Rare Ferrari 250 GTO becomes priciest car sold at auction for $48.4m (2024)

Say hello to the most expensive car ever to be sold at auction.

This 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO - just one of 36 in existence - sold for a record-breaking $48,405,000 (£37.5m) at RM Sotheby's Monterey sale in California at the weekend.

Dubbed the Holy Grail of collectible cars, it eclipsed the previous record - also held by a Ferrari 250 GTO made in the same year - of $38.1 million (£29.5m) to take the title of the most valuable motor to go under the hammer.

The car was part of the same auction that included a 1963 Aston Martin DP215 Grand Touring Competition Prototype that went for $21.5 million (£16.7m) - the third most expensive British car of all time - and raised a total of $157.6 million (£122.1m) in total with 124 vehicles changing hands.

The sale is one of the biggest of the year, taking place during the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance - a five-day festival of auctions, exclusive vehicle unveilings (like the Lamborghini Aventador SVJ) and invite-only parties for car collectors with the deepest pockets on the planet.

At centre stage this year was the rare opportunity to add this stupendously valuable motor to a vehicle collection.

Chassis number 3413 GT is one of the earliest made. It was the third 250 GTO to ever leave the Maranello production line, though it's widely believed that all 36 examples remain in existence today.

Each road-legal racer left the Italian factory with a 3.0-litre V12 engine under the bonnet that produces a quoted 300bhp.

That was good enough for a zero to 60mph sprint in 6.1 seconds and a top speed of 174mph - enough for the 250 GTO to dominate the motorsport scene during its heyday.

This particular model has a glittering racing past and - unlike others - can boast that it has never been spearheaded bumper first into a crash barrier during its circuit exploits.

During its early days as part of the factory Scuderia outfit, the 250 GTO was a used for testing.

It was then sold to its first owner - who happened to be one of Ferrari's most favoured private customers - Edoardo Lualdi-Gabardi who entered it into no fewer than 10 races in 1962.

It won all but one (in which he placed 2nd in class) and took Lualdi-Gabardi to the Italian National GT championship that year.

It went on to contest in a total of 20 races in 1963 and 1964, was never crashed and not once failed to see the chequered flag.

As a result, many of the original components are in place today, including theengine, gearbox, and rear axle it left Ferrari's production facility with 56 years ago.

That's not to say it is totally unmodified.

It sports a factory Series II body created by iconic Italian coachbuilder Carrozzeria Scaglietti that was fitted back in 1964.

RM Sotheby's said the 250 GTO has 'passed through an unbroken chain of ownership' since it hung up its racing tyres.

The registered keepers list includes some of the most prominent Ferrari collectors in the world, with the vendor being Doctor Greg Whitten, the former chief software architect for Microsoft.

He purchased the car back in 2000 and has since allowed it to be competed in vintage events around the world, including four of the lauded GTO anniversary tours.

Whitten told CNBC that he bought chassis 3413 GT to race in events for vintage models - such as the forthcoming Goodwood Revival, believed to be the most expensive race on the planet featuring £200million worth of vehicles.

'It's a beautiful car, but it's not whole until you are racing it,' he said.

So why is he selling such an appreciating asset?

He claims the classic race scene was too dangerous to enter such a prized motor, and panic for its well-being had taken the fun out of using it in competition.

'Some of these people don't have respect for the car,' he added. 'If they crash it it's not a big deal.'

While the car has taken the crown as the most expensive car of all time to go under the hammer, it's still well short of what's believed to be the record fee paid for a vintage model.

If rumours are to be believed, a later 1963 Ferrari 250 GTO sold for $70million (£52million) earlier this year.

Leading Ferrari historian Marcel Massini, who described the car as 'one of the top three or four GTOs in the world', confirmed it had been bought by an American businessman in June.

And he predicted the famed GTO could get pricier, with values expected to rise beyond $100million in the next five years.

You can read more about the expensive cars to sell at auction in our top 10 countdown of the most precious motors to ever go under the hammer.