1962 Ferrari 250 GTO for sale at $41 million makes bid for world’s most expensive car
Just six months ago, a green 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO built for Sir Stirling Moss traded hands for $35 million,
making it the most expensive car ever sold. That record may not stand
another month if an anonymous American seller gets his asking price of
$41 million for his 250 GTO — a sign that the market for Enzo Ferrari's
most famous race cars may soon overheat.
Offered for sale by a London broker,
there's little public detail about which one of the 39 known GTOs has
been put on the market. It's one of 29 Series I GTOs, and one of 22
left-hand-drive versions, and the broker claims it has "great provenence
and a very well cared for history by past and current owners," which
only means it likely hasn't been burned in a wreck on the track.
When Ferrari built the V-12, 170-mph GTOs to
race, with wins at Le Mans and around the world, there was never a
thought that the cars would someday turn into near-venerated objects.
Even a decade after their heyday, GTOs were often considered worn-out
sports cars by collectors. Only in recent years, as the world's wealthy
have begun to see collector cars as pieces of art, profit and coolness
combined have their prices risen to stratospheric heights. By
comparison, the most expensive new car for sale in the world — the
Bugatti Veyron, starting at $2 million — seems a downright bargain.
The world
of people who keep track of GTOs and their owners will know if and when
a buyer puts down the $41 million. If no one bites, the collector car
world will know that there's at least a temporary ceiling to demand for
the right cars. If someone does pay for it, the question then becomes
where the top really is, and who else might be willing to pay tomorrow's
price for a 50-year-old Ferrari today.
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