The Most Valuable Car Ever Sold at Auction

RM Sotheby’s Sells Ferrari 250 GTO for $48.4 Million at
Record-Setting $158 Million Monterey Sale

• RM Sotheby’s sets new world record for the most valuable car ever sold at auction with $48.4 million Ferrari 250 GTO
• 250 GTO sale leads one of RM Sotheby’s most successful auctions to date, with Monterey totaling $158 million
• Highly anticipated two-day sale sees several exciting results, including $21.5 million Aston Martin DP215, and $9.8 million Ford GT40
• Complete Monterey results at rmsothebys.com
• The RM Sotheby’s Group continues its summer calendar with Auburn Fall and London auctions

MONTEREY, CA – August 27, 2018 – (Motor Sports Newswire) –  RM Sotheby’s celebrated an historic weekend in Monterey (24-25 August) with a new record for the most valuable car ever sold at auction, selling a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO for $48,405,000. The 250 GTO championed RM Sotheby’s most historic Monterey offering to date, which resulted in an overall total of $157,931,940 – one of the company’s all-time top performances, the highest grossing auction of Monterey Car Week, and a near 19 percent increase over 2017 results at the same venue.

RM Sotheby’s Monterey auction drew considerable international interest in the months leading up to the event, welcoming bidders from 37 countries and seeing 83 percent of all cars offered find new homes. The collector car world flocked to Monterey to witness the momentous lineup in person, with more than 90 percent of bidders present at the preview and in the packed room, despite remote bidding options.

The thrilling two-day sale was led by the remarkable 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO, chassis no. 3413 GT, long considered to be the ‘holy grail’ of the collector car world and offered from two decades in the collection of noted businessman, Ferrari enthusiast, and vintage racing driver Dr. Gregory Whitten, which sold for $48,405,000, becoming the most valuable car ever sold at auction. This exceeds the previous record by more than $10 million. There were cheers and applause when five-time Le Mans winner Derek Bell stepped out of the car after driving it across the auction block in front of an overflowing salesroom, followed by gasps as auctioneer Maarten ten Holder opened the bidding at the unprecedented level of $35 million. Three collectors bidding via telephone competed for the car, sometimes moving in million-dollar increments before it sold for a final $48,405,000 after nearly ten minutes.

“The appearance of any one of the Ferrari 250 GTO, Aston Martin DP215, Ford GT40, or McLaren F1 and Ferrari 275 P on the Private Sales stand would be a major event, but to have them all together at Monterey this weekend was nothing short of historic,” said Kenneth Ahn, President, RM Sotheby’s, following the auction. “We are deeply appreciative of our clients who have entrusted RM Sotheby’s to offer some of the most significant motor cars to ever come to market, and equally grateful to our clients, enthusiasts, and media who traveled from all over the world to attend our sale. There was an unprecedented value of cars offered on the Monterey Peninsula this year, and it was very encouraging to see the level of strong demand across a broad range of great cars – a sign of strength that is very positive for our clients as well as the larger collector automobile market.”

Additional stand-out moments were found throughout the two-day sale, including when the one-off 1963 Aston Martin DP215 Grand Touring Competition Prototype roared onto RM Sotheby’s stage and achieved a final $21,455,000 (est. $18m/22m) following a high-energy bidding contest, becoming one of the most valuable British motor cars sold at auction. The pinnacle achievement for Aston Martin’s racing program and the last competition car built during the David Brown era, DP215 contested Le Mans in 1963 with Phil Hill and Lucien Bianchi behind the wheel, where it became the first automobile to break the 300 kph barrier at the event. RM Sotheby’s also took the opportunity to announce that the company will be partnering with Aston Martin in 2019, presenting an additional Thursday night auction during next year’s Monterey weekend, dedicated specifically to Aston Martin. As the official auction partner of Aston Martin, RM Sotheby’s will celebrate the marque’s 1959 win at Le Mans with an offering of the finest road-going and track-ready cars from its illustrious history.

From great American Classics through historic racers and the rarest of modern supercars, landmark prices were achieved across the 150 cars presented at RM Sotheby’s Monterey sale. The 1966 Ford GT40 Mk II, chassis no. P/1016, part of the iconic trio of GT40s that swept first, second, and third overall at the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, reached $9,795,000 on Friday evening. The 1957 Porsche 550A Spyder, a hugely important car in Porsche’s American racing history, soared to high estimate on Saturday to sell for $4,900,000, and a unique 1956 Maserati A6G/2000 Zagato racer fetched $4,515,000, a new record for the model at auction. Modern super cars showed continued strength with a U.S.-spec 1990 Ferrari F40 selling for an above-estimate $1,710,000, and the one-of-25 1998 Mercedes-Benz AMG CLK GTR smashing the previous record for the model at $4,515,000. RM Sotheby’s was also proud to partner with Mercedes-AMG in Monterey to offer a never-raced 2017 Mercedes-AMG GT3 ‘Laureus’. The chrome finished GT3 exceeded expectations, selling for a final $885,000, with proceeds to benefit the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation.

RM Sotheby’s Monterey 2018 – Top 10 Sales

The RM Sotheby’s Group continues its calendar this week with Auburn Fall, a Labor Day weekend tradition featuring more than 750 collector cars at the Auburn Auction Park (30 August – 2 September), as well as the company’s 12th annual London sale, set for 5 September at Battersea Evolution and featuring the 1961 Aston Martin DB4GT driven by legendary actor Peter Sellers in the 1963 film, “The Wrong Arm of the Law”. RM Sotheby’s also looked ahead to its Porsche 70th Anniversary Auction while in Monterey, where Porsche unveiled a fantastic new car, the Classic Series Project Gold, to be offered at the Porsche Experience Center in Atlanta on 27 October. The car is the singular, one-of-one and final 993 Turbo that will ever be built. An air-cooled Turbo, 20 years after series production ended. Learn more about upcoming events at rmsothebys.com.

Full results from RM Sotheby’s Monterey sale are also available at rmsothebys.com.

EDITOR’S NOTES
1. Results are listed in USD and include buyer’s premium.
2. Results include select transactions that occurred immediately following the sale.
3. The previous record for the most valuable car sold at auction was $38,115,000 for a 1962-63 Ferrari 250 GTO.

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About RM Sotheby’s

RM Sotheby’s is the world’s largest auction house for investment-quality automobiles. With more than 35 years’ experience in the collector car industry, RM’s vertically integrated range of services, from private sales and auctions (including both RM Sotheby’s and RM Auctions events) to estate planning and financial services, coupled with an expert team of car specialists and an international footprint, provide an unsurpassed level of service to the global collector car market. In February 2015, RM formed a strategic partnership with Sotheby’s, uniting the two companies for the full calendar of future automobile auctions. For further information, visit rmsothebys.com.

Source: RM Sotheby’s 

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