MOSCOW, August 16 (RIA Novosti) – A red 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO became the most expensive car sold at a public auction on Friday for 38 million dollars, according to AFP. The car was sold at an auction in Monterey, California by Bonhams auction house. This price eclipses a 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196R Formula 1 which was sold last year for 30 million dollars.
The Ferrari was originally designed for competition and it ultimately killed its original driver, Jo Schelesser, during the ‘Tour de France Automobile’. The car was repaired and used by several other drivers in competition after the tragic crash.
The Ferrari was then purchased in 1965 by Italian Fabrizio Violati, who paid only 4000 dollars for the machine at the time. Violati kept the car as part of his collection for 45 years until his death in 2010. His family then sold the Ferrari to the Maranello Rosso Collezione in 2010 along with the rest of his extensive collection.
The Ferrari is the first GTO to go to public auction in over a decade and it is only one of 39 known to have been built.
The auction house did not name the new owner of the vehicle.
