The $51.7 million king of collector automobiles is amongst many sought-after fashions in Ferrari’s 250 sequence.
In late 2023, RM Sotheby’s offered a once-in-a-lifetime alternative for the proper deep-pocketed purchaser to buy a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO. The particular car, chassis No. 3765, fetched a staggering $51.7 million at public sale and generated an avalanche of worldwide headlines, lots of which featured the phrases “most costly Ferrari ever.” Unusually, the clickbait really undersold the information.
Sure, this was the most costly Ferrari ever bought at public public sale—the truth is, it took the file from one other Ferrari 250 GTO that RM Sotheby’s auctioned for $48.4 million in 2018. However much more considerably, the 2023 sale made chassis No. 3765 essentially the most worthwhile manufacturing automotive bought at public sale, full cease. The one different car on earth that’s achieved a extra numerable confirmed hammer value is the $142 million 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR “Uhlenhaut Coupé—a non-homologated, one-of-two prototype.
The 250 GTO is, in fact, homologated (i.e, street authorized); the “GTO” acronym stands for Gran Turismo Omologato, or Grand Touring Homologated in Italian. Powered by Ferrari’s famed 3.0-liter Colombo V12, it was purpose-built to “win on Sunday, promote on Monday” and thereby play into Enzo Ferrari’s entrepreneurial ethos of dealing street automobiles to fund race automotive growth.
And win it did, reaching a hat trick of victorious seasons for Scuderia Ferrari from 1962 to 1964 within the FIA’s Worldwide Championship for GT Producers. The primary-place finishes occurred at elite endurance races just like the Tour de France (in 1963 and 1964), 24 Hours of Le Mans (in 1962 and 1963) and the Nürburgring 1,000 km (in 1963 and 1964).
Although not a race winner per se, the gross sales file–setting chassis No. 3765 has a very fascinating racing historical past. Of the 36 Ferrari 250 GTOs produced from 1962 to 1964 and the 34 fitted with a Tipo 1962 physique, chassis No. 3765 is the one one which ever ran a 4.0-liter V12 engine, which was fitted by Ferrari in response to 1962 endurance-race organizers’ adoption of a bigger 4.0-liter class.
Versus different 250 GTOs that had been bought to privateer-backed groups, this automotive additionally raced for Scuderia Ferrari at Le Mans and the Nürburgring. Following the conclusion of the 1962 racing season, chassis No. 3765 was transformed again to the 250 GTO’s customary, 3.0-liter V12 specs and lived the remainder of its life as a head-turning street automotive.
“The 250 GTO was equally at house on the monitor or on the street and was maybe the final GT automotive produced in small sequence with this attribute,” says Andrea Modena, Head of Ferrari Classiche, the Italian marque’s unique division dealing with official certification, restoration and upkeep of its heritage automobiles.
“Amongst followers of the Ferrari marque, the 250 GTO quickly achieved legendary standing; it has change into one of many icons in Ferrari’s historical past, and its fame has made it some of the sought-after automobiles amongst collectors.” Given its desirability, rarity and worth, any Ferrari 250 GTO instance instantly turns into the crown jewel of a group upon acquisition.
Hagerty, a extremely regarded traditional automotive insurance coverage firm that tracks the values of covetable rides, has calculated that chassis No. 3765’s $51.7 million sale represents what a 250 GTO could be price in merely “Honest” situation—the least of 4 situations additionally together with “Good,” “Wonderful” and “Concours.” The worth of the proper Ferrari 250 GTO in that latter, most pristine situation can swell to an eye-watering $72 million.
“The 250 GTO is the king of automobiles, the height expression of the Ferrari 250 line, which is arguably the road that solidified Ferrari’s fame,” Brian Rabold, Hagerty’s Vice President of Automotive Intelligence, tells us.
“The automotive hails from a time when race automobiles nonetheless bore a resemblance to what may very well be pushed on the road. Furthermore, it appears to be like nice, has super efficiency and remains to be usable. It isn’t the rarest of the 250s, and it isn’t essentially the most potent, however it’s the better of the breed.”
That complete “breed”—the Ferrari 250 sequence of sports activities automobiles and grand tourers constructed from 1952 to 1964—has exceptionally wealthy blood. Of the highest 30 most costly automobiles ever bought at public sale, 11 are from the sought-after Ferrari 250 sequence.
“The Ferrari automobiles that bear the quantity ‘250’ of their identify characterize the right mixture of magnificence, versatility and efficiency…. Ferrari’s philosophy is absolutely embodied by these automobiles, that are able to the best degree of sporting efficiency however, on the similar time, globally famend as icons of luxurious and exclusivity,” Modena says when requested in regards to the 250 sequence’ place in Prancing Horse historical past.
“All these components contributed to a few of these automobiles reaching the best market values amongst traditional Ferraris. This sequence is, for all these causes, one of many components that really helped construct the legend of the Maranello marque in its early days.”
We’ve talked about two of the Ferrari 250 GTOs that reign because the second- and third-most costly automobiles ever bought at public sale. One other Ferrari 250 GTO, bought by Bonhams for $38.1 million in 2014, follows in fourth, however the Ferrari 250 sequence doesn’t seem once more on the “most costly” record till place No. 22 with the Ferrari 250 California.
Hailed by Rabold as “concurrently shapely and aggressive…one of many prettiest shapes ever placed on wheels and the top-dog open-air manufacturing Ferrari,” this 1959 mannequin fetched $18.4 million at an Artcurial public sale in 2015.
A number of extra 250 Californias seem in subsequent positions,. The 1961 model-year 250 California is know to film automotive lovers because the ill-fated check topic of the “odometer-reversing” experiment seen in 1986’s Ferris Bueller’s Day Off—don’t fear; the automotive crashed onscreen was a duplicate. One other actual 250 California instance was auctioned by Gooding & Co. for $17.2 million in 2016.
In the meantime, the 250 GTO’s successor, the 250 LM (Le Mans), takes spots 28 and 30 with respective gross sales of $17.6 million by RM Sotheby’s in 2015 and $17.1 million by Artcurial in 2023. Its identify proved prophetic—the mannequin took first within the 1965 working of Le Mans, giving Ferrari its final victory on the grueling occasion till the Ferrari 499P received in 2023.
These searching for a extra attainable Ferrari 250 sequence mannequin would do nicely to delve additional into the varied Ferrari 250 GT variants. Whereas the 250 California, which technically falls underneath the 250 GT umbrella, goes for eight-figure sums; the bigger, extra luxurious and also-open-topped Ferrari 250 GT Cabriolet could be had for between $725,000 and $1.7 million, relying on situation and physique fashion And the beautiful 250 GT Berlinetta Lusso, famously owned by Steve McQueen and Eric Clapton, is valued at anyplace between $975,000 and $2.5 million.
Other than value, there are a number of different components for aspiring Ferrari 250 collectors to think about. “By way of an funding, shopping for the perfect of the perfect is at all times a protected guess,” says David Brynan, Senior Specialist at Gooding & Firm, one of many world’s main classic-car public sale homes. “Assume competitors automobiles with distinctive race histories and ultra-rare coach-built fashions.”
(Michael Cole/Corbis through Getty Photographs)
“That mentioned, if you wish to get pleasure from a Ferrari 250 for a few years, a 250 GTE 2+2”—valued at $285,000 to $520,000—“gives a comparatively approachable value of entry. These automobiles are nonetheless elegant, satisfying (and thrilling) to drive in trendy site visitors; folks don’t understand how easy and comparatively straightforward they’re to keep up in comparison with trendy high-performance automobiles,” provides Brynan.
Whereas Rabold notes that Ferrari 250 costs, together with different traditional automotive costs, have been holding regular since 2019, “I don’t suppose that shall be a permanent development,” he tells us. “These automobiles are extremely uncommon and such an vital a part of Ferrari’s historical past, which Ferrari absolutely celebrates. And the Ferrari model and heritage has by no means been stronger.” Forza Ferrari.
This text initially appeared within the Might/June 2024 concern of Maxim journal.
