A bargain for EUR 39 million? Another Ferrari 250 GTO on the market ...
If you want to be one of the most important car collectors , you'll want to put a Ferrari GTO in one of your garages, as we recently reported. But with only 33 250 GTOs built (plus three 330 GTOs), it's not that easy to find a suitable example. And prices are slowly but surely heading towards the three-digit millions. The last GTO known to have been traded changed hands for around EUR 60 million (USD 70 million, CHF 70 million). And it has already been a few years since a GTO was sold at auction, namely in 2014, when Bonhams sold 3851 GTs at Quails Lodge for EUR 28.4 (USD 38.1 million, CHF 37.5 million).
Now RM/Sotheby's can offer 3413 GT, one of the rare sports cars, and there is talk that the car, whose estimated value has not yet been officially announced, could well fetch more than USD 45 million. However, this would make it almost a bargain, as it would "only" be worth EUR 38.6 million (CHF 44.5 million).
The history of the 3413 GT begins as the third 250 GTO built in May 1962, when Graham Hill and Mauro Forghieri entered the car in training for the Targa Florio. The first owner, however, was Edoardo Lualdi-Gabardi, who took part in various Italian hill climb and circuit races with the car, including Trento-Bondone, and won the Italian championship as well as countless class wins and several overall victories.
The GTO is about a year old when he sells it on to Gianni Bulgari, who immediately sets off for the Targa Florio in it and promptly wins the three-liter class and finishes 4th overall.
In November, Bulgari then won the Coppa FISA in Monza, but then sold the car to Corrado Ferlaino. In his ownership, the GTO was then re-bodied by Scaglietti, giving it roughly the same appearance as the last GTOs built, which were closer in shape to the 250 LM than to the original GTO. In this guise, the car again achieved a class victory at the 1964 Targa Florio and finished fifth overall.
After further races in Italy, Ferlaino sold the car to Great Britain, where David Piper still managed to take victories at Silverstone and Brands Hatch in 1965.
The 3413 GT's active racing career then came to an end, followed by later appearances in historic racing events, primarily in the USA, but also internationally. Since 2000, the car has been owned by Gregory Whitten, who, according to barchetta.cc, paid USD 7 million for it.
The 3413 GT is therefore a historically well-attested car that has an interesting racing history behind it and is also one of only three chassis that underwent a bodywork renovation during the period. It will be interesting to see whether RM/Sotheby's expectations will be fulfilled.
