MOTORING NEWS - The Ferrari 250 GTO is often referred to as the "holy grail" by classic car aficionados who have tens of millions to spend on their hobby. Only 36 were ever produced, all of which are still around, and it's considered one of the most beautiful Ferrari designs in history. That beauty is rivalled only by its unparalleled success on the racetrack.
At the Sotheby's Monterey classic car auction in California, the 250 GTO broke a new record. CNN has reported that the GTO has sold for more than $48-million (about R690-million).
The 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO by Scaglietti, chassis no. 3413 GT, was the third one built. It was owned by Greg Whitten, chairman of Numerix and former chief software architect at Microsoft, who owned it for about 20 years.
The car sold by Sotheby's still has its original engine, gearbox and rear axle. It began life as a Series I test car for the 1962 Targa Florio road race, and then won nine of the 10 races it entered in 1962. In 20 races, the car was never involved in an accident and never failed to finish the race.
The value of the car was estimated before the auction at about $45-million, a figure it flew past at the auction. One Ferrari GTO went for $35 million in 2012, and the previous auction record was set in 2014, when a 1963 Ferrari 250 GTO sold for $38,1-million.
Shelby Myers of Sotheby's said, "This marks just the third time that a GTO has been offered for public sale in the new millennium. I can think of no better place than our flagship Monterey event, an auction that has borne witness to the record-smashing sale of some of the most important cars in history, for the presentation of such an exceptional example of Ferrari's most successful racer and the world's most sought-after collector car, full stop."
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