Photo credit: RM Auctions
In 2013, at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este classic car show and auction, a 1953 Ferrari 340/375 MM Pininfarina Berlinetta ‘Competizione’ went for a record price of USD12.75 million, setting a new record for that model and becoming the most expensive car to fall under the hammer anywhere in the world in the past 12 months. But it’s still not the most expensive Ferrari to have been auctioned. Where does it stand in the all-time list of classic Ferrari sales?
1 | 1963 Ferrari 250 GTO – $19.4 million (2010)
The answer is, not at number one. That is currently held by the 250GTO, the most in-demand of all classic Ferraris. Only 36 were ever built and owners have to be desperate to even consider parting with them. Only two have come up for auction in the last 18 years. And if $19.4 million sounds like a lot, a GTO was sold privately in 2012 for a reported fee of $35 million.
2 | 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa – $16.39 million (2011)
In second place is the first of two Testa Rossas, this one sold at auction in 2011 has incredible racing pedigree. What’s more, it is actually the prototype model on which all subsequent Red Heads (Testa Rossa means read head in Italian) were based. The car was painstakingly restored after it crashed on the track and burst into flames.
3 | 1953 Ferrari 340/375 MM Berlinetta ‘Competizione’ by Pininfarina – $12,812,800 (2013)
©Tim Scott ©2013 Courtesy of RM Auctions
In at number three is the star of this month’s Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este sale. It attracted bids from 30 countries, setting a new record for a closed-in Berlinetta model in the process. But it was one of the most important racing cars in the company’s history.
4 | 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa $12,402,500 (2009)
Another Testa Rossa and briefly the most expensive Ferrari ever sold at auction when it went under the hammer at the Ferrari Leggenda e Passione Auction in 2009. This one won Le Mans three times.
5 | 1960 Ferrari 250 GT LWB California Spyder Competizione $11,275,000 (2012)
Not the most expensive Ferrari but still a record for a California Spyder of any derivation. One of the very best examples of what happens when design and performance are perfectly wedded together.
6 | 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB – $10,894,400 (2008)
The LWB’s smaller brother, this particular car, once owned by actor James Coburn, also briefly held the record of being the most expensive Ferrari ever sold at auction. The amount of publicity the sale generated is thought to have contributed to increased demand for the model and therefore asking price.
7 | 1962 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spyder $8,580,000 (2012)
Another California, but this time the price is a little lower, possibly to do with the fact it was never driven by a Hollywood star. But still it is one of only 36 examples to have the much more desirable closed-in headlights.
8 | 1960 Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta ‘Competizione’ by Carrozzeria Scaglietti $8,140,000 (2013)
One of Ferrari’s best road and track cars – it could compete in an endurance race, then be driven home ‘comfortably’ afterwards, the short wheelbase (SWB) is extremely rare and this is one of very few examples that was never raced in any real capacity.
9 | 1955 Ferrari 410 S Berlinetta by Carrozzeria Scaglietti $8,250,000 (2012)
The engineering underneath may have been common in other race-orientated Ferraris from the same period, but the coachwork courtesy of Carrozzeria Scaglietti, one of the most celebrated craftsmen in Ferrari’s history (the 2004 Ferrari 612 Scaglietti was named in his honor), is a one-off. He hand-fabricated it for Ferrari SEFAC board member Michel Paul-Cavallier. No wonder it cost over $8 million.
10 | 1962 Ferrari 330 TRI/LM – $7.7 million (2009)
A serious racing car even by today’s standards. When it was built it was the fastest of all Ferraris to carry the Testa Rossa badge. It also had unbeatable pedigree. This actual model was the last front-engined car to win at Le Mans – driven to victory by Phill Hill in 1962. However, like the Testa Rossa in the number two spot, the car was pretty much destroyed after a crash in 1963. But because it was a historic Ferrari, a full rebuild took place in 2007.
