Produced in 1962, the 250 GTO coupe with chassis number 3765 was the most expensive Ferrari model ever sold at auction. This car has a rich racing history and is the only factory 250 GTO that was originally fitted with a 4.0-liter V12 engine instead of the standard 3.0-liter engine.
Last year, a 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupe became the most expensive car in the world: a mystery buyer bought it at RM Sotheby’s auction for an insane 135 million euros ($144.4 million translated at current exchange rates), before that price record was updated several times by various versions of the Ferrari 250 GTO. The previous such record was set in 2018 in the American Monterey: a Ferrari 250 GTO with a 1962 Scaglietti body then sold at RM Sotheby’s auction for 48.4 million dollars. Yesterday at the auction in New York, this record was broken: a Ferrari 250 GTO with chassis number 3765 cost the new owner 51,705,000 dollars.
Privately (not at auction), the price of a Ferrari 250 GTO was up to $70 million – for this amount, WeatherTech CEO and big Ferrari enthusiast David McNeil bought a 1963 model with chassis number 4153 in 2018.
Overall, the Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupe remains the absolute value leader so far, while the 250 GTO coupe with chassis number 3765 is currently the most expensive Ferrari sold at auction. The final amount of 51.7 million dollars, it must be admitted, a little disappointed experts, the estimated value of the machine was 60 million dollars, but the fact is that this particular copy has a complicated fate – it has participated in many races, several times remodeled and lost its original configuration.
The coupe with chassis number 4153 was the only one of the 34 Ferrari 250 GTOs produced with the 1962 Tipo body, which was originally factory fitted with a 4.0-liter V12 instead of the standard 3.0-liter V12 Colombo. Ferrari was preparing this car for endurance racing and wanted to test the potential of increasing engine displacement. The debut was successful: in May 1962, in the 1000 km Nürburgring race, the British Mike Parkes and Belgian Willy Maress piloting the 4.0-liter Ferrari 250 GTO took first place in their class and second place in the overall standings.
