The Ferrari 250 GTO that sold at Sotheby’s for $51.7 million
Classic cars are outstripping art by Cézanne and Van Gogh at auction. Are they worth it?
“One Lifetime. One Car. One Chance.” That was the excited tagline Sotheby’s used to advertise the auction of a Ferrari 250 GTO in New York on Monday, November 13. It certainly got the blood flowing and neatly summed up what was at stake. The chance to buy one of the automotive world’s holy grail models. This doesn’t happen every day, as the crackle of tension and excitement in the auction room demonstrated.
The Ferrari 250 GTO is the pre-eminent model from the most glamorous car brand in the world. Its three-litre Colombo V12 engine was a technical tour de force in 1962 and powerful enough to hit the magical 100bhp per litre. Its performance would not embarrass a modern-day sports car with the advantage of over 60 years of technical advances. This technology is wrapped in an aluminium body designed by the chief engineer Giotto Bizzarrini and built by Sergio Scaglietti. The 250 GTO sums up the Ferrari philosophy and, indeed, that of its founder, Enzo, to make a car to go as fast as possible and win races, but somehow, through this process of form following function, to make a car that is also beautiful. Only 36 GTOs were built, its scarcity adding to its desirability and, ultimately, the exceptionally high price tag.
Of the documented sales at auction, one car sold in 2022 stands tall. The Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé was one of only two models of that car. It was a one-off sale by the manufacturer, which also owns the only other Uhlenhaut Coupé in existence and will probably never sell it. The Mercedes sold for $143 million, making it the most expensive car of all time (that year there were only two pieces of art that sold for more at auction — a Warhol and a Seurat). The Mercedes sold for more than paintings by Cézanne and Van Gogh.
This Ferrari is equally special. It’s the only GTO Tipo raced by Scuderia Ferrari, the in-house race team. In recent history it was best of show at the Amelia Island Concours d and has been in the same ownership for the past 38 years. It has an unbroken provenance and some fantastic pictures of the car exist campaigning at some of the great races of the day, such as the Nürburgring 1000km and the 24 Hours of Le Mans driven by Mike Parkes and Lorenzo Bandini.
Its current owner, or “custodian” as he prefers to see himself, is Jim Jaeger, an Ohio resident who has owned the car for almost two thirds of its existence. After catching the Ferrari bug, he purchased the GTO in 1985, paying a rumoured half a million dollars. This was also the year his son was born and, as well as enjoying the car with his father, he has come to see the Ferrari as one of his siblings. The sale was a huge decision, but at 75 Jim genuinely feels it’s time for someone else to enjoy the car.
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The 250 GTO was being offered in a standalone event at Sotheby’s New York an hour before its Modern Evening Auction of art. When the hammer finally fell, the price had reached a heady $51.7 million (about £42 million), including fees, making this 250 GTO the second most expensive car and a world record price for a Ferrari sold at auction. The Jaeger family, in attendance for the auction, were undoubtedly happy with what has proved to be a canny investment, but Jim’s overriding emotion, as he described, was “tired”. It was not surprising after an eventful day and, ultimately, a little sad that a family member has parted ways. Asked for some sage advice about how he successfully invested in the GTO, he offered this: “Don’t buy a car hoping it will go up in value. If it looks good, sounds good and smells good — buy it.” Wise words indeed.
