A Ferrari 250 GTO is a special car. This 250 GTO is even more of a rarity. It’s the only GTO Tipo 1962 that’s been raced by Scuderia Ferrari, the brand’s racing division. And after 38 years of continuous ownership, it’s now back on sale via auction with RM Sotheby’s.
Most of us need a lottery win, not more info, to be tempted to buy the thing. Nonetheless, the auction house has gone into plenty of detail about the heritage and provenance of this particular model.
Sotheby’s tells us car number Nine (of 36) with 'chassis number 3765 is the only Works GTO example that was originally equipped with a 4-litre engine.’ The build sheets detail the Colombo-style architecture of the 3.0-litre short-block V12 engine in the other examples had increased displacement here, which was converted to dry sump lubrication and tuned with special carburetors and camshafts.
It’s the 14th car of 34 250 GTOs to be built with Tipo 1962 coaching and it finished its racing debut at the Nurburgring 1,000km in second spot. Scuderia Ferrari hoped to taste chequered flag success at Le Mans – the ultimate ambition – but sadly that never transpired after the GTO overheated and needed to retire early. The car was then bought by a privateer racer, modified and at one point being test driven by John Surtees – a decent enough claim to fame.
Successive owners raced the car in various challenges around Italy until it was exported to the USA in 1967 where it would continue to be showcased for speed and style. Unsurprisingly, the GTO has won numerous awards – look, it’s so pretty – and understandably it’s been profiled in the media before.
On sale for the first time in 38 years (and kept in rude health in that time) Sotheby’s doesn’t say how much it reckons the GTO will go for, but previously the 250 GTO has commanded a price north of £40 million under the hammer. Or broken through £50m entirely if you count private sales. Rumour has it this one could raise the benchmark again...
Sotheby’s states (rather romantically, we might add): “This extraordinary chance to acquire the Holy Grail of the sports car pantheon should be relished for the opportunity it is, never to be relinquished to the haunting memory of what might have been.” Holy Grail? Let's hope that lottery win pays well, eh?
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