr. Greg Whitten, Chairman of Numerix, avid collector car enthusiast and former chief software architect at Microsoft. Under Dr. Whitten’s ownership, the GTO has competed in vintage events around the world over the last two decades, as well as four of the lauded GTO anniversary tours. Wonderfully maintained in highly original condition, the GTO is the most valuable motor car ever offered for public sale.
 
Greg Whitten is nice enough to take this 250 GTO, along with other gems in his collection, out to local shows and Cars and Coffee equivalents. I've seen it a couple of times, and it's an absolutely stunning car.

I guess I'll have to go to the next few shows to see this one more time before it gets sold.
 
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