Ferrari 250 GTO Berlinetta Set to be Most Expensive Car Ever

By Ed Jones
August 14, 2014

It looks as though there will be a new record holder for the world’s most expensive car. According to an Aug. 12 article on Bloomberg.com, a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO Berlinetta is looking to fetch $75 million today. The car will cross Bonham’s Quail Lodge Auction today at 5 pm PDT.

What makes this car so special, other than the fact that it’s a 250 GTO, is its history. Having a single family ownership, this car is in incredible condition and has been well maintained. It was purchased by Fabrizio Violati in 1965, according to the car’s lot description on Bonhams.com. The car remained in Volati’s possession until his death in 2010, making him the fourth and most recent owner.

Adding to this 250 GTO’s value is its racing heritage. Upon its completion in 1962, the car was purchased by French privateer Jo Schlessler. He then immediately entered it into the annual� Tour de France Automobile,� where it placed second. Up until the car was purchased by Volati, it remained active in circuits, winning along the way.

Be sure to stay with us for the final price of this car as the auction draws to a close.

The 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO that went up for auction yesterday during the Bonhams sale at The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering finally sold for $38,115,000, setting a new record for the highest price paid for a car at auction. The previous record was $29,650,000, paid last year for a 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196 Formula One car raced by Juan Manual Fangio.

The classic Ferrari, bearing chassis #3851 GT, failed to meet predictions that it could become the most expensive car in the world, a title held by a 1963 Ferrari 250 GTO that traded hands last year for a staggering $52 million in a private sale.

The Ferrari 250 GTO is currently the Holy Grail of collector cars, with only 39 ever made, some with impressive pedigrees. What also makes the 250 GTO special is that it was both a road car and race car, making it the pinnacle in Ferrari design and engineering at its launch.

Four of the core group of 35 cars, those with 1962-63 style bodywork, were later converted into lower, flatter, longer-nosed ‘64 body form. So 31 of the original series have survived, of which only 28 cars have the 3.0-liter V-12 engine as true '250' GTOs, and three with 4-liter V-12 engines as '330' GTOs.

This particular car was the 19th 250 GTO to be built, and it's been in the one family's care for no fewer than 49 years from 1965 until now. It left Ferrari’s factory in September of 1962 and was delivered to its first owner, French racing driver Jo Schlesser, to be co-driven by himself and French ski Champion Henri Oreiller in the 1962 Tour de France. The pair challenged for victory and finished an honorable second overall.

The car was then crashed during a race at Montlhery Autodrome, just south of Paris, but was repaired and sold to gentleman driver Paolo Colombo the next year. It was then sold two more times, ending up in 1965 with Fabrizio Violati who said he saved the car from the scrapheap. Violati drove it right into the 2000s after which he chose to leave it in the hands of the Maranello Rosso Museum.

If you missed out on this 250 GTO and are itching to unload some serious money on a car, another 250 GTO is currently up for sale in Germany. It has an asking price of 47.6 million euros (approximately $62.7 million), including Germany’s 19 percent Value Added Tax, which, if someone buys it, will make it the most expensive car in the world.

For the first time in the event's 64-year history, the prestigious Best In Show honor at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance has been awarded to a Ferrari. The 1954 375 MM Scaglietti Coupe seen here is owned by car collector Jon Shirley of Medina, WA, and as it turns out, has quite a rich history.

Nevermind the fact that it's currently one of five road-going 375 MMs – this example was ordered by film director Roberto Rossellini, and was actually born as a Pininfarina-bodied competition Spyder. Following an accident, the car's original body wasn't able to be saved, but the chassis was sent to Carrozzeria Scaglietti in Modena for replacement, and the finished product became the company's first passenger car design for Ferrari.

Following its tenure with Rossellini, the car was owned by Mario Savona of Palermo, and later Charles Robert of Paris. Years later, the car was restored by its current owner in 1995, after being found in an underground garage in a Paris suburb.

In addition to being the first Ferrari to win the Best In Show award, this is the first post-war car to take the top honor since 1968. This Ferrari has quite the robust pedigree, having won many Best In Show awards at several events throughout the 1990s, in addition to the Luigi Chinetti Memorial Award at the 1998 Pebble Beach Concours.