Times Five

Damien O’Carroll looks at five very expensive used cars. They are quite special though.

1962 Ferrari 250 GTO

There is absolutely no doubt about it – the 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO is clearly the most valuable car on the planet.

Two different examples take out the top two spots on this list, with one selling in 2014 for US$38,115,000 (NZ$62,809,000 adjusted for inflation), while a second sold more recently for an even more eye-watering US$48,405,000 (NZ$73,888,000) in 2018.

Rare even when new, the 250 GTO was always going to be a classic. Ferrari only built 36 between 1962 and 1964, each packing a truly glorious 3.0-litre V12 that produced a remarkable 221kW. And this was a car that weighed just 880kg, remember.

1957 Ferrari 335 S

The company only made four of the 335 S sports racing cars, in 1957.

Powered by a 4.0-litre V12, it was the company’s answer to the Maserati 450S that was challenging its dominance.

The car that sold for US$35,730,000 in 2016 (NZ$58,058,000 in today’s money) was actually an earlier 315 S that had been raced by legends like Peter Collins, Maurice Trintignant and Wolfgang von Trips.

Ferrari upgraded it to a 4.0-litre 335 S, whereupon it then set the lap record at Le Mans, finished fourth in the Swedish GP, second in the Venezuelan GP and won the 1958 Cuban Grand Prix driven by Stirling Moss.

1954 Mercedes-Benz W196

The W196 was an absolutely legendary Formula One car that dominated the two seasons it raced at the hands of the legendary Juan Manuel Fangio and Stirling Moss.

Chassis ‘‘00006/54’’ sold in an auction in 2013 for a then recordsetting US$29,600,000 (the equivalent of NZ$49,573,000 today) and was notable for being the only example in private hands.

It also happened to be the most successful of all surviving W196s as well, having been driven by Fangio to win the 1954 German and European Grand Prix and the 1954 Swiss GP, which was enough for him to clinch the second of his five Formula 1 Drivers’ World Championship titles.

1956 Ferrari 290 MM

The 290 MM was another sports racing car built by Ferrari in tiny numbers (only four in 1956), this time especially for the legendary Mille Miglia – hence the ‘‘MM’’ in the name.

The 290 MM was powered by a then-new 3.5 litre, 60 degree V12 and had a top speed of 280kmh.

The car won the 1956 Mille Miglia at the hands of Eugenio Castellotti, but it was the fourthplaced car driven by Juan Manuel Fangio (who makes regular appearances in this most valuable list) that sold for big money in 2015.

It sold at an RM Sothebys auction for a colossal US$28,050,000, which is NZ$46,188,000 in our money at today’s rates.

1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4S NART Spider

The 275 GTB/4S was a road-going 2-seater convertible version of the 275 GTB/4, 10 of which were specially built in 1967 for Ferrari’s North American dealer, Luigi Chinetti, who wanted a successor to the earlier 250 California Spider.

Chinetti asked Sergio Scaglietti and Enzo Ferrari to build 25 examples of the topless GTB/4, but only 10 were completed, because of a lack of interest from buyers.

Bet those disinterested buyers regret that now though, because in August 2013, a one-owner example sold at auction for a hefty US$27,500,000 (NZ$36,093,000 today). Bought new by Eddie Smith in 1968, he drove it regularly until his death in 2007.