Bonhams sells Ferrari 250 GTO for nearly £23million, breaking last year's record for the most expensive car at auction
This 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO Berlinetta is now officially the most valuable car ever sold at auction, racking up a final bid equal to £22,843,633 at Bonhams’ Quail Lodge Auction yesterday.
As the Monterey Car Week continues apace, the historic two-seat coupe briefly stole the limelight in California, with bidders from around the world competing in person and via telephone link for one of the 39 original factory-manufactured GTOs.
In breaking the record the Ferrari surpassed another Bonhams lot, the 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196 R F1 Racer, which became the most expensive auctioned car last year when it sold for approximately £18million at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
“It’s been a genuine privilege to represent this outstanding car and we are absolutely delighted with today’s results,” said Bonhams chairman Robert Brooks. “We’ve always maintained that we would exceed the current world record and that the car would bring between $30-$40-million and today the GTO did just that.”
Sold by the British auction house as part of the Maranello Rosso Collection of iconic Ferrari models, the 250 GTO accounted for over half the ten-strong range’s combined value of £39.5million. We’ll keep you posted on any other big sales as the Quail Lodge Auction enters its second and final day later this afternoon.
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