The Ferrari 250 GTO – #3851 GT – went across the auction block at Bonhams Quail Lodge Auction in California last night, but failed to reach its expected price.
The Ferrari 250 GTO #3851 GT makes ‘just’ $38 million
Last month, we reported that a Ferrari 250 GTO was due to hit the auction room at Bonhams Quail Lodge sale and was expected to hit a massive record price, with estimates ranging from $60-100 million. On that basis, the sale was a complete failure.
The price will be a disappointment not just for the seller, but for Bonhams too.
Recent sale prices for the 250 GTO in private sales have been increasing strongly, with 250 GTO #4675 GT selling for over $20 million in 2010, 250 GTO #3505 GT for $35 million in 2012 and 250 GTO #5111 GT for $52 million in 2013, so the relatively low price of $38 million for the Violati sees 250 GTO prices go in to reverse.
Still, even if the price for the Violati is massively less than expected, it’s still a big lump of money for a car – any car.
Yes, there were only 33 Series I 250 GTOs built, but it’s hard to justify these sorts of prices in any normal terms, and perhaps the only way to make any rational sense of them is to compare them to a work of art – and then they seem cheap.
Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers sold for a whopping £24.75 million as far back as 1987 and Cezanne’s Card Players went for a bonkers $259 million in 2011, which makes the Ferrari 250 GTO at $38 million seem something of a bargain.
And at least you can drive the Ferrari.
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