A red 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO Berlinetta has set the world record as the most expensive car to be sold at an auction, selling for $38.1 million USD.
The Ferrari was sold Thursday at the Bonhams’ annual Quail Lodge event on the Monterey Peninsula in California by an undisclosed buyer.
This sale beat the last year’s record of $30 million USD, which was offered for a 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196, also sold by Bonhams.
Prior to the auction, several rumours suggested that the car would sell for as much as $70 million USD, but that was all based on speculation, said a spokeswoman for Bonhams.
The car was originally sold as part of the Maranello Rosso Collection, being the 19th 250 GTO Berlinetta made by Ferrari, which was completed on September 11th, 1962. It was delivered to the leading French racer Jo Schlesser and French ski Champion Henri Oreiller, which they drove together in the 1962 Tour de France Automobile.
Oreiller later crashed the car during a race at Montlhery Autodrome and died of his injuries in a hospital. The car was fixed and sold for the 1963 competition. It was sold again in 1965 to Fabrizio Violati. The auction house revealed that it was the world’s longest single-ownership of the Ferrari 250 GTO Berlinetta, held for 49 years from 1965 to 2014 by the same family.
Those who don’t want to dwell on Ferrari’s past can look forward to the automaker’s new hybrid supercars, slated for a release next year, as Ferrari joins BMW, Toyota and other brands on a quest to save the environment.
