The Most Expensive Ferraris And Lamborghinis Sold At Auction
At £15m, the Bugatti La Voiture Noire is the most expensive car in the world. However, that price tag doesn’t even put it close to some of the biggest prices fetched at auction.
Ahead of the Lamborghini vs Ferrari themed event taking place on Sunday at the Warren Estate, we decided to take a look at some of the most expensive Ferrari and Lamborghini ever to sell at auction.
We’ll start off with the kings of the auction house - Ferrari. You’ll notice one particular model dominates entirely with prices that look more like telephone numbers. The 250 GTO is the single most legendary automobile in history, probably partly due to its rarity and its racing pedigree.
The most expensive one is a 1963 silver-yellow example which sold for a staggering £52m. To put that into perspective, you could buy just over 130 SF90 Stradales for that money. One of only 39 built, it has an illustrious racing history including finishing fourth at Le Mans.
Not got £50m lying around? Worry not, cheaper 250 GTOs are available. The second most expensive sold for a measly £37.6m, with the third selling at a positively bargain basement £22.6m. Jokes aside, these are staggering numbers for an automobile and it shows how dominant Ferrari is in the classic car market.
As steeped in history as it is, Lamborghini just doesn’t have the same racing pedigree as the boys in red. Because of that, even its rarest models can’t get close to 250 GTO levels. The very first Countach, the P400 ‘Periscopio’, is arguably the most sought-after version with only 150 or so built, yet only a handful have breached the £1m mark.
The Miura is seen by many as the first proper supercar due to its mid-engine layout. The most expensive of which sold for a healthy £3.2m. It was one of only 150 Miura SVs built and was unique for being fitted with a dry sump and a limited-slip differential from factory. That exceeded the previous record which sat at £2m for another SV.
Rather surprisingly, the most expensive Lamborghini ever sold at auction is a bit more modern. A Veneno Roadster sold in Switzerland for approximately £6.5m, not far off double the original list price and equivalent to around 25 Huracan STOs. Based on the flagship Aventador, the Veneno was launched to celebrate Lamborghini’s 50th birthday with 9 roadsters and just 5 coupes built.
The price fetched could be due to its rarity or even the mileage at just 201 miles, or perhaps the story behind this particular one does add a little fuel to the proverbial fire. This Veneno was sold as part of a collection seized from the son of an African president who was eventually found guilty of embezzlement in France. Sometimes, little stories like that are what can make something look appealing enough to stick an extra few million quid on the bid.
Lamborghini has built some of its most exclusive models in the last 20 years or so, with models like the Reventon, Veneno, and Centenario. Could these models be the ones we see fetch big money in the future? Judging by the money paid for that roadster, it's entirely likely.