1962 Ferrari 250 GTO Could Be the Most Expensive Car Ever

Last month, a 1963 Ferrari GTO sold at auction for a shocking $70 million.

If you thought that was a lot, prepare yourself for RM Sotheby’s upcoming Monterey sale later this summer, where a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO by Scaglietti is set to go under the gavel. The auction house predicts the vehicle is the most valuable motor car ever offered at auction – even more so than the $70 million example from 1963.

This car’s incredible value can be linked directly to its racing history. The third of just 36 250 GTOs built, chassis #3413 GT started out life as a test car before American racing legend Phil Hill used it to compete in the 1962 Targa Florio. It was later sold to Edoardo Lualdi-Gabardi, an Italian gentlemen racer, who won nine of 10 races he entered with it and locked down the Italian National GT championship. RM Sotheby’s says Lualdi-Gabardi’s extreme success behind the wheel of this GTO are what helped give the car its legendary status and is thus partially responsible for the incredible value of the cars today.

Lualdi-Gabardi later sold the car to Gianni Bulgari (yes, of Bulgari jewelry fame) who won the 1963 Targa Florio. The car again won the infamous Italian road race in 1964 under its third owner, Corrado Ferlaino. Incredibly, the car never failed to finish a race and was never involved in an accident. It retains its original engine and gearbox today, as well as its original rear axle. The Series II body that was fitted by famed Italian styling house Scaglietti in 1964 also remains today.

Since its racing hey-day, the GTO has passed through a number of owners including former software architect at Microsoft Dr. Greg Whitten, who purchased it in 2000. RM Sotheby’s predicts this will prove to be the most valuable automobile ever offered for public sale when it is presented in Monterey in August, but with a $70 million benchmark to beat, it will be interesting to see if this indeed turns out to be true.