After having witnessed the $35 million sale of Ferrari 250 GTO 3729 GT at Mecum Auctions’ massive Kissimmee auction, Eric from Gran Touring Motorsports, William from The Ferrari Marketplace, and Jon Summers, The Motoring Historian, were left scratching our heads. While the $35 million garnered by the car when the auctioneer’s gavel fell, plus 10% buyer’s premium to Mecum Auctions, is certainly nothing to sneeze at, I realized I had mistakenly overstated the car’s history and desirability.
The mistake was on my part, having boldly declared several times in advance that the car should have brought somewhere in the neighborhood of $60 million – $70 million, with a reserve price of $63 million dollars. Three prior public auction results ranged from $38 million, $48 million, and $51 million, and of course, there was the 2018 sale of 4153 GT, the 1964 Tour de France winner, purchased by WeatherTech founder David MacNeil for a reported $70 million.
Mea culpa. Let’s break it all down…
Firstly, let’s talk about condition. On the plus side of the ledger, our subject 250 GTO, 3729 GT, has no serious crash history and has never been totally restored, making it a rare specimen and possibly the closest one can get to an original 250 GTO today. Its period driver roster reads like a “who’s who” containing several of the greatest British racing drivers, including 1959 Le Mans-winning driver Roy Salvadori, eventual “Triple Crown” driver Graham Hill, Ferrari engineer/development driver Mike Parkes, and several more. Long-term ownership originated in the 1960s, including Neil Corner, Jack Sears, and circa 199-2000, Jon Shirley.
The car was returned to its original Bianco (White) livery under prior owner Jon Shirley, and it has been certified by Ferrari Classiche with the “Red Book” accompanying the car at auction and attesting to its correct factory specifications and appearance. The original GTO V-12 engine had long left the car in the mid-1960s, after the GTO’s curtain fell. These cars, regardless of their beauty and GT-class racing dominance from 1962 to 1964, were nothing more than desirable, but obsolescent, used racing cars. Circa 2008, according to www.barchetta.cc , this 250 GTO received a new, correct, scratch-built GTO-type V-12 engine, cast with the official blessing of Ferrari Classiche and stamped as such for this specific car.
In the rarefied, decamillion world of Ferrari 250 GTO ownership, the rubber meets the road on the auction block or in private sales. Last week, this specimen changed hands for #3 Good Driver money, with the amount realized roughly matching that garnered by the ex-Fabrizio Violati car sold by Bonhams at Quail Lodge back in August 2014. Not to be harsh, that car did suffer a fatal accident and substantial damage in period, followed by a rebuild at the Ferrari factory.
Was it the right-hand drive steering configuration of 3729 GT, preferred by British buyers? No. As 1 of 8 of the 36-38 cars produced, one might arguably see this feature as a positive. Further, RHD steering was common in European racing circles in the early 1960s, due to the location of the trackside pits and the traditional, often controversial, “Le Mans” starting procedure. No, something more is at play here, and the winning bidder and seller completed what will be remembered in a few years as a good and very fair, market-correct deal for this GTO.
The recently installed Ferrari Classiche engine seems to be the only “negative,” if that term can ever be used in this case. The engine history is known, with no attempt ever having been made to hide this fact. The original engine’s removal in the mid-1960s and the swap into an aged Cooper GP car is a part of the car’s history, known and well-documented for decades. The car’s strong originality and its lack of an inauthentic, jewelry-level concours presentation may have also been taken as a negative factor, somewhat curiously. I had thought that a strong connection to its original on-track “glory days” would have been a positive factor. Maybe not in the rarefied space of ultra-high-net-worth Ferrari collectors.
Ultimately, the car sold for #3 “Good” Driver money, and we analyzed the car and the market with a #1 Concours lens, supported in hindsight by the car’s appearances at vintage GTO events and reunions, plus appearances at FCA Cavallino events. Returning to reality, the car was sold to noted Ferrari collector and enthusiast David S. K. Lee, and we look forward to him adding to this venerable track warrior’s rich and enviable history. Next, we will apply further Motorcopia analysis to the car and reveal that it did indeed sell well, at a market-correct or ever so slightly lower level, as it should have.
Finally, hats off to the staff of all ranks at Mecum Auctions. As I’ve stated publicly before, their extensive multimedia promotional effort covering 3729 GT was simply excellent. Full stop. To the rest of the often hyper-critical collector-car world, no questions should remain about their ability to market and sell on-the-block such an elite-level classic legend when it was all said and done. Kudos to Mecum Auctions, and above all, to Mr. Lee – a true enthusiast who is commendably unafraid of sharing his four-wheeled icons with the world.
About Motorcopia
Motorcopia is an independent collector-car market intelligence and publishing platform founded by David C.R. Neyens, a veteran writer, researcher, and auction-catalogue specialist with a long-standing presence in the industry since2008.since 2008
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