Ferrari 250 GTO Breaks Auction Record
An extremely rare Ferrari became the most valuable car ever sold at auction, going for $48.4 million at RM Sotheby’s Monterey.


A Ferrari 250 GTO similar to the example pictured above sold for $48.4 million at the Concours d’Elegance classic car show this weekend. Photo by Paul Williams via Flickr
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — The annual Concours d’Elegance classic car show in Pebble Beach, Calif., was the sight of a recordbreaking auction this weekend. A 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO, one of only 36 ever built and boasting an impressive résumé, was sold for $48.4 million, including auction fees, by RM Sotheby’s Monterey.
The seller was Numerix Software Chairman Greg Witten, who purchased the vehicle in 2000 for an estimated $10 million. The unit was the third of its kind to be built. In 1962, it won the Italian GT championship and was driven as a practice car by American racer Phil Hill before Sicily’s Targa Florio. It would tally at least 15 wins by 1965.
A 1963 250 GTO set the previous record with a $38.1 million auction sale in 2014. Vehicles have been known to sell for higher prices off the block; Sotheby’s reported that yet another 250 GTO sold for $70 million in a private transaction earlier this year.
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