Cars
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : Top 10 Cars 1950s Cars 1953-54 Cars 1955 Cars 1956-57 Cars of the 1960s Cars 1962-63 Cars 1964-65 Cars 1966-67 Italy Ferrari Mercedes-Benz Germany II
Chronology : 20th century 1950-1959 1954 1955 1956 1957 1962 1967
Reference : all auction results over $ 4M in Wikipedia - Most expensive cars sold at auction. Classified by realized price, descending. Continuously updated.
See also : Top 10 Cars 1950s Cars 1953-54 Cars 1955 Cars 1956-57 Cars of the 1960s Cars 1962-63 Cars 1964-65 Cars 1966-67 Italy Ferrari Mercedes-Benz Germany II
Chronology : 20th century 1950-1959 1954 1955 1956 1957 1962 1967
Reference : all auction results over $ 4M in Wikipedia - Most expensive cars sold at auction. Classified by realized price, descending. Continuously updated.
Mercedes-Benz
1
1954 W196
2025 SOLD for € 51M by RM Sotheby's
Everything goes very fast, in any meaning of the word, for Mercedes-Benz at the beginning of 1954. Technology is the best asset to win competitions. For coming back to racing, the German brand aligns the 300SL model for endurance and the W196 single-seater for Formula 1.
The original body of the W196 is the streamlined Stromlinienwagen in magnesium alloy, low, wide and smoothly curved with enclosed wheels. Surrounding the wheel by a piece of bodywork is a theoretical advantage because it limits the air friction. The engine is a straight eight 2.5 liters with two camshafts. The top speed in this configuration reaches 290 km/h.
They are committed to win. Mercedes manage to take the best driver, Juan Manuel Fangio, world champion in 1951 with Alfa Romeo, who had just won the first two grand prix of the season in a Maserati.
Four cars are ready for their debut race, the Grand Prix de France in Reims on July 4. With the chassis 3, Fangio starts in pole position and wins the race while a teammate finishes second.
Meanwhile an open wheeler was under design for difficult circuits such as the Nürburgring. Fangio requires it for that event happening in August. Chassis 3 is re-bodied for him as an open wheeler while two brand new cars, chassis 5 and 6, are released with the new body. Fangio once again catches the pole position and the final win.
Three weeks later Fangio wins the Swiss Grand Prix with Chassis 6 still in open wheels. Fangio terminates the season with his second Formula 1 Drivers' World Championship title.
Preserved as an open wheeler, the 6 was sold for £ 19.6M on July 12, 2013 by Bonhams, lot 320. It was at that time the only example of the model in private hands.
After the chassis 6 narrated above, eight other W196 were released, numbered 7 to 10 and 12 to 15.
The 9 was first tested in December 1954. It was raced as an opened wheeler by Fangio in the Buenos Aires Grand Prix in January 1955, winning that event. It was re-bodied as a Stromlinienwagen before being driven at Monza by Stirling Moss for the 1955 Italian Grand Prix. It achieved the fastest lap in that event.
Maintained in its Monza body, it was donated in 1965 by Mercedes-Benz to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum. From the collection of that museum, it was sold for € 51M in a single lot auction by RM Sotheby's on February 1, 2025. The auction is held at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart.
Its photo in the Indianapolis Museum in 2013 is shared by Wikimedia with attribution : Doug4422, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
The 1955 season was shortened by the cancelling of many Grand Prix after the accident at Le Mans. Mercedes-Benz then withdrew from motor sport including Formula 1, terminating the short but highly successful story of the W196.
The original body of the W196 is the streamlined Stromlinienwagen in magnesium alloy, low, wide and smoothly curved with enclosed wheels. Surrounding the wheel by a piece of bodywork is a theoretical advantage because it limits the air friction. The engine is a straight eight 2.5 liters with two camshafts. The top speed in this configuration reaches 290 km/h.
They are committed to win. Mercedes manage to take the best driver, Juan Manuel Fangio, world champion in 1951 with Alfa Romeo, who had just won the first two grand prix of the season in a Maserati.
Four cars are ready for their debut race, the Grand Prix de France in Reims on July 4. With the chassis 3, Fangio starts in pole position and wins the race while a teammate finishes second.
Meanwhile an open wheeler was under design for difficult circuits such as the Nürburgring. Fangio requires it for that event happening in August. Chassis 3 is re-bodied for him as an open wheeler while two brand new cars, chassis 5 and 6, are released with the new body. Fangio once again catches the pole position and the final win.
Three weeks later Fangio wins the Swiss Grand Prix with Chassis 6 still in open wheels. Fangio terminates the season with his second Formula 1 Drivers' World Championship title.
Preserved as an open wheeler, the 6 was sold for £ 19.6M on July 12, 2013 by Bonhams, lot 320. It was at that time the only example of the model in private hands.
After the chassis 6 narrated above, eight other W196 were released, numbered 7 to 10 and 12 to 15.
The 9 was first tested in December 1954. It was raced as an opened wheeler by Fangio in the Buenos Aires Grand Prix in January 1955, winning that event. It was re-bodied as a Stromlinienwagen before being driven at Monza by Stirling Moss for the 1955 Italian Grand Prix. It achieved the fastest lap in that event.
Maintained in its Monza body, it was donated in 1965 by Mercedes-Benz to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum. From the collection of that museum, it was sold for € 51M in a single lot auction by RM Sotheby's on February 1, 2025. The auction is held at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart.
Its photo in the Indianapolis Museum in 2013 is shared by Wikimedia with attribution : Doug4422, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
The 1955 season was shortened by the cancelling of many Grand Prix after the accident at Le Mans. Mercedes-Benz then withdrew from motor sport including Formula 1, terminating the short but highly successful story of the W196.
2
1955 Uhlenhaut Coupé
2022 SOLD for € 135M by RM Sotheby's
Two special adaptations of the 3 litre 300 SLR coupé were made by Mercedes-Benz in 1955. Designed by Rudolf Uhlenhaut, they are known as the Uhlenhaut coupés. Capable of reaching 290 km/h, this model was the fastest road going car of its time.
Employed by Mercedes-Benz since 1931, Uhlenhaut had been a lead designer of the Silver Arrows, of the Formula One highly successful W196 of JM Fangio fame and of the open top Rennsport 300 SLR of Stirling Moss fame. He was also behind the scene of the Le Mans winner W194 and of the road going 300 SL gullwing.
The Uhlenhaut coupés were assembled as two seaters with gullwing doors on two W196 chassis left unused after the 1955 Le Mans crash and the subsequent withdrawal of the brand from motor sport.
Both prototypes were retained by Mercedes-Benz from new. Uhlenhaut had one as a company car. He once drove the 230 km on the autobahn between Stuttgart and Munich in less than an hour.
The first one is on display in the museum of the brand. The second car was used as a demonstration car and was restored in 1986. It was sold for € 135M on May 5, 2022 by RM Sotheby's in a private auction, lot 1. The proceeds help to create a Mercedes-Benz fund for young researchers in environmental science and carbon dioxide reduction.
Please watch the video shared by the auction house, featuring with the hammer Oliver Barker, chairman of Sotheby's Europe.
Employed by Mercedes-Benz since 1931, Uhlenhaut had been a lead designer of the Silver Arrows, of the Formula One highly successful W196 of JM Fangio fame and of the open top Rennsport 300 SLR of Stirling Moss fame. He was also behind the scene of the Le Mans winner W194 and of the road going 300 SL gullwing.
The Uhlenhaut coupés were assembled as two seaters with gullwing doors on two W196 chassis left unused after the 1955 Le Mans crash and the subsequent withdrawal of the brand from motor sport.
Both prototypes were retained by Mercedes-Benz from new. Uhlenhaut had one as a company car. He once drove the 230 km on the autobahn between Stuttgart and Munich in less than an hour.
The first one is on display in the museum of the brand. The second car was used as a demonstration car and was restored in 1986. It was sold for € 135M on May 5, 2022 by RM Sotheby's in a private auction, lot 1. The proceeds help to create a Mercedes-Benz fund for young researchers in environmental science and carbon dioxide reduction.
Please watch the video shared by the auction house, featuring with the hammer Oliver Barker, chairman of Sotheby's Europe.
1956 Ferrari 290 MM
2015 SOLD for $ 28M by RM Sotheby's
Mercedes-Benz stopped its involvement in competition at the end of the 1955 season. Ferrari watched around the corner and managed to sign a contract with Juan Manuel Fangio. Aged 45 in 1956, the Argentine champion felt that his future was unassured due to the fall of Peron and could not any more consider to retire.
The World Sportscar Championship arouses a similar interest as Formula 1. Faced with the formidable challenge from the Maserati 300S, Ferrari prepares the 290 MM, certainly with some recommendations by its new driver. As usual for Ferrari at that time, the race for which the model is specifically prepared is indicated in the description: MM means Mille Miglia. Four cars are built.
The 1956 Mille Miglia are disturbed by heavy rain that causes no less than three fatalities. The competition is won by a 290 MM driven by Castellotti. Fangio is fourth with his car of the same model.
That 290 MM will not be reused later by Fangio but will have a significant history with other top drivers from the Scuderia Ferrari such as Portago, Phil Hill and Gendebien. Sold to a US private owner in the middle of the 1957 season, it is raced until 1964 without any crash.
This car has retained all its original features : chassis, engine, gearbox and its body by Scaglietti. It was sold for $ 28M by RM Sotheby's on December 10, 2015, lot 221.
Fangio failed to cooperate permanently with Enzo Ferrari and came back to Maserati just after his one-year contract. The Ferrari cars driven in competition by this champion are indeed extremely rare and the example for sale has an amazing authenticity. It is estimated $ 28M.
The World Sportscar Championship arouses a similar interest as Formula 1. Faced with the formidable challenge from the Maserati 300S, Ferrari prepares the 290 MM, certainly with some recommendations by its new driver. As usual for Ferrari at that time, the race for which the model is specifically prepared is indicated in the description: MM means Mille Miglia. Four cars are built.
The 1956 Mille Miglia are disturbed by heavy rain that causes no less than three fatalities. The competition is won by a 290 MM driven by Castellotti. Fangio is fourth with his car of the same model.
That 290 MM will not be reused later by Fangio but will have a significant history with other top drivers from the Scuderia Ferrari such as Portago, Phil Hill and Gendebien. Sold to a US private owner in the middle of the 1957 season, it is raced until 1964 without any crash.
This car has retained all its original features : chassis, engine, gearbox and its body by Scaglietti. It was sold for $ 28M by RM Sotheby's on December 10, 2015, lot 221.
Fangio failed to cooperate permanently with Enzo Ferrari and came back to Maserati just after his one-year contract. The Ferrari cars driven in competition by this champion are indeed extremely rare and the example for sale has an amazing authenticity. It is estimated $ 28M.
1957 Ferrari 315 S / 335 S
2016 SOLD for € 32M by Artcurial
The Prototipi class in endurance racing enables Ferrari to develop in the mid-1950s a range of powerful and spectacular vehicles made in very small quantities. The top goal is to win the Mille Miglia.
In 1956, Ferrari's efforts were rewarded by a return to victory with a 290 MM driven by Castellotti. Another 290 MM driven by Fangio went fourth. This latter car was sold for $ 28M by RM Sotheby's on 10 December 2015.
In 1957 the 315 S with a 3.8-liter engine and the 335 S with a 4-liter engine appear as the successors to the 290 MM. A 315 S driven by Taruffi won the race ahead of another 315 S driven by Von Trips. Unfortunately the most prestigious Italian endurance competition is forbidden by the Italian government following the accident of the 335 S of De Portago.
Other competitions continue and the cars are subject to the improvements necessary to maintain their competitiveness. The Ferrari 315 S which had been used by Von Trips receives a 4-liter engine, becoming a 335 S. It is also equipped with the fender pontoon front intended to reduce the overheating, which makes the glory in the same year of the 250 Testarossa .
After a very good competition history, the 315 S / 335 S enters the collection of Pierre Bardinon who restores it in its spider configuration while separately keeping the pontoon fender that still accompanies the car today. It was sold for € 32M by Artcurial on February 5, 2016, lot 170.
In 1956, Ferrari's efforts were rewarded by a return to victory with a 290 MM driven by Castellotti. Another 290 MM driven by Fangio went fourth. This latter car was sold for $ 28M by RM Sotheby's on 10 December 2015.
In 1957 the 315 S with a 3.8-liter engine and the 335 S with a 4-liter engine appear as the successors to the 290 MM. A 315 S driven by Taruffi won the race ahead of another 315 S driven by Von Trips. Unfortunately the most prestigious Italian endurance competition is forbidden by the Italian government following the accident of the 335 S of De Portago.
Other competitions continue and the cars are subject to the improvements necessary to maintain their competitiveness. The Ferrari 315 S which had been used by Von Trips receives a 4-liter engine, becoming a 335 S. It is also equipped with the fender pontoon front intended to reduce the overheating, which makes the glory in the same year of the 250 Testarossa .
After a very good competition history, the 315 S / 335 S enters the collection of Pierre Bardinon who restores it in its spider configuration while separately keeping the pontoon fender that still accompanies the car today. It was sold for € 32M by Artcurial on February 5, 2016, lot 170.
1962 Ferrari 250 GTO
Intro
It is not enough to be the prettiest berlinetta of its time to win Grand Touring competitions, especially when Jaguar, Aston Martin and Shelby apply ambitious development programs. The Ferrari 250 GT SWB is no longer competitive with its oblique front that lifts at 250 km/h.
A team around Giotto Bizzarrini designs a low body with a tapered front hood. To facilitate the homologation, the new chassis has the same size as the SWB. The studies are validated in wind tunnel. The lowered engine remains a 3-liter Colombo V12 while incorporating several improvements from the 250 TR.
Thus was born the 250 GTO (Gran Turismo Omologato) at the beginning of 1962, coachworked as a berlinetta by Scaglietti. Its perfect geometry has also been improved after wind tunnel tests.. 33 cars are built in 1962 and 1963 according to this first model, which is a high figure for a commercial upscale Ferrari. They immediately dominate endurance and hill competitions. However Bizzarrini had left the company after a disagreement with Enzo Ferrari.
Extremely competitive without being exceptionally rare, the 250 GTO is the preferred model of the auto enthusiasts from the high society, functioning as an informal club with media covered exclusive meetings. Cars are transmitted like a talisman by each owner to his handpicked successor. 28 units remain with the 3-litre engine from its original design.
A team around Giotto Bizzarrini designs a low body with a tapered front hood. To facilitate the homologation, the new chassis has the same size as the SWB. The studies are validated in wind tunnel. The lowered engine remains a 3-liter Colombo V12 while incorporating several improvements from the 250 TR.
Thus was born the 250 GTO (Gran Turismo Omologato) at the beginning of 1962, coachworked as a berlinetta by Scaglietti. Its perfect geometry has also been improved after wind tunnel tests.. 33 cars are built in 1962 and 1963 according to this first model, which is a high figure for a commercial upscale Ferrari. They immediately dominate endurance and hill competitions. However Bizzarrini had left the company after a disagreement with Enzo Ferrari.
Extremely competitive without being exceptionally rare, the 250 GTO is the preferred model of the auto enthusiasts from the high society, functioning as an informal club with media covered exclusive meetings. Cars are transmitted like a talisman by each owner to his handpicked successor. 28 units remain with the 3-litre engine from its original design.
1
Series I
2014 SOLD for $ 38M by Bonhams
Coming from a deceased estate, a 250 GTO which had not changed hands for nearly half a century was sold by Bonhams on August 14, 2014 for $ 38M, lot 3.
This car has accumulated an interesting competition record after a bad start. Made in 1962, it was much damaged at Montlhéry on October 7 of the same year, killing one of its co-owners the ski champion Henri Oreiller. Repaired in 1963 at a time when the production chain of the 250 GTO was in full operation, it is an authentic unit.
This car has accumulated an interesting competition record after a bad start. Made in 1962, it was much damaged at Montlhéry on October 7 of the same year, killing one of its co-owners the ski champion Henri Oreiller. Repaired in 1963 at a time when the production chain of the 250 GTO was in full operation, it is an authentic unit.
2
upgraded in 1964 to Series II
2018 SOLD for $ 48M by RM Sotheby's
The technological challenge goes on. The approval of the 250 LM will be refused. While waiting for better days, Ferrari requires Mauro Forghieri and his team to modify the 250 GTO according to the aerodynamic improvement of the LM. Three 250 GTO Series II are built in 1964.
Four Series I cars are upgraded in 1964 to the Series II specifications. One of them was sold for $ 48M by RM Sotheby's on August 25, 2018, lot 247. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
This car had been in 1962 the third GTO produced. Tested in May by Phil Hill at the Targa Florio, it is sold by Ferrari a few days later to a friend of Enzo Ferrari, Edoardo Lualdi-Gabardi, who gets excellent results in hill climbing with this car. In April 1964 Corrado Ferlaino leads it to First In Class in the Targa Florio, thus brilliantly validating the transitory concept of the Series II.
The price of a Ferrari 250 GTO depends on its results in period and on its crash history. The car for sale was not damaged. For reasons of preservation, the original engine was removed a few years ago. It is sold with the car.
In May 2018 a price of $ 70M in a private transaction was reported for a 250 GTO with a better race history including the victory at the 1964 Tour de France.
Four Series I cars are upgraded in 1964 to the Series II specifications. One of them was sold for $ 48M by RM Sotheby's on August 25, 2018, lot 247. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
This car had been in 1962 the third GTO produced. Tested in May by Phil Hill at the Targa Florio, it is sold by Ferrari a few days later to a friend of Enzo Ferrari, Edoardo Lualdi-Gabardi, who gets excellent results in hill climbing with this car. In April 1964 Corrado Ferlaino leads it to First In Class in the Targa Florio, thus brilliantly validating the transitory concept of the Series II.
The price of a Ferrari 250 GTO depends on its results in period and on its crash history. The car for sale was not damaged. For reasons of preservation, the original engine was removed a few years ago. It is sold with the car.
In May 2018 a price of $ 70M in a private transaction was reported for a 250 GTO with a better race history including the victory at the 1964 Tour de France.
3
330 LM
2023 SOLD for $ 52M by Sotheby's and RM Sotheby's
While Ferrari was developing the 250 GTO with a 3 liter engine, the FIA once again changed some rules for the 1962 season, introducing the new International Championship of Manufacturers exclusively applicable to GT production car racing classes. Larger displacement prototype race cars would be allowed to participate in some events, but not for points.
Ferrari was certainly not appealed as they built a single 4 liter example in 1962, to be used as a works car. Assembled with the 250 GTO chassis and body, this car is referred as the 330 LM or sometimes the 330 GTO.
It was raced twice in 1962 by the Scuderia Ferrari, finishing second overall and first in class at the 1000 km Nürburgring and not finishing at the 24 hours of Le Mans. It was sold in 1962 to a privateer who changed the engine to a 250 P in the next year. Finished in rosso cina, it was sold for $ 52M in a single lot auction by Sotheby's and RM Sotheby's on November 13, 2023. It had won the Best of Show of the 2012 Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance.
A similar GTO was made in 1963, in parallel to a series of four 330 LMB with a body similar to the 250 Lusso. It was rebuilt in 1965 after a heavy road accident.
Ferrari was certainly not appealed as they built a single 4 liter example in 1962, to be used as a works car. Assembled with the 250 GTO chassis and body, this car is referred as the 330 LM or sometimes the 330 GTO.
It was raced twice in 1962 by the Scuderia Ferrari, finishing second overall and first in class at the 1000 km Nürburgring and not finishing at the 24 hours of Le Mans. It was sold in 1962 to a privateer who changed the engine to a 250 P in the next year. Finished in rosso cina, it was sold for $ 52M in a single lot auction by Sotheby's and RM Sotheby's on November 13, 2023. It had won the Best of Show of the 2012 Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance.
A similar GTO was made in 1963, in parallel to a series of four 330 LMB with a body similar to the 250 Lusso. It was rebuilt in 1965 after a heavy road accident.
1964 Ferrari 250 LM
2025 SOLD for € 35M by RM Sotheby's
The extraordinary domination of the Ferrari 250 from 1955 had been supported by an excellent adaptation to competition regulations. The 250 GTO, produced mostly in 1962 and 1963, is registered in the Grand Touring class.
The next model is the Ferrari 250 LM unveiled at the Paris Motor Show in November 1963. It is a berlinetta version of the open car prototype 250 P, the first trial by Ferrari of a centrally mounted V12 engine. LM means Le Mans.
The 250 GTO had been narrowly GT homologated. The O letter in GTO, which means Omologato, reflects the problems met by Ferrari to maintain their competitiveness while respecting all the rules. Ferrari's argument that it is a variant of the 250 GT SWB berlinetta is technically difficult to counter.
Ferrari indeed improves his models, but the high end is too elitist. Race regulating organisms harden against him the rules of Grand Touring, which must be based on a commercial production exceeding 100 units. Unqualified cars enter the Prototype category with more powerful competitors.
Ferrari fails to obtain the GT homologation for the LM. Officials have not been duped. It is not really a GT because it is derived from the 250 P prototypes. The LM should also not be a 250 because its 3.3-liter engine is better ranked in the new Ferrari 275 class opened at the same time.
32 Ferrari 250 LM are built, most of them in 1964. The body is made by Scaglietti on a design by Pininfarina. They are not intended for road use.
The sixth 250 LM was built in 1964 and titled 1965. In the ownership of Luigi Chinetti, it was fitted by Piero Drogo with a long nose improving the aerodynamics for the use of Chinetti's North American Racing Team (NART) team.
Its racing history is limited to Le Mans and Daytona endurance racing. In its first outing it finished 1st overall of the 1965 24 Hours of Le Mans, driven by Masten Gregory and Jochen Rindt ahead of a 250 LM entered by another privateer. The more powerful prototypes by Ferrari and Ford did not finish due to various technical issues. A NART backup driver stated later having unofficially piloted the winning car at some time during the night.
Under the banner of NART-Harrah racing, it had accidents in 1968 in both Daytona and Le Mans and finished 9th overall of 1969 Le Mans. It was sold in 1970 from Chinetti to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway museum.
From that collection, it was sold for € 35M from an estimate in excess of € 25M by RM Sotheby's on February 5, 2025, lot 262. Its engine is in matching numbers.
Its image well displaying the long nose at the 2022 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance is shared by Wikimedia, with attribution Prova MO, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
The next win of a Ferrari at Le Mans 24 will be in 2023.
The next model is the Ferrari 250 LM unveiled at the Paris Motor Show in November 1963. It is a berlinetta version of the open car prototype 250 P, the first trial by Ferrari of a centrally mounted V12 engine. LM means Le Mans.
The 250 GTO had been narrowly GT homologated. The O letter in GTO, which means Omologato, reflects the problems met by Ferrari to maintain their competitiveness while respecting all the rules. Ferrari's argument that it is a variant of the 250 GT SWB berlinetta is technically difficult to counter.
Ferrari indeed improves his models, but the high end is too elitist. Race regulating organisms harden against him the rules of Grand Touring, which must be based on a commercial production exceeding 100 units. Unqualified cars enter the Prototype category with more powerful competitors.
Ferrari fails to obtain the GT homologation for the LM. Officials have not been duped. It is not really a GT because it is derived from the 250 P prototypes. The LM should also not be a 250 because its 3.3-liter engine is better ranked in the new Ferrari 275 class opened at the same time.
32 Ferrari 250 LM are built, most of them in 1964. The body is made by Scaglietti on a design by Pininfarina. They are not intended for road use.
The sixth 250 LM was built in 1964 and titled 1965. In the ownership of Luigi Chinetti, it was fitted by Piero Drogo with a long nose improving the aerodynamics for the use of Chinetti's North American Racing Team (NART) team.
Its racing history is limited to Le Mans and Daytona endurance racing. In its first outing it finished 1st overall of the 1965 24 Hours of Le Mans, driven by Masten Gregory and Jochen Rindt ahead of a 250 LM entered by another privateer. The more powerful prototypes by Ferrari and Ford did not finish due to various technical issues. A NART backup driver stated later having unofficially piloted the winning car at some time during the night.
Under the banner of NART-Harrah racing, it had accidents in 1968 in both Daytona and Le Mans and finished 9th overall of 1969 Le Mans. It was sold in 1970 from Chinetti to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway museum.
From that collection, it was sold for € 35M from an estimate in excess of € 25M by RM Sotheby's on February 5, 2025, lot 262. Its engine is in matching numbers.
Its image well displaying the long nose at the 2022 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance is shared by Wikimedia, with attribution Prova MO, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
The next win of a Ferrari at Le Mans 24 will be in 2023.
1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4 NART Spider
2013 SOLD for $ 27.5M by RM Auctions
The special series produced by Ferrari in the mid-1960s include the prettiest cars of all time, designed alternately by Pininfarina and Scaglietti. They also mark the end of a golden age. The rapid increase in production costs pushes to standardization and an industrial make is now unavoidable.
The models 275, 330 and 365 have replaced the 250. The latest Speciale are using these chassis. Alongside prototypes and concept cars, some of them have a target to try new ideas that can then be used in volume production.
Ferrari has always endeavored to flatter its American customers. The designations America, Superamerica and California attributed to high end variants are a convincing evidence of that fact.
Former winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Luigi Chinetti was a skilled agent of Ferrari in the United States. In 1958, he created the North American Racing Team (NART) that achieved very good results, in Europe also.
For his network of passionate customers, Chinetti negotiated in 1967 with Ferrari a special order for a new sports model to be built by Scaglietti on the 275 GTB chassis. This project was somehow a remake of the successful 250 GT California Spider created almost ten years earlier. Techniques have changed in the mean time. Unfortunately, production costs have risen. Times are hard for Ferrari, which had to put an end to the 250 GTO and escaped very narrowly an acquisition by Ford.
This rare 275 GTB/4 NART Spider (also spelled Spyder) appears as an outstanding post-GTO model fitted to arouse passions. Completed in January 1967 and repainted in dark metallic burgundy, the first car is driven in the same year by Faye Dunaway in The Thomas Crown Affair and admired without limit by one of Ferrari's most knowledgeable fans, Steve McQueen.
The price tag was $ 14,400 compared to the 9,200 for a standard 275 GTB. The American market did not meet the expectations of Chinetti who had hoped to order 25 units. Not only this series was limited to 10 cars but the last of them did not even join the North American NART whatever the reason. Released from factory in 1968, it was sold to a Spanish customer. Please watch the video shared by RM Auctions before it passed at auction on May 14, 2016, lot 254.
The original owner of the eighth 275 GTB/4 NART Spider enjoyed it so much that he refused to sell it to anybody including Steve McQueen despairing to replace the damaged sixth example. It remained in his family until it was sold for $ 27.5M for the benefit of charities by RM Auctions on August 16/17, 2013. Please watch the video shared by Petrolicious for the auction house.
Ferrari does not so much like the spiders and gives no further action after the delivery of that custom order which may be considered as a Speciale. Nevertheless this small convertible model is very efficient and highly elegant, and would later be imitated. Some owners of 275 GTB in more standard variants will even wish to rebuild their car like a NART Spider.
In the opposite, the 330 GTC Speciale coupe designed by Pininfarina is exhibited by Ferrari at the Brussels Motor Show in 1967. Only four cars are ordered by customers and hand built by Pininfarina. This highly rare car is a transitional model with a sloping nose that elongates the silhouette and an increased comfort including curved windows and air conditioning. The third 330 GTC Speciale was sold for $ 3.4M by Gooding on January 30, 2016, lot 145.
The models 275, 330 and 365 have replaced the 250. The latest Speciale are using these chassis. Alongside prototypes and concept cars, some of them have a target to try new ideas that can then be used in volume production.
Ferrari has always endeavored to flatter its American customers. The designations America, Superamerica and California attributed to high end variants are a convincing evidence of that fact.
Former winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Luigi Chinetti was a skilled agent of Ferrari in the United States. In 1958, he created the North American Racing Team (NART) that achieved very good results, in Europe also.
For his network of passionate customers, Chinetti negotiated in 1967 with Ferrari a special order for a new sports model to be built by Scaglietti on the 275 GTB chassis. This project was somehow a remake of the successful 250 GT California Spider created almost ten years earlier. Techniques have changed in the mean time. Unfortunately, production costs have risen. Times are hard for Ferrari, which had to put an end to the 250 GTO and escaped very narrowly an acquisition by Ford.
This rare 275 GTB/4 NART Spider (also spelled Spyder) appears as an outstanding post-GTO model fitted to arouse passions. Completed in January 1967 and repainted in dark metallic burgundy, the first car is driven in the same year by Faye Dunaway in The Thomas Crown Affair and admired without limit by one of Ferrari's most knowledgeable fans, Steve McQueen.
The price tag was $ 14,400 compared to the 9,200 for a standard 275 GTB. The American market did not meet the expectations of Chinetti who had hoped to order 25 units. Not only this series was limited to 10 cars but the last of them did not even join the North American NART whatever the reason. Released from factory in 1968, it was sold to a Spanish customer. Please watch the video shared by RM Auctions before it passed at auction on May 14, 2016, lot 254.
The original owner of the eighth 275 GTB/4 NART Spider enjoyed it so much that he refused to sell it to anybody including Steve McQueen despairing to replace the damaged sixth example. It remained in his family until it was sold for $ 27.5M for the benefit of charities by RM Auctions on August 16/17, 2013. Please watch the video shared by Petrolicious for the auction house.
Ferrari does not so much like the spiders and gives no further action after the delivery of that custom order which may be considered as a Speciale. Nevertheless this small convertible model is very efficient and highly elegant, and would later be imitated. Some owners of 275 GTB in more standard variants will even wish to rebuild their car like a NART Spider.
In the opposite, the 330 GTC Speciale coupe designed by Pininfarina is exhibited by Ferrari at the Brussels Motor Show in 1967. Only four cars are ordered by customers and hand built by Pininfarina. This highly rare car is a transitional model with a sloping nose that elongates the silhouette and an increased comfort including curved windows and air conditioning. The third 330 GTC Speciale was sold for $ 3.4M by Gooding on January 30, 2016, lot 145.
1967 Ferrari 412P
2023 SOLD for $ 30M by Bonhams
The FIA introduced a Prototype class for the 1964 season, while the Grand Touring class got new rules requiring that the entering cars are based on a commercial production exceeding 100 units.
These changes disqualified the 250 GTO. Ferrari made a questionable decision by trying to cover both classes by the same development. The new 250 LM berlinetta was in due course rejected by the FIA as it was indeed not based on the 250 GT SWB. It was raced as a prototype in competition beside its sister model with an open cockpit, the 250 P.
The P series of mid engined rear wheel drive prototypes was operated by Ferrari with various models, all of them in very limited quantities. Many cars including the four 250 Ps were converted to upgraded models.
The 330 P3 with a 4 liter V-12 engine was raced in 1966. It was made in 3 units. In 1967 the 412 was its carbureted version. 330, referring to the individual volume of a cylinder, and 412, meaning 4 liter and 12 cylindres, are technically matching in the dual system of Ferrari nomenclatures.
The 412 P population is 4 including 2 upgraded 330 P3. The other 330 P3, unsuccessful in all its races in its original configuration, had been converted as the unique transitional P3/P4 after the 1966 Le Mans 24 and destroyed in 1968.
The 412 Ps were not retained for the works team. They were respectively supplied to NART and Filipinetti for the upgraded 330s, and to Ecurie Francorchamps and Maranello Concessionaires for the original 412s. The top speed of the model was 310 km/h.
The Maranello Concessionaires example is coached as a berlinetta by Fantuzzi. A painstaking 9 year restoration included the refurbishment of its original bodywork and livery to its earliest racing configuration. It is road legal and has been regularly used.
Despite an active racing history in period when it contributed to Ferrari's 1967 World's Constructors Championship short win against Porsche, it retains in matching numbers its 4 liter V-12 engine, the chassis and the gearbox. It was sold for $ 30M by Bonhams on August 18, 2023, lot 67.
A new change by the FIA in 1968 limited to 3 liters the capacity in the Prototype class. The Ferrari 4 liter P range was replaced by the 3 liter 312 P and Maranello Concessionaires terminated their racing team. 312 is equivalent to 250 in terms of Ferrari references.
These changes disqualified the 250 GTO. Ferrari made a questionable decision by trying to cover both classes by the same development. The new 250 LM berlinetta was in due course rejected by the FIA as it was indeed not based on the 250 GT SWB. It was raced as a prototype in competition beside its sister model with an open cockpit, the 250 P.
The P series of mid engined rear wheel drive prototypes was operated by Ferrari with various models, all of them in very limited quantities. Many cars including the four 250 Ps were converted to upgraded models.
The 330 P3 with a 4 liter V-12 engine was raced in 1966. It was made in 3 units. In 1967 the 412 was its carbureted version. 330, referring to the individual volume of a cylinder, and 412, meaning 4 liter and 12 cylindres, are technically matching in the dual system of Ferrari nomenclatures.
The 412 P population is 4 including 2 upgraded 330 P3. The other 330 P3, unsuccessful in all its races in its original configuration, had been converted as the unique transitional P3/P4 after the 1966 Le Mans 24 and destroyed in 1968.
The 412 Ps were not retained for the works team. They were respectively supplied to NART and Filipinetti for the upgraded 330s, and to Ecurie Francorchamps and Maranello Concessionaires for the original 412s. The top speed of the model was 310 km/h.
The Maranello Concessionaires example is coached as a berlinetta by Fantuzzi. A painstaking 9 year restoration included the refurbishment of its original bodywork and livery to its earliest racing configuration. It is road legal and has been regularly used.
Despite an active racing history in period when it contributed to Ferrari's 1967 World's Constructors Championship short win against Porsche, it retains in matching numbers its 4 liter V-12 engine, the chassis and the gearbox. It was sold for $ 30M by Bonhams on August 18, 2023, lot 67.
A new change by the FIA in 1968 limited to 3 liters the capacity in the Prototype class. The Ferrari 4 liter P range was replaced by the 3 liter 312 P and Maranello Concessionaires terminated their racing team. 312 is equivalent to 250 in terms of Ferrari references.
