The list of the most expensive cars sold in auto auctions through the traditional bidding process, consisting of those that attracted headline grabbing publicity, mainly for the high price their new owners have paid. The current record is $16,390,000 for a 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa, sold on August 21, 2011 in an auction hosted by Gooding & Company in Pebble Beach Equestrian Center, in Pebble Beach, California, United States.
$16,390,000 for a 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa – The most expensive cars sold in auto auctions
The Ferrari TR, or 250 Testa Rossa, is a race car model built by Ferrari in the 1950s and 60s. These cars dominated their arenas, with variations winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1958, 1960, and 1961. They were closely related to the rest of the Ferrari 250 line, especially the legendary 250 GTO.
In all, thirty-four 250 Testa Rossas were built, from 1956 through 1961. The phrase “Testa Rossa” means “red head.” The most well known, the 250TR, was produced from 1957 to 1958; only 2 factory cars and 19 customer cars were built. After the 250 GTO, the 250 Testa Rossa is the second most valuable Ferrari model, often valued at more than US$8,000,000. A 1957 250 Testa Rossa sold on August 20, 2011 for $16,400,000, a new world record auction price for a car when inflation is ignored.
The 1904 Rolls-Royce – the most expensive veteran car – sold for $8,130,952 in 2012
The 1904 Rolls-Royce 10 hp Two-Seater is currently listed on the Guinness World Records as the most expensive veteran car to be sold, at the price of US$7,254,290 ($8,130,952 in 2012), on a Bonhams auction held at Olympia in London on December 3, 2007.
The Rolls-Royce 10hp was the first car to be produced as a result of an agreement of 23 December 1904 between Charles Rolls and Henry Royce, and badged as a Rolls-Royce. The 10hp was produced by Royce’s company, Royce Ltd., at its factory in Trafford Park, Manchester, and was sold exclusively by Rolls’ motor dealership, C.S.Rolls & Co., at a price of GBP395. The 10hp was exhibited at the Paris Salon in December 1904, along with 15hp and 20hp cars and engine for the 30hp models.
The most expensive car sold in private sale – Ferrari 250 GTO – US$35,000,000.
The most expensive car sold in private sale in 2012 was the 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO – US$35,000,000.
The Ferrari 250 GTO is a GT car which was produced by Ferrari from 1962 to 1964 for homologation into the FIA’s Group 3 Grand Touring Car category. The numerical part of its name denotes the displacement in cubic centimeters of each cylinder of the engine, whilst GTO stands for “Gran Turismo Omologata”, Italian for “Grand Touring Homologated.” When new, the GTO commanded an $18,000 purchase price in the United States, and buyers had to be personally approved by Enzo Ferrari and his dealer for North America, Luigi Chinetti.
36 cars were made in the years ’62/’63. In 1964 ‘Series II’ was introduced, which had a slightly different look. Three such cars were made, and four older ‘Series I’ were given a ‘Series II’ body. It brought the total of GTOs produced to 39.
Named for the red valve covers, the original 250 TR had unorthodox bodywork by Scaglietti. The front fenders are visually separated from the central “nacelle” body, a design inspired Formula One racers, with air ducting across the front brakes and out through the open area behind the wheels, this model is often called the “Pontoon” TR. Olivier Gendebien and Phil Hill won the 24 Hours of Le Mans with this car in 1958.
The 250 TR’s aerodynamic design was successful in racing but nonetheless controversial: Ferrari began changing the look soon after its production. Other, more conventional bodies were designed by Ferrari stalwarts, Pininfarina and Carrozzeria Touring. The engine had the same displacement as the rest of the 250 series but was tuned to produce far more power. The front styling of the 250 TR61 pictured served as inspiration to the current Ferrari F430 road car.
In 2004, Sports Car International placed the 250 GTO eighth on a list of Top Sports Cars of the 1960s, and nominated it the top sports car of all time. Similarly, Motor Trend Classic placed the 250 GTO first on a list of the “Greatest Ferraris of all time”.
The most expensive car sold by manufacturer – Aston Martin One-77 – US$4.4 million
The most expensive car sold by manufacturer was the Aston Martin One-77 – US$4.4 million.
Aston Martin Lagonda Limited is a British manufacturer of luxury sports cars, based in Gaydon, Warwickshire, England. The company name is derived from the name of one of the company’s founders, Lionel Martin, and from the Aston Clinton Hillclimb near Aston Clinton in Buckinghamshire. It also designs and engineers cars which are manufactured by Magna Steyr in Austria. From 1994 until 2007, Aston Martin was part of the Ford Motor Company, becoming part of the company’s Premier Automotive Group in 2000. On 12 March 2007, it was purchased for £479million by a joint venture company, headed by David Richards, John Singers, an American investment banker; and two Kuwaiti investment companies, Investment Dar and Adeem Investment. Ford retained a US$77 million (or 12.1%) stake in Aston Martin, valuing the company at $925million.
The Aston Martin One-77 is a two-door coupé built by Aston Martin. It first appeared at the 2008 Paris Motor Show, although the car remained mostly covered by a “Savile Row tailored skirt” throughout the show, before being fully revealed at the 2009 Geneva Motor Show.
There was a limited run of 77 units (hence the name of the model) as delivery started in October 2010
Prior to the One-77’s Paris Motor Show debut, various details about the car had been leaked, but official specifications were not fully revealed until the 2009 Geneva Motor Show.
The One-77 will feature a full carbon fibre monocoque chassis, a handcrafted aluminium body, and a naturally aspirated 7.3 litre V12 engine with 750hp (560kW). Aston Martin claims that this will be the most powerful naturally aspirated production engine in the world when the car is delivered.
The car will also use a strengthened version of the DB9’s 6-speed automated manual transmission and height-adjustable pushrod suspension coupled with dynamic stability control. It will feature Pirelli P Zero Corsa tyres (255/35 ZR20 front, 335/30 ZR20 rear) and Carbon Ceramic Matrix brakes.
The top speed was estimated to be 200mph (320km/h) but actual tests in December 2009 showed a figure of 222mph (357km/h), with a 0–60mph time of approximately 3.5 seconds. The projected weight is 1,500kg (3,307lb).
The engineering and build source of the carbon chassis and suspension system is contracted to Multimatic of Canada. Multimatic Inc is a privately held Canadian corporation supplying components, systems and services to the global automotive industry. The company was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Markham, Ontario, Canada, and has operating divisions in North America and Europe with partners in Asia, South America and Australia. Multimatic is ranked as number 82 on the 2008 Automotive News Top 150 North American Suppliers.
The Aston Martin One-77 has been awarded with several internationally renowned design awards including the Concorso d’Eleganza Design Award for Concept Cars and Prototypes, the GOOD DESIGN award by The Chicago Athenauem: Museum of Architecture and Design in North America and the “Best Design” award by the UK motoring magazine Auto Express. and many others.
Maybach Exelero – the most expensive concept car sold for US$8,000,000 in 2005
The Maybach Exelero is a high-performance sports car. The 700 hp (522 kW) two-seater with a twin turbo V12 engine is a one-off design built on request for Fulda Tires. Fulda is using this car as a reference vehicle to test a new generation of wide tires. The German luxury car manufacturer created the one-off model as a modern interpretation of its legendary streamlined sportscar from the 1930s. There are various allusions to the historical predecessor, which was likewise based on a powerful Maybach automobile. In this case, the Maybach SW 38 was also used by Fulda for tire testing.
A V12 engine is a V engine with 12 cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of six cylinders, usually but not always at a 60° angle to each other, with all 12 pistons driving a common crankshaft. Since each cylinder bank is essentially a straight-6, this configuration has perfect primary and secondary balance no matter which V angle is used and therefore needs no balance shafts. A V12 with two banks of six cylinders angled at 60°, 120° or 180° (with the latter configuration usually referred to as a flat-12) from each other has even firing with power pulses delivered twice as often per revolution as a straight-6. This allows for great refinement in a luxury car. In a racing car, the rotating parts can be made much lighter and thus more responsive, since there is no need to use counterweights on the crankshaft as is needed in a 90° V8 and less need for the inertial mass in a flywheel to smooth out the power delivery. In a large displacement, heavy-duty engine, a V12 can run slower than smaller engines, prolonging engine life.
