A 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO sold on Monday evening in New York for $51.7 million (about 48.3 million euros), becoming the second most expensive collector car ever sold at auction.
Owned by an American collector for 38 years, a copy of the mythical sports car of the Italian brand overtook another 250 GTO, sold in 2018, also at Sotheby’s, for $48 million.
However, Ferrari has not yet managed to beat the absolute record achieved by a car at auction, held by the Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé, sold in 2022 for 135 million euros.
One of two examples of this Mercedes sports car, sold at a confidential auction in May 2022 at the German manufacturer’s museum in Stuttgart, “was the most expensive car ever sold” in the world, either at auction or in private sales, he explained to Representative AFP RM Sotheby’s, the auctioneer’s luxury car division.
The Ferrari 250 GTO sold after just a few minutes of bidding on the floor, but for less than the “over $60 million” the auctioneer was hoping for.
Manufactured in 1962, this legendary sports car finished second in the 1000-kilometre endurance race at Germany’s Nürburgring and also in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, where the team retired due to engine failure. RM reports. Sotheby’s.
After several years of competition in Italy, Sicily, the car was sold and exported to the United States in the late 1960s.
Restored and modified, this 250 GTO went through several American owners before falling into the hands of an Ohio collector in 1985, who sold it this Monday.
New York auction houses Sotheby’s and Christie’s are finishing the fall season of art sales this week without signs of crisis and have earned hundreds of millions of dollars.
The market is driven by China and Asia, and according to Sotheby’s, it shows no signs of slowing down despite the tense international situation.
“Regardless of what happens in the financial markets, a car of this caliber is a collector’s item, a unique opportunity for a collector,” Michael Caimano of RM Sotheby’s told AFP, likening the Ferrari to a work of art. art that “can be touched, smelled and heard.”
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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