With an estimate in excess of $60 million, a bright red 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO is expected to become the world’s most expensive Ferrari sold at auction when it is offered by RM Sotheby's this fall. The only factory-owned Series I GTO raced by the Scuderia Ferrari team, the car in question is one of just 34 models produced.
The vehicle “is more than a classic; it’s a legend,” according to Gord Duff, RM Sotheby’s global head of auctions. “This is the one—the car that collectors can only dream of acquiring, and we’re thrilled to be able to provide someone the chance to make a dream come true.”
Formerly owned by a chairman of the Ferrari Club of America, the model is coming to auction after nearly 40 years of private ownership. Bringing a class win and finishing in second place at the 1962 Nurburgring 1,000 km, it was also driven by racers Mike Parkes and Lorenzo Bandini for Scuderia Ferrari at the 24 Hours of Le Mans the same year and was the runner-up of the 1965 Sicilian Hillclimb Championship. The car is offered alongside factory build sheets, owner’s correspondence, period racing coverage and magazine features. It initially sold for $6,000 in 1964 and later acquired for around $500,000 in the 1980s.
The car is expected to become the most valuable Ferrari sold at auction
Now, with its multi-million-dollar estimate, the racing car is expected to surpass the auction record set for a Ferrari model. Another Ferrari 250 GTO brought in $48.5 million back in 2018 when it was sold by RM Sotheby’s, at the time establishing the world record for any car sold at auction. The model, which won the 1962 Italian GT Championship, was offered up by former Microsoft executive Greg Whitten.
RM Sotheby’s is also responsible for the current vehicular auction record, established last year with the sale of a 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupe for an astonishing $142 million. The car in question was owned by Mercedes-Benz Group AG, which used the auction proceeds to establish a fund providing scholarships in the fields of environmental science and decarbonization.
Ferrari has long dominated auction records, with seven out of the ten most expensive cars sold at auction consisting of Ferrari models from either the 1950s or 1960s. Its 250 GTOs, meanwhile, are particularly coveted due to their racing history and rarity.
While RM Sotheby’s specializes in collectible cars, its upcoming sale of the 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO will take place during Sotheby’s marquee sales of modern and contemporary artwork, with the auction scheduled for November 13. “As the holy grail of collector cars, it is entirely fitting that Sotheby’s is presenting this icon of motor history and design during our marquee sales,” said Sotheby’s chairman Mari-Claudia Jimenez in a statement, adding that the auctioneer’s fall series “has borne witness to record-breaking sales of some of the most important objects of fine art and design in history.”
