Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta Sells for $13.2 million at Auction

A packed house at RM Sotheby’s Monterey event in California saw the classic Ferrari sell for $13.2 million - a record for the highest grossing collector car auction of all time – following a lively bidding contest

The Ferrari is the actual car that instituted the ‘Tour de France’ nomenclature following its overall victory at the legendary race in 1956.

The fifth of only seven Scaglietti-bodied first-series competition Berlinettas, it was sold new to the Marquis Alfonso de Portago, the flamboyant and daring Spanish driver, who, joined by his close friend Ed Nelson, piloted to car to first place overall at the 1956 Tour de France Auto.

The Saturday sale session rounded out a tremendous three days for RM Sotheby’s on the Monterey Peninsula, with the unofficial tally sitting at $172.7 million in auction and post-sale auction private sales.

The figure represented an increase of over 20 percent on the company’s 2014 performance. No less than 35 vehicles achieved million-dollar-plus results, with four lots exceeding $10 million.