A 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO was sold today by auctioneer Bonhams for $34.65 million making it the most expensive car ever sold at auction. A 1954 Mercedes-Benz Formula One racer sold last year for $31.6 million.
So what’s so special about this Ferrari? Its history: This GTO came in second in the 1962 Tour de France. Later that year it crashed during another race. A tire blowout at 100 mph caused the car and its driver, Henri Oreiller (also an Olympic gold medalist in alpine skiing), to flip over. Oreiller was killed. Not afraid of ghosts, Italian car buff Fabrizio Violati bought and repaired the car. It was the centerpiece of Violati’s Ferrari museum in San Marino. Plus, there aren’t too many of these GTOs. Ferrari made only 36 –the one auctioned is #19–so they rarely come up for sale.
