Ferrari 250 GTO fetches more than $50 million at auction
November 14, 2023
A 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO has sold for just over $50 million at Sotheby's in New York. The cult Le Mans contender has been one of the world's most expensive and sought-after Ferraris for years.
The few remaining Ferrari 250 GTOs consistently command higher prices than any other classic FerrarisImage: Angela Weiss/AFP
The classic scarlet chassis, formerly a Ferrari works racer but later refitted for road use, had been the property of an American collector for the past 38 years.
RM Sotheby's, the luxury car subsidiary of the auction house, had predicted a slightly higher sale price — in the region of $60 million.
It did not identify Monday's buyer of a car it touted as "a speed machine so celebrated that it qualifies as the very definition of a legend."
Sotheby's had predicted an even higher sale price, in the region of $60 millionImage: Angela Weiss/AFP
Scuderia works model, raced at Nürburgring and Le Mans
The car, chassis number 3765, was inititally built for the racetrack by Ferrari and installed with a larger, experimental 4 liter capacity engine.
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"As one of 34 GTO examples built with Tipo 1962 coachwork, and the only example originally equipped with a 4-liter engine, chassis number 3765 has been profiled several times in the Ferrari-focused publications Prancing Horse and Cavallino, and its period racing career was documented in magazines like Sports Car Graphic, Road & Track, and Autosport," Sotheby's said of the lot.
It finished second in the 1962 1,000 km endurance race on the German Nürburgring Nordschleife circuit, as well as competing in the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans that year, when the team had to withdraw due to engine failure, according to RM Sotheby's.
'Ford v Ferrari' and other legendary racing films
Starring Matt Damon and Christian Bale, the film "Ford v Ferrari" looks back at a legendary era in racing sports. Here is a selection of famous movies that feature steel on wheels in the lead role.
"Ford v Ferrari" (titled "Le Mans '66" in the UK and other territories) is a new sports biopic about a team of US engineers who challenged in 1966 Ferrari, the perennial winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the world's oldest active endurance sports car race. Starring Matt Damon and Christian Bale, it portrays the golden era of sports racing and how the will of individuals can beat bureaucracy.
In 1971, an extremely lavish film was dedicated to the legendary 24-hour race held annually in Le Mans, France. Racing fan Steve McQueen starred as Michael Delaney in the action adventure. "Le Mans" has hardly any dialogues and in parts feels like a documentary; it also features actual footage from the 1970 race.
"Le Mans" was originally planned to be shot in the mid-60s, to compete with "Grand Prix," which depicts a fictionalized version of the 1966 Formula One season. Directed by John Frankenheimer and starring James Garner, Yves Montand and Eva-Maria Saint, the film won three Oscars for its technical achievements.
Image: Imago Images/Prod.DB/MGM
'Winning' (1969)
Along with Le Mans, the Indianapolis 500 is one of the most prestigious motosports events in the world. Just like Steve McQueen, Paul Newman (left) was also a car racing enthusiast. That transpires in the sports film "Winning," which also features many authentic racing scenes.
Image: picture-alliance/Keystone/Röhnert
'Bullitt' (1968)
Beyond films portraying specific car races, fans of the genre also find their thrills in action movies that put fast cars in the spotlight. It was no coincidence that speed enthusiast Steve McQueen, who played a detective in "Bullitt," was at the wheel in one of the longest and most exciting car chase scenes in cinematic history: 10 minutes through the streets of San Francisco.
San Francisco was also the final destination in "Vanishing Point." Director Richard C. Safarian's film is about an ex-racing driver who bets he can cover the distance between Denver and San Francisco in 15 hours. Conflicts with the police are inevitable. The film achieved cult status, with director Quentin Tarantino repeatedly alluding to the film in his own works.
Image: picture-alliance/akg-images
'Duel' (1971)
In the early '70s, screenwriter Richard Matheson and director Steven Spielberg had a simple but ingenious idea: A man in his car is chased across California by a heavy truck. The question of why doesn't arise; it is all about how the man (Dennis Weaver) can escape his fanatical pursuer. "Duel" is a car movie in its purest form.
Image: picture-alliance/United Archives/IFTN
'Two-Lane Blacktop' (1971)
This philosophical-existentialist road movie by director Monte Hellman is about people and their favorite means of transport. Two street racers (played by musicians James Taylor, above, and Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson) get into an illegal race across the US against a mysterious stranger.
Image: picture-alliance/United Archives/Impress
'American Graffiti' (1973)
"Duel" boosted Steven Spielberg's career and director George Lucas rose to fame with "American Graffiti." The directors who later churned out record-breaking blockbuster films started out with car movies — an interesting footnote in cinematic history. In "American Graffiti," Lucas looked back at his own youth and the role cars played back then.
Director Robert Stevenson's film "The Love Bug" may not have gone down in cinematic history for artistic reasons, but the Disney production was remarkable. The film is all about racing, racing drivers and a VW Beetle named Herbie. What made it special was its focus on a quirky-looking and iconic German-made car that people all over the world adored.
Image: imago stock&people
'Senna' ( 2010)
Brazil's Formula One champion Ayrton Senna is a racing legend because he was successful, extremely focused on his sport — and because he died in a racing accident in 1994 at the age of 34. Director Asif Kapadia made a documentary on him 16 years later, relying exclusively on original footage and allowing only off-screen commentary. The film is a fascinating document, and not only for racing fans.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/EPA
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Chassis 3765, with Tipo coachwork by Scaglietti, was later restored and converted to road-going specs with a standard 3 liter engine as it was sold into private ownership in the US.
It changed hands several times before winding up with a collector in Ohio, Monday's seller, Sotheby's said.
The 1960s battles with between Ferrari's 250 GTOs and Ford's GT40s at Le Mans became a legendary endurance racing tale of the era and helps explain the car still commanding such high prices in the US as well as Europe.
The owner of the Ferrari in 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off' was said to never drive it, but to occasionally wipe his precious car with a diaperImage: picture-alliance/United Archives/IFTN
Not the most expensive auction sale ever, but...
For decades, the 250 GTO had been broadly considered the world's most expensive car, even though many recent sales have been private with prices only reported or rumored.
The Uhlenhaut fetched €135 million, or $144 million at today's exchange rate, which is thought to be at least $60 million more even than any past private car sale.
However, the model in question's utterly unique nature — the result of its starring role in racing's most deadly ever accident — explains the meteoric sale price in this case.
Only two road-ready 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupes were ever made. A racing model was involved in a major crash at the 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans. It catapulted into the spectator area, as did its engine and other large parts of debris, killing more than 100 spectators and wounding many more.
Mercedes then canceled its plans to build more hard-top 300 SLRs for the road in the aftermath of the tragedy, and never sold the two road-going models it had made — until the shock, confidential 2022 auction.
World's most expensive car - Mercedes 300 SLR
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The 250 GTO meanwhile can continue to claim to be the most expensive road-going car ever put into wider production and sold to the public. Another sold at auction for roughly $44 million in 2018 and private sales are rumored to have stretched as high as $60 million or $70 million.
