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M6 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 16 JUNE 2019 MOTORING 1. FERRARI 250 GTO US$48.4 million (S$66.7 million) RM Sotheby's Monterey, Aug 26, 2018 With just 36 examples built between 1962 and 1964, that should already guarantee desirability, but add this car's provenance to that and it's no wonder this 250 GTO broke the re- cord by US$10 million. Chassis num- ber 3413GT participated and won in its class at the 1963 and 1964 Targa Florio, plus a slew of other victories. It should also be noted that chassis 3413GT's erstwhile owner, Gregory Whitten of Microsoft (he was employ- ee number 15), reportedly bought the car in the year 2000 for a tenth of its record-shattering price. 2. FERRARI 250 GTO US$38.1 million (S$52.5 million) Bonham's Quail Lodge, Aug 14, 2014 Is it really any surprise that the num- ber two car on this list is also a Ferrari 250 GTO? When the hammer fell for chassis 3851GT in 2014, it was then the most expensive car ever sold at auction at US$38.1 million – "[the] auction pavilion was filled to total capacity with overflow on the lawns watching the happenings live on the numerous television screens", accord- ing to auctioneers Bonhams. 3. FERRARI 335 S SPIDER SCAGLIETTI €32.1 million (S$49.4 million) Artcurial Paris, Feb 5, 2016 Is €32.1 million a lot to pay for a car? Sure it is. Is it a lot to pay for a race car that you can never drive on pub- lic roads? Most definitely. Is it a lot to pay for one of the four examples ever made, with that particular one sitting in a private French collection for over four decades? Well, that depends on your point of view. Adding to the sig- nificance of the car and its mystique is that the 335 S was a key factor in the cancellation of the Mille Miglia road race after 1957. During that year's race, a fatal accident involving the 335 S killed 14 spectators, along with the car's driver and co-driver. 4. FERRARI 290 MM US$28 million (S$38.5 million) RM Sotheby's New York, Dec 10, 2015 Built in a time when the racing was hard and the men who raced them even harder, the Ferrari 290 MM was a purpose-built race car designed to compete in the Mille Miglia road race, hence the "MM" appellation. The particular example sold in New York in 2015 didn't exactly have the sort of all-conquering race pedigree that some other cars on this list might have only finishing fourth in the 1956 Mille Miglia, but it certainly didn't have any trouble attracting buyers, selling for US$28 million. Perhaps a clue to that particular car's appeal is how the person who once occupied its driver's seat was the all-conquering Juan Manuel Fangio, a man who won 46 percent of all the races he entered, a record that stands to this day. 5. FERRARI 275 GTS/4 NART SPIDER US$27.5 million (S$37.8 million) RM Sotheby's Monterey, Aug 17, 2013 It's often said that the only reason Enzo Ferrari built road cars is to fund his racing endeavours, so it's perhaps not shocking that he appointed one Luigi Chinetti, an Italian emigre and former racer himself (Chinetti would also later go on to found an American racing team), as his North American importer. But perhaps most important is the clout Chinetti had with the fac- tory, resulting in numerous special- edition cars, including this, the 275 GTS/4 Spyder, with an intended run of 25 cars, though just 10 were built. The one that sold in 2013 was a one- owner car from new since 1967, kept in the same family for three genera- tions, and its owner, Eddie Smith Sr., was personally invited to buy it by Chinetti. 6. FERRARI 275 GTB/C SPECIALE US$26.4 million (S$36.3 million) RM Sotheby's Monterey, Aug 16, 2014 Despite being far, far rarer than the Ferrari 250 GTO, its successor, the The 10 most expensive cars 1 2 3 4 5 6