Money Is An Excellent Servant: 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO Sells For Record $48.4 Million

A 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO has become the most expensive car ever sold at auction after fetching $48,405,000 at RM’s Sotheby’s Monterey sale.

As expected, bidding for the car started high, at $33 million to be exact. A number of bidders went back and forth to get their hands on the prized Ferrari before the hammer eventually fell at $44 million. Fees bring the total up to the aforementioned $48.405 million, easily eclipsing the $38.115 million which another Ferrari 250 GTO fetched in 2013 to be the most expensive car sold at auction.

While the sales price of this 250 GTO is extraordinary, it is not the most expensive 250 GTO to change hands. Earlier this year, an example with a rich racing pedigree was purchased by American car collector David MacNeil for $80 million, although that was done privately and not at an auction.

Classic cars are proving to be increasingly good investments.

The 1962 250 GTO sold in Monterey was chassis 3413 GT, just the third of 36 examples ever built. The vehicle was initially used as a test car by Ferrari and driven by Formula 1 World Champion Phil Hill during the 1962 Targa Florio. In the same year, the car won the Italian GT Championship and came first in class at both the 1963 and 1964 Targa Florio. During the 1962-1965 seasons, it claimed more than 15 class and overall wins.

As if that wasn’t enough, it was one of just four upgraded in period by Scaglietti with Series II GTO/64 coachwork. Of the 36 250 GTOs produced, only seven ever received this distinctive bodywork.

The car was most recently sold in 2000 to former chief software architect at Microsoft, Dr Greg Whitten. It’s unknown how much Whitten paid for the car 18 years ago, but we guess he must have made a small fortune from its sale.