Ferrari 250 GTO - Collectibility

Collectibility

From the late 1970s to the late 1980s, classic car values rose rapidly and the 250 GTO, touted as the Ferrari that most successfully embodies the salient traits of the marque, became the most valuable of all Ferraris.

A 250 GTO (4757GT) seized by the FBI belonging to the deceased Robert C. "Chris" Murray, a drug dealer who fled the United States in 1984, was sold in a sealed auction in 1987 for approximately $1.6 million. Murray bought the car in 1982 from a Beverly Hills dealer with $250,000 in cash from a backpack full of $20 and $50 notes. In 1989, at the peak of the boom, a 250 GTO was sold to a Japanese buyer for $14.6 million plus commission. By 1994 that example changed hands for about $3.5 million. In 2008, a British buyer bought a 250 GTO that formerly belonged to Lee Kun-hee of Samsung Electronics at an auction for a record £15.7 million. In May 2010, BBC Radio 2 DJ Chris Evans bought chassis number 4675 GT for £12 million. According to Octane Magazine, the Ferrari 250 GTO bearing chassis number 5095GT was sold by British Real Estate Agent Jon Hunt to an unknown buyer. In what is believed to be the largest single car transaction in the United Kingdom, the Ferrari 250 GTO sold for over GBP20 million (approx. US$31.7 million). In May 2012 the 1962 250 GTO made for Stirling Moss became the world's most expensive car, selling in a private transaction for $35 million to communications magnate Craig McCaw.

Scarcity and high monetary values led to the creation of several replica 250 GTOs on more common Ferrari chassis. Misrepresentations of the original cars, offered for sale at full market value, have been reported.