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Ferrari 250 GTO may have set new sale record at $52M

Records are made to be broken, and it seems that one may have just been snapped again. An Italian website is reporting that a Ferrari 250 GTO, owned by American collector Paul Pappalardo, recently sold for $52 million.
Now, this is far from confirmed - Pappalardo responded to questions about the sale saying, "I do not confirm these things, I have no comment about!" - and if it's a private sale, it's unlikely that we'll ever know the exact amount of the transaction. If that figure is correct, though, it easily eclipses the $35 million made in a 250 GTO sale in April of 2012, as well as the $27.5-million sale of a 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4 NART Spider sold at RM's Monterey auctions in August.
What makes a car that had 39 examples built more valuable than one that had only 10 units produced? Racing pedigree. The 250 GTO is a racing legend, with each car having a unique provenance that is more than enough to add some serious value. According to 0-100.it, the GTO in question, 5111GT, found its first owner in French racer and winner of the 1964 24 Hours of Le Mans, Jean Guichet, back in 1963. The Frenchman used the V12-powered racer to win the GT category of the Tour de France Automobile in that same year.

Ferrari production to increase under Marchionne

The head of any company has to juggle the relationship between supply and demand. Of course, that applies to automakers too, even ones as high-end as Ferrari. And as with many other decisions, the way Ferrari has addressed supply and demand has come down principally to the principal.
Enzo Ferrari may have only wanted to sell as many vehicles as he needed in order to fund his company's racing department, but with the F40 - the last model made under his watch - Ferrari ended up increasing supply to meet growing demand. However, after Luca di Montezemolo took over in the wake of Enzo's passing, he started constricting supply. He figured Ferrari could sell 400 units of the F50, for example, so he built 399. More recently, Montezemolo undertook a course of action that spread Ferrari into more markets, while simultaneously constricting supply to increase demand and thereby profitability.
It's been a winning formula for Ferrari. Just days ago, the company announced record earnings up by 14.5 percent in the first half of 2014 over the same period last year, which itself had seen a 7.1-percent increase over the year before. Clearly the strategy has worked, but Montezemolo's successor is already eying a different approach.

Ferrari and Jaguar dominate the 2017 Arizona Auctions

The 2017 Arizona Auctions took place this past weekend, and one look at the results should be a reminder that big-name auto auctions are no place for mere mortals. Aside from the fast paced nature – seven auction houses moved 3,486 vehicles across the auction block – the rarest and most desirable cars sold for more than most people will make in a lifetime. There were around 20 cars that sold for at least $1 million, with Bonhams topping the list with a $7,370,000 1963 Jaguar E-Type Lightweight. Despite $259.8 million in sales, Hagerty reports that 2017 was only the second biggest weekend in the Arizona auction's long history. The figure was up $9 million from 2016's total, but much of that increase can be attributed to the 12-percent increase in the total number of cars auctioned. The average selling price was $89,601, with the vast majority of vehicles selling for less than $100,000. Aside from the 1963 Jaguar E-Type, there were a number of rare and noteworthy vehicles for up for grabs. RM Sotheby's $6,600,000 1939 Mercedes-Benz 540K Special Roadster was the runner-up in value, followed closely by a $6,380,000 1952 Ferrari 340 America Competizione Spider from Bonhams. The various top-10 lists were awash with Ferraris and other European automakers, though much of the lower-end sales were populated by classic American autos. Most of the top sellers were built before 1970, though the occasional newer model (1995 Ferrari F50, 2005 Porsche Carrera GT, 2006 Ford GT) made it through. Based on 2017's overall theme, it appears that interest on cars from American automakers is on the rise. Hagerty notes that a number of 1980s American sports cars like the Chevrolet Corvette and Pontiac Firebird did surprisingly well. Look for the 2018 auctions to see if the momentum continues. Related Video: