A 1962 FERRARI 250 GTO sports car sold for US$51.7 (RM243.4) million in New York yesterday, making it the second most expensive car ever sold at auction, Sotheby’s said.

The bright red roadster had been the property of an American collector for the past 38 years, and its auction price was surpassed only by that of a Mercedes 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupe that went for €135 (RM680) million in 2022, the auction house said. That would be US$144 million at today’s exchange rate.

The 250 GTO went on sale yesterday evening after a few minutes of bidding in the auction room, but at a price lower than the more than US$60 million that RM Sotheby’s had expected.

Dating from 1962, this legendary Scuderia sports car – chassis 3765, four-litre engine developing 390 horsepower – had finished second in a 1,000 km endurance race on the German Nurburgring circuit, as well as in the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans, where the team had to withdraw due to engine failure, according to RM Sotheby’s.

After several years of competition in Italy and Sicily, the car was sold and exported to the US in the late 1960s.

Restored and modified, the 250 GTO changed American owners several times before ending up in the hands of an Ohio collector in 1985, who sold it on Monday. – AFP, November 14, 2023.