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1962 Ferrari 250 GTO hits record $38 million sale at Bonhams' Monterey auction

This weekend's Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegrance brings together some of the rarest and most expensive automobiles in the world onto a tiny peninsula in California jutting out into the Pacific Ocean. But this year, there has been one vehicle on everyone's lips - a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO. Bonhams put up this incredibly rare Prancing Horse at no reserve for its auction at the Quail Lodge, meaning it could have sold for just a dollar. It didn't though, this ex-Jo Schlesser owned Ferrari sold for a staggering $38.115 million. That makes it the most expensive car ever sold at auction, beating out Bonhams' sale of a Mercedes W196R last year for $29.65 million.
Ferrari only built 39 of these racers, and they have been million-dollar cars for years. One reportedly sold privately for $52 million last year, and one built for Stirling Moss went for $35 million privately in 2012.
While the spectacle of seeing a 250 GTO drive across the auction block with no reserve and then set a record price was certainly amazing, it wasn't the only rare Ferrari up for sale during the evening. Bonhams also handpicked some of the most collectible Ferraris in the world and brought them to the stage. The ten cars included a 1962 250 GT Short-Wheelbase Speciale Aerodinamica that went for $6.875 million, a 1953 250 Mille Miglia Berlinetta driven to racing victory by Phil Hill for $7.26 million and even a 1978 312 T3 Formula One car for $2.31 million. All told, the group of them sold for $65.945 million.

Nissan GT-R and Ferrari 458 Speciale in track battle by Evo

Supercar slayer. That's what they call the Nissan GT-R. And in many ways it is, even though its price and performance over the years have risen to put it squarely in supercar territory of its own right.
In fact, as Evo magazine has been compiling a list of its fastest cars - using the Anglesey Circuit in Wales as its common ground - the GT-R has came out on top... that is, until Evo tested the Ferrari 458 Speciale. The two are about as different as you can get within the supercar segment: one has a turbo six up front driving all four wheels in a 2+2 configuration, the other a mid-engined, rear-drive V8 two-seater. In fact the only common ground you're likely to find between them comes down to their two doors and dual-clutch transmissions. Though they serve it up in different ways, both are class-leading performers.
We're looking forward to watching Evo populate its leaderboard with more entries like the McLaren 650S and more potent Nismo GT-R, but in the meantime the British enthusiast magazine, by popular demand, has released side-by-side in-car footage of both supercars putting their best lap forward around the seaside circuit.

1989 Ferrari F40 review had one Italian cyclist seeing rosso

We've got to say: we're really enjoying the MotorWeek incarnation of this Throwback Thursday trend that seems to be enveloping everyone's social media feeds. MW has an almost impossibly deep library of historical tape to draw from, meaning each recent Thursday has met with another gem dropped on YouTube.
The last old-timer that drew our interest (and yours, based on all the comments) was a sports car showdown of epic, 1990s proportions. Today though, we've got one of the most legendary supercars of all time, the Ferrari F40, presented with the wholesome goodness that is John Davis' signature style. Any classic road test of the the F40 would probably earn our clicks, but this particular video comes with some added drama around the 5:10 mark.
Don't rush there, it's fun to listen to the period-correct praise along the way, but prepare yourself for a near-miss that's almost as breathtaking as the Ferrari itself.

Evo takes a Ferrari F40 across the Alps

There are many great GTs we'd choose for a romp across the Alps. And Ferrari has made many of them. While we're not sure the hard-core, no-frills F40 would be our top choice for a transalpine journey, we certainly wouldn't turn down the opportunity.
Neither, it seems, could the guys at Evo. So when the British magazine's "secret supercar owner" - who keeps the editorial team stocked with exotic machinery - needed to get his F40 back across the mountains, he handed the keys over to Henry Catchpole, who was good enough to record and recount the experience in this latest behind-the-scenes video.
Needless to say it was a memorable experience, and one worth sharing.

Ferrari 250 GTO could fetch as much as $75 million at auction

Last month we reported on a Ferrari 250 GTO heading for the auction block at Pebble Beach. We knew at the time it would break records and bring in tens of millions of dollars. But now that the gavel is about to drop, it looks like even our projections could fall short.
According to a report on Bloomberg, citing the classic car authorities at Hagerty Insurance, the GTO in question (pictured above) could fetch upwards of $60 million and as much as $75 million when the auction takes place two days from now in Monterey, CA.
Hagerty's reported estimate would not only blow the previous records out of the water, but would eclipse the pre-sale estimate attributed to Bonhams, the auction house handling its sale, which placed its value between $30 million and $40 million.

A Ferrari Dino 308 GT4 retrospective, by Gear Patrol

When we think of desirable Ferraris from the 1970s, the choices are somewhat thin. Obviously, there was the 365 GTB/4, better known as the legendary Daytona, but that was initially a product of the 1960s. Really, aside from the arrival of the stylish 308, the 1970s weren't a strong decade for Ferrari.
As Ferrari the brand grows, though, even some of its less-desirable cars are becoming popular among enthusiasts. Considering that, we should begin hearing more mid-70s Ferrari love, such as that being espoused by Anthony Rimicci, for his Dino 308 GT4.
As the first mass-produced, mid-engined V8 Ferrari, the Dino-badged 308 GT4 can best be thought of as the earliest ancestor to the 458 Italia (other mid-engined Ferraris, like the 250LM and 288 GTO are more akin to the Enzo and LaFerrari). It was also the final car in the Dino line, while many of the vehicles were rebadged as Ferraris, following lackluster sales.

Ferrari F12 gunning for GT-R's Nurburgring lap time?

Ferrari may not play the Nürburgring lap time game to the extent that Porsche, Nissan and Radical do, but it has been known to go for some lap times of its own. And now an F12 Berlinetta has been spotted lapping the Nordschleife in an apparent record attempt.
The F12 reportedly had the track all to itself for about an hour and a half, suggesting one of two possibilities: either Ferrari is testing an updated version, or it's going for a lap record with the existing version. While it's impossible to tell what may be going on under the sheetmetal, the communications equipment taped to the roof appear to be the only outward modifications, and would seem to indicate the latter more than the former.
In between warm-up and cool-down laps, the F12 reportedly lapped the circuit in 7 minutes and 48 seconds - which wouldn't be anything spectacular in and of itself, but that lap apparently included 40 seconds of cool-down between T13 and Hatzenbach, suggesting a possible 7:08 lap time. That's the time which Nissan recently recorded in the GT-R Nismo, indicating that Ferrari could be going for Godzilla's top time as the fastest front-engined, street-legal car ever to lap the 'Ring, ahead of the Dodge Viper ACR, Lexus LFA with the Nürburgring Package and Corvette ZR1 (but behind Ferrari's own track-bound 599XX, which clocked a 6:58 lap time four years ago).

LaFerrari trading at double its list price

If you've been looking at the seven-figure price tags (plus or minus) on the latest batch of hypercars, and wondering how their manufacturers could possibly charge that much, consider that their predecessors typically traded at well above their list price as it is. The Ferrari Enzo, for example, listed for "only" $650k, but with production limited to 349 units, demand far outstripped supply, driving the mark-up into seven-figures. In fact Enzos are still selling for a million or more at auction. Surely Ferrari deserves a piece of that action itself, at least as much as the speculators... hence the $1.7 million sticker price on its successor LaFerrari.
Here's the thing, though: according to the latest reports, buyers are paying that much again just for the privilege of getting their hands on a LaFerrari. In other words, they're paying double the already sky-high asking price: as much as $3.4 million to put it in the same ballpark as the Lamborghini Veneno (whose production was even more limited) and the latest Legend edition of the Bugatti Veyron Vitesse roadster.
The story gets a bit more sane with its rivals, though: according to the analysis reported by Oracle Finance, the McLaren P1 is commanding "only" a $500k premium over list, and the Porsche 918 Spyder "just" $335k extra. However even less expensive new models from high-end automakers like the Lamborghini Huracán and Porsche Macan are reportedly commanding $50k and $10k premiums, respectively.

Christopher Ward chrono has actual metal from a Ferrari 250 GTO

We've seen watchmakers use all sorts of methods to make their timepieces more attractive to automotive enthusiasts, from carbon-fiber dials and titanium cases to the logos of partnering automakers and racing series. Some have even designed all-new watches to go with a specific make or model. But Christopher Ward has taken things a step further with its latest chronograph.
The new Christopher Ward C70 3527 GT chronometer eschews all the usual gimmicks and goes for a more interesting one: it actually includes in its construction metal taken from the restoration of a Ferrari 250 GTO - namely chassis number 3527 GT that belongs to one Irvine Laidlaw, a Scottish nobleman and one of the wealthiest individuals in the UK.
When Baron Laidlaw bought his GTO in 2005, he sent it in for a thorough restoration that involved replacing some corroded and damaged exterior body panels. The discarded metal was acquired by TMB Artmetal, which specializes in that sort of thing, and partnered with Christopher Ward to create this limited-edition timepiece. The metal was used to make the back plate on which the number 6 - in homage to 3527's iconic 6 GTO license plate - is etched by laser and placed under museum-grade sapphire crystal.

$64M Ferrari 250 GTO could be a fake

Remember that Ferrari 250 GTO that we reported on last week, supposedly listed on mobile.de for $64 million? Well, don't go putting down your deposit just yet, because it might be a fake.
According to noted Ferrari expert Marcel Massini, the vehicle listed on the German used-car website is a replica. "I can tell you that with 100 percent certainty," Massini told CNBC. "I know where all of these cars are today. And this is not one of the original GTOs."
Of course "replica" is a relative term when it comes to 250 GTOs. Other authentic classic Ferraris are sometimes rebodied to look like a GTO, but while they're not real GTOs, they are real Ferraris. We reported on such an "Evocazione" example (pictured above) based on a '65 Ferrari 330 GT a few years ago, around the same time that Matt Farah came across one based on a 365 GTB/4 Daytona alongside a Ford GT as well.