OT Paul, I think we are all in the wrong business <ggg>. We should have been stocking up on old cars.. This particular series could have been had for 10k in the 1960's. While my dad paid around 19k in 1965 for the home we grew up in, and it has appreciated nicely, it doesn't compare to these cars. And to think this auction price was considered a 'disappointment' as one supposedly sold privately for over 50 million last year...
Regards,
John
'62 Ferrari 250 GTO sells for record $38 million at Monterey Car Week
Caption 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO
Bonhams
Perhaps the most notable car to be sold at this year's Monterey auctions is a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO, regarded by many as the holy grail of classic cars. Bonhams is selling the car at no reserve (no minimum price). Some experts say the car could sell for as much as $60 million to $70 million.
Caption 1662 Ferrari 250 GTO
David Undercoffler / Los Angeles Times
Perhaps the most notable car to be sold at this year's Monterey auctions is a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO, regarded by many as the holy grail of classic cars. Bonhams is selling the car at no reserve (no minimum price). Some experts say the car could sell for as much as $60 or $70 million.
By David Undercoffler contact the reporter
No Ferrari wows collectors like the GTO, with its rarity, exclusivity, beauty and racing championships
3851GT, which came from the factory in pale gray but is now red, is the 19th of just 39 Ferrari 250 GTOs
A 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO sold at auction Thursday night in Carmel for about $38 million — a record, but far less than many experts had predicted.
Classic car experts had expected the car could bring up to twice that amount, but bidders begged to differ. Amid a packed house of well-heeled collectors, the bidding started at $11 million and hit $31 million within a minute.
But enthusiasm for the car fell flat at the $34-million mark.
"Spare another $500,000?" auctioneer Robert Brooks asked the audience.
The response was tepid, as the bidding progressed in $100,000 increments toward the final sale price of $34.65 million. Another 10% is added on in buyer’s fees.
Thursday’s sale culminates months of furious speculation about the final price of the Ferrari, which is known by its chassis number 3851GT. Though bidding failed to meet expectations, $38 million sets a new high for a classic car market that has surged in recent years. It beats the previous record sale of nearly $30 million, for a Mercedes W196 sold in England last year.
The GTO is among the world’s most rare and coveted cars.
The car that sold Thursday, like many Ferraris of its era, was hardly coddled in its early years. The 3851GT was raced, wrecked and rebuilt more than once. Two months after it was purchased, French race driver Henri Oreiller, a retired Olympic gold-medal skier, slammed the car into the side of a building and died shortly thereafter.
Some experts had speculated that the fatal crash — the only one involving a GTO — could hurt the value of the car. Others predicted its extreme rarity — and a history of one owner for nearly a half century — would overcome any such concerns.
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The price development of the GTO, all in US dollars is:
- 1962-4 (new): $18,500
- 1965: $4,000 [14]
- 1965 (Dec): $10,500
- 1968 (Jun): $6,000
- 1969: $2,500 (Kruse International auction)
- 1971 (Jan): $9,500
- 1971 (Jul): $12,000
- 1973 (Jul): $17,500 (£7,000)
- 1975 (Dec): $48,000
- 1978: $85,000
- 1980 (Mar): $180,000-200,000
- 1983: $300,000
- 1984: $500,000
- 1985: $650,000 (Number 3987GT) [15]
- 1986: $1,000,000
- 1987 (Oct): $1,600,000
- 1988 (Jul): $4,200,000
- 1989 (Jul): $10,000,000
- 1990 (Jan): $13,000,000
- 1993: $3,000,000-3,500,000 (Number 4219GT) [16]
- 1998: $6,000,000 (Number 3729GT) [17]
- 2000: $7,000,000 (Number 3413GT) [18]
- 2004: $10,600,000 (Number 3223GT) [19]
- 2010: $26,000,000 (Number 3943GT) [20]
- 2012 (May) $35,000,000 (Number 3505GT) [21]
- 2013 (Oct) $52,000,000 (Number 5111GT) [22]
- 2014 (Aug) $38,100,000 (Number 3851GT) [23] [24]
Prices fell substantially during the car market crash of the early 90's, resulting in the most recent lows of $2,700,000 in September 1994, and $2,500,000 in May 1996. Prices would begin to climb again in the late 90s, and reached about $7,000,000 by 2000. They would reach $10,000,000 again in 2004. As of 2013 the most recent record is now quadruple that of the $13M paid in January 1990. |
