$16.4 million Ferrari tops record-breaking vintage car auctions

22 August 2011 - by ArtfixDaily Staff
A new world record for a Mercedes-Benz sold at auction was garnered by this 1937 Mercedes-Benz 540 K Spezial Roadster which fetched $9.68 million at RM Auctions in Monterey, CA., on Aug.  20, 2011.
A new world record for a Mercedes-Benz sold at auction was garnered by this 1937 Mercedes-Benz 540 K Spezial Roadster which fetched $9.68 million at RM Auctions in Monterey, CA., on Aug. 20, 2011.
(Photo: Shooterz.biz ©2011. Courtesy of RM Auctions)
  • This 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa became the most valuable car in the world when it sold for a record price of $16.4 million at Gooding & Company's Aug.  20 sale in Pebble Beach, CA.

    This 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa became the most valuable car in the world when it sold for a record price of $16.4 million at Gooding & Company's Aug. 20 sale in Pebble Beach, CA.

    Gooding & Co.

A legendary sports car finished first in the world as far as price records. The 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa Prototype raced to a record-breaking $16.4 million at a Pebble Beach, Calif., auction on Aug. 20.

The 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa Prototype, which competed in the Le Mans 24-hour race, was the testbed for the Testa Rossa line, arguably the most successful series of sports racing cars in history, according to auction house Gooding & Co.

Competitive bidders also sent singer Sheryl Crow's 1959 Mercedes-Benz 190 SL Roadster to $143,000 from a $50,000-80,000 estimate. Proceeds from the sale will benefit tornado relief efforts in Joplin, Missouri.

Gooding & Co. has broken records before, notably a 1959 Ferrari 250 GT LWB California Spider that fetched $7.26 million last year.

The Monterey Car Week also included a record $80 million sale for RM Auctions. A Mercedes-Benz set a record for the maker with the $9.7 million sale of a silver 1937 540 K Spezial Roadster.

Steve McQueen's slate-gray 1970 Porsche 911S, featured in the film "Le Mans" and later part of a personal collection of "The King of Cool," fetched a record price for the model at $1.4 million.

RM's sale saw record bidder registrations from 20 countries, including Argentina, Japan, and United Arab Emirates.

"The ultra-rich remain ultra-rich," said Marcel Massini, a Swiss-based Ferrari historian, to Bloomberg. "The very, very best sells easy and incredibly high."

 



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