1962 Ferrari 250 GTO breaks record selling for $48.4 million

The
1962 Ferrari 250 GTO that sold for $48.4 million at an auction on
Saturday.
RM Sotheby’s/Darin
Schnabel

• A 1962 Ferrari
  250 GTO sold for a record price of $48.4 million dollars at an
  RM Sotheby’s Auction in Monterey,
  California on Saturday. 
• The $48.4 million dollar price tag was the most a
  classic car has ever sold for at an auction.
• The car had been owned by Dr. Gregory
  Whitten, the Chairman of Numerix Software, car enthusiast,
  Ferrari connoisseur, and vintage racing driver.
• 
  RM Sotheby’s said the $48.4 million dollar
  auction price exceeds the previous record-breaking price by
  more than $10 million.  
  

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A 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO sold for a record price of $48.4 million
dollars at an RM Sotheby’s Auction in Monterey, California on
Saturday. 

The $48.4 million dollar price tag was the most a classic car has
ever sold for at an auction. The 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO was sold
by Dr. Gregory Whitten, the Chairman of Numerix
Software, car enthusiast, Ferrari connoisseur, and vintage racing
driver. According to
Bloomberg, Whitten had purchased the Ferrari in 2000, with
the market price for Ferrari’s being around $10 million at the
time. 

The sale came at RM Sotheby’s annual Monterey auction held
at the Monterey Conference Center. RM Sotheby’s
website says this year’s event welcomed bidders from 37
different countries and was the highest grossing event from
Monterey Cars Week, with 83% of all cars offered at the RM
Sotheby’s auction finding new owners.

As for the 250 GTO, RM Sotheby’s notes that this car
was long considered “the holy grail” of the car collector world,
leading to much anticipation for its public auction. 

A
look inside Sotheby’s record-breaking auction of 1962 Ferrari 250
GTO
RMSotheby’s/Darin
Schnabel

According to a statement on RM Sotheby’s website, “There
were cheers and applause when five-time Le Mans winner Derek Bell
stepped out of the car after driving it across the auction block
in front of an overflowing salesroom, followed by gasps as
auctioneer Maarten ten Holder opened the bidding at the
unprecedented level of $35 million.” 

Sotheby’s said the three collectors bidding for the car
actually competed by telephone for 10 minutes as the packed house
listened and looked on, with multiple millions moving in
increments before the new owner hit the final auction price of
$44 million. An additional $4.4 million in
auction fees were added to bring it to the record-breaking
price.  

The new owner’s identity has not been
released. 

Bloomberg reports Ferrari built just 36 examples of
the 250 GTO Model model between 1953 and 1964.  

RM Sotheby’s said the $48.4 million dollar auction price
exceeds the previous record-breaking price by more than $10
million.