Classic Ferrari race car auctioned for R253m
Many people outside motorsport circles might never have heard of a Ferrari 312 PB, but one buyer wanted it so badly they paid an incredible €12m (R251m) for a 51-year old example at an RM Sotheby’s auction in Cernobbio, Italy, last weekend.
The Ferrari “P” series of racing cars from 1963 to 1973 produced some of the most illustrious achievements in the Italian stable’s racing history. Among these were back-to-back victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1963 and 1964 and the famous 1-2-3 finish at the 1967 24 Hours of Daytona, which led to Ferrari’s triumph over Ford in the world championship that year.
The 312 PB was the final evolution of this celebrated prototype class and this particular car won the 1972 Buenos Aires 1,000km and the 1972 Nürburgring 1,000km, both times with Ronnie Peterson and Tim Schenken behind the wheel.
The single-seat racer was engineered with Formula 1derived technologies, including the rare 3l flat-12 engine which pushed out 343kW at 10,800rpm.
Old Ferraris are big business, especially those with an illustrious provenance. The 312 PB is the latest in a series of prancinghorse cars that have sold for princely sums in recent times. In November Michael Schumacher’s championship winning Ferrari F2003-GA Formula 1 car sold for $14.8m (R286m) at an RM Sotheby’s auction in Geneva, making it the most valuable modern F1 car in history.
Also last year, a 1955 Ferrari 410 Sport Spider by Scaglietti achieved $22m (R425m) and a 2003 Ferrari F2003-GA sold for $14.9m (R288m).
To date, the highest price achieved by a Ferrari on auction was the 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO road car which sold for $48.4m (R935m) in 2018.
Another notable sale in last weekend’s RM Sotheby’s auction in Cernobbio was British singer Rod Stewart’s 1977 Lamborghini Countach LP400 Periscopio which sold for €989,375 (R20.7m). It was one of only 157 examples of the firstseries LP400 Periscopio models produced and was owned for 25 years by the singer of hits such as Do ya think I’m sexy and Baby Jane.