Ferrari 250 LM fetches R662m at RM Sotheby’s auction

The last 12-cylinder Ferrari to win Le Mans has become one of the five most expensive auction cars of all time.

The 1964 Ferrari 250 LM by Scaglietti fetched €34.88m (R662.4m) at an RM Sotheby’s auction in Paris on February 4-5.

The 250 LM was sold as part of a three-part auction of cars from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum collection, which included the 1954 Mercedes-Benz W 196 R Stromlinienwagen that fetched $53m earlier in the week. The third sale takes part in Miami on February 27-28.

The highly preserved and original example was the overall winner of the 1965 24 Hours of Le Mans, driven by Masten Gregory and Jochen Rindt on behalf of the North American Racing team, sealing the milestone of six consecutive Ferrari victories at Le Mans.

Powered by a mid mounted 3.0l V12 engine, it was the only privateer-entered Ferrari to ever win the 24 Hours of Le Mans overall, and the only Ferrari built during the Enzo Ferrari era (1947 to 1988) to compete in six 24-hour races, including three times at Le Mans and three times at the 24 Hours of Daytona.

Just 32 examples of the 250 LM were built up to mid-1966, and it remains one of the most desirable Ferraris of all time.

The auction record for a Ferrari was set in 2023 by a 1962 Ferrari 330 LM/250 GTO by Scaglietti which sold for $51.7m (R953m).

This article was originally published in Business Day.