Ferrari 330 LM

Posted on September 6, 2023 by classiccarweekly

1962 Ferrari 330 LM/250 GTO

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | November 2023

You know your car is a big deal when one of the biggest auction houses in the world devotes an entire sale solely unto it. Sorry about the photo, I had to use my own since the preview images from RM Sotheby’s are… not great. The entire subsection of the site dedicated to this car leaves a lot to be desired. No real photos. No real info. But who needs to know anything when you’re buying a car to be the guy who bought that car.

Where to start. Just 36 examples of the 250 GTO were produced between 1962 and 1964. They are the most valuable cars in the world. Three or four of those cars were modified by the factory into 330 LM (or LMB) spec, which included replacing the factory 3.0-liter V12 with a 4.0-liter unit. Output jumped from 296 horsepower to 390.

This is one of those cars. And it is apparently the only one with the 4-liter engine. It has factory Scuderia Ferrari racing history, including:

1962 1,000km Nurburgring – 2nd (with Willy Mairesse and Mike Parkes)
1962 24 Hours of Le Mans – 43rd, DNF (with Parkes and Lorenzo Bandini)
1965 Targa Florio – DNF (with Ferdinando Latteri and Ignazio Capuano)

The car came to the U.S. in the late 1960s and was purchased by its current owner, the founder of Escort Radar, the radar detector people, in 1985. He’s had it since and has displayed the car all over. The last time it changed hands was for like $500,000. It’s going to be a little more than that now. Read more about it here (kind of).

Ferrari 250 GTO

Posted on August 8, 2018 by classiccarweekly

1962 Ferrari 250 GTO by Scaglietti

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Monterey, California | August 24-25, 2018

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

This, of course, is an example of the legendary Ferrari 250 GTO – the most sought-after car in the world, or at least according to its price. Bonhams set a record during the Pebble Beach weekend in 2014 selling another ’62 GTO for just over $38 million. So why feature another one of these grand touring cars? Well, because this one wears a different body.

The 250 GTO – or Gran Turismo Omologata – were homologated race cars built by Ferrari between 1962 and 1964. Only 36 were made and they’re powered by a 3.0-liter Colombo V-12 rated at 296 horsepower. This one has blue seats, which look pretty cool.

Most of the GTOs looked like this, including this car when new. For 1964, the final run of three cars were bodied with “Series II” coachwork. Four earlier, Series I cars, including this one, were rebodied in the more streamlined design. In fact, this was just the third 250 GTO constructed so it lived a solid two years with its first body before heading back to Scaglietti to match the 1964 cars. It is one of two with an extended roof like the 250 LM.

The competition history for this chassis includes:

1962 Targa Florio – test car for Phil Hill and Mauro Forghieri
1963 Italian 3-Litre GT Championship – 1st (with Edoardo Lualdi-Gabardi)
1963 Targa Florio – 4th, 1st in class (with Gianni Bulgari and Maurizio Grana)
1964 Targa Florio – 5th, 1st in class (with Corrado Ferlaino and Luigi Taramazzo)

Acquired by Greg Whitten (of Microsoft fame) in 2000, this 250 GTO is being offered for public sale. Obviously, no estimate is given, and RM Sotheby’s is requiring you to be vetted to even bid on this car. I guess you can’t have some schmo bidding $40 million on something when their net worth tops out in the seven-digit range. Anyway, it’ll sure be interesting to see what it brings – if it sells. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $48,405,000.

Ferrari 250 GTO

Posted on August 5, 2014 by classiccarweekly

1962 Ferrari 250 GTO

Offered by Bonhams | Carmel, California | August 14, 2014

Photo – Bonhams

Here it is. This is the car that everybody has been – and will be – talking about for some time. It’s the rarest, most desirable car on earth – and this is the first time one has come up for public auction in a long time. And it will sell, at no reserve. It will break every record on the book. Between private parties, 250 GTOs have reportedly sold for $50 million. Bonhams didn’t publish an estimate, but if you call the department for an estimate like they recommend, they’re well within their rights to laugh at you. You’re looking at a $30-$60 million car. The final price is anyone’s guess.

The GTO was a homologation model for the 250 to compete in the FIA Group 3 category. They were GT cars that put themselves on the podium at Le Mans in consecutive years, behind a single prototype entry (another Ferrari). The engine is a 300 horsepower 3.0-liter V-12. There were two types of 250 GTOs: those with the 3.0-liter engine, and those with the 4.0-liter engine (referred to as “330 GTOs”). This car was the 19th GTO built of 39 (this includes eight that have the re-designed 1964 body work and the three with the 4.0-liter engine). So 28 have this style body and a 3.0-liter V-12.

The original owner of this originally grey car was French racing driver Jo Schlesser. The competition history of this car is as follows:

1962 Tour de France Automobile – 2nd (with Schlesser and Henri Oreiller)
1962 Coupes du Salon – DNF (Henry Oreiller was killed when he crashed this car).

Schlesser took the car back to the factory and they rebuilt it for 1963 and sold it to a new owner, who used it in hillclimbs. That man sold it to another, who also raced it. Then, in 1965, he sold it to Fabrizio Violati for $4,000. It has been in Violati’s family since, and the centerpiece of his San Marino-based Maranello Rosso Collection. He used it regularly and the car has never really sat for that long. It’s great when someone acquires a car for a reasonable price and uses it, unafraid of the value at stake. Violati passed away in 2010 and the collection is, at least partially, being dispersed.

This is the 250 GTO that has been in one person’s possession the longest. These cars so rarely trade hands and when they do, the price is extraordinary. I just hope whoever buys it uses it and doesn’t lock it away hoping for a return on investment down the road. Sadly, that’s what the collector car market has almost become. Whatever the final price may be, Bonhams stands to make a killing on buyer’s premiums for this car alone. You can read more here and see more from Bonhams here.

Update: Sold $38,115,000.

Bonhams Monaco 2012 Highlights

Posted on May 19, 2012 by classiccarweekly

Bonham’s May 11, 2012 auction held in Monaco saw some of their premier cars fail to sell. However, there were still a number of nice cars that went across the block that did sell. The top seller among them was this 1965 Ferrari 330GT/250 GTO Re-creation.

It’s not a true GTO (as evidenced by the sale price of “only” $364,000 – a true GTO could bring in excess of $20 million). This is a 330GT with a re-body made to look the part. It’s a true Ferrari – and a gorgeous one at that – that you can enjoy as if it were the real thing, without the, relatively, hefty price tag.

The second biggest sale was a 1962 Facel Vega II. This is the perfect car in which to cruise around Monte Carlo. It sold for $326,000.

Among our feature cars, the ex-Scuderia Ferrari 1930 Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 GS did not sell. Nor did the 1980 Ferrari sedan. Nor did the 1938 Bugatti 57C. And to round out our feature cars, the Citroen SM Prototype also failed to sell. Not a good day for our feature cars.

But, other interesting cars that did sell include this 1935 Audi UW 220 Cabriolet.

You don’t see pre-war Audis all that often – especially not in similar numbers to cars from other German marques like, say, Mercedes-Benz. But this cabriolet, with coachwork by Gläser, is one of about 1,800 made and one of much fewer that survive. It sold for about $110,000.

Iso Rivolta built some awesome cars in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Most of them were sporty coupes – but they also built a sedan. The Iso Fidia, the one seen here a 1973 model, was produced in limited numbers from 1967 until 1975. Only 192 were made. This one has a 5.8-liter Ford V8 and it’s good-lookin’ too. It sold for about $67,000.

And finally, this 1957 Fiat-OSCA 1500 S Coupe by Viotti sold for about $44,500. It’s a solid looking car built by Fiat with a body by Carrozzeria Viotti and powered by an OSCA four-cylinder engine.