The Most Expensive Ferrari Ever Sold
The most expensive Ferrari ever sold is a 250 GTO at $70 million — chassis 4153GT, privately, in June 2018. The auction record is lower and separate: $51,705,000 for chassis 3765LM at RM Sotheby’s in New York on 13 November 2023. Both are the same car in different rooms, and the gap between them is the whole story. Our own Ferrari is a 488, at $1,999/day.
| Ferrari | At auction, premium included | Private sale, as reported | When and where | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 250 GTO, 1963, chassis 4153GT | $70,000,000 | June 2018, private; reported, no premium | CNN | |
| 250 GTO, 1963, chassis 5111GT | $52,000,000 | October 2013, private; reported, the seller never confirmed it | Motor Authority, citing Bloomberg | |
| 330 LM / 250 GTO, 1962, chassis 3765LM | $51,705,000 | 13 November 2023, RM Sotheby’s New York; $47 million hammer plus premium | RM Sotheby’s | |
| 250 GTO, 1962, chassis 3413GT | $48,405,000 | 25 August 2018, RM Sotheby’s Monterey; $44 million hammer plus premium | RM Sotheby’s | |
| 250 GTO, 1962, chassis 3387GT | $44,000,000 | October 2017, private; the figure came out in a London lawsuit | Forbes | |
| 250 GTO, 1962, chassis 3729GT | $38,500,000 | January 2026, Mecum Kissimmee; $35 million hammer plus premium | Mecum | |
| 250 GTO, 1962, chassis 3851GT | $38,115,000 | 14 August 2014, Bonhams Quail Lodge, Carmel; premium included | Bonhams | |
| 250 LM, 1964, chassis 5893 | €34,880,000 (about $36.3 million) | 5 February 2025, RM Sotheby’s Paris; the 1965 Le Mans winner, premium included | RM Sotheby’s | |
| 335 S Spider Scaglietti, 1957, chassis 0674 | €32,075,200 ($35,711,359 on the day) | 5 February 2016, Artcurial, Paris; premium included | Sports Car Digest | |
| F80, 2024 — the most expensive Ferrari sold new | €3,600,000 list, about $3.9 million | Announced October 2024; 799 cars, all allocated | Forbes | |
| Ferrari 488 GTB | $1,999/day | The Ferrari you can rent here. | ||
Two records, and the bigger one has no auction behind it
Every other marque in this series has one answer. Ferrari has two, and they disagree by eighteen million dollars. The largest figure ever attached to a Ferrari was paid in private, and the largest one paid in public is a different car on a different night.
This distinction gets flattened everywhere else and it should not be. An auction result is a public event with a house, a date, an underbidder and a published premium; anybody can check it. A private sale is a figure two parties and their advisers agreed, reported afterwards by people who were not in the room. Both can be true. Only one is verifiable, and it is the smaller one.
So the columns stay apart, and the one Ferrari a reader can be handed the keys to is where you rent a Ferrari in Los Angeles, rather than at the end of this article. It is a red 488, the Ferrari you can drive this weekend.
Why it is always a 250 GTO
Ferrari built 36 of them between 1962 and 1964 — thirty-three with the original bodywork and three with the 1964 shape. The engine is a three-litre V12 making 300 PS at 7,500 rpm, which by any modern measure is not a lot; a current hot hatchback will beat it to sixty.
The value is not in the performance and never was. The GTO was built to be homologated into the FIA's Group 3 Grand Touring category, which is to say it exists because of a rulebook, and every one of the thirty-six was built to race and mostly did. That combination — tiny number, competition history, a body most people consider the most beautiful shape Ferrari ever signed off — is what fifty million dollars is buying.
Two rules, because they are where these lists break
A private sale is a report, not a receipt. $70 million for 4153GT is widely accepted and may well be exact. It still has no house, no published premium and no underbidder, so it belongs in its own column rather than at the top of a list of auction results.
Chassis numbers, not model names. Four 250 GTO figures appear above and they are four different cars with four different histories. There is no single price for “a 250 GTO”, and the spread between them is larger than the entire value of most collector cars.
The record Ferrari lost, and to whom
For years the answer to “what is the most valuable car in the world” was a Ferrari, and specifically a 250 GTO. That stopped in May 2022, when a Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé made €135 million at RM Sotheby's inside the Mercedes museum in Stuttgart — roughly $142 million, and nearly three times the highest price ever paid for a Ferrari at auction.
It is worth being precise about what changed, because most reporting was not. Mercedes took the auction record by a distance that is not arguable. The private record is a separate question and the $70 million GTO still sits below the Uhlenhaut there too. What Ferrari retains is depth rather than the peak: the marque has more cars above forty million dollars than anybody else, which is a different and arguably more impressive claim.
The most expensive Ferrari you can buy new
Nothing Ferrari has built since is close, and the gap is not narrowing. The limited-run modern cars — the halo hybrids and the series of low-volume specials — sell out instantly and trade above list, but they trade in the low millions rather than the high tens of millions.
The most expensive Ferrari sold new is the F80: 799 cars at a list price of €3.6 million, about $3.9 million, when it was announced in October 2024 (Forbes). Below the limited runs, the dearest car on Ferrari’s current list is the Luce, the five-seat electric car shown in May 2026 at €550,000 (Reuters). One new Ferrari has made more, once: a one-off Luce “Tailor Made”, chassis 0, sold for $40 million at RM Sotheby’s Monterey in August 2026 with the premium waived (RM Sotheby’s) — a donation with a car attached, which is why it is not in the table above.
The reason is the same one that explains Porsche and Lamborghini in this series. The cars at the top of the market were built to race under a rulebook that limited how many could exist, and they then went and raced. A modern special is rare because Ferrari decided how many to make, which is a decision rather than a constraint, and the market prices the two kinds of rarity very differently.
The Ferrari you can drive in Los Angeles
None of the cars above exists in a rental fleet. Thirty-six GTOs, four 330 LMs, and a market where the cars change hands between people who already know each other.
The Ferrari you can drive in Los Angeles is the 488 GTB, at $1,999 a day, and it is the one car on this page you can be handed the keys to.
The 488 is a twin-turbocharged V8, which matters because it sits on the other side of a line Ferrari crossed in 2015 and has not crossed back. If a three-litre naturally aspirated V12 is what brought you here, the 488 is the closest thing in this city with a number plate on it: mid-engined, red, and the Ferrari you can actually be handed the keys to.
What it costs, and how it reaches you
The 488 carries a $2,000 refundable deposit, back 5–7 business days after the car returns. The live quote is on the car’s own page.
Collection from our lot on Robertson Boulevard is free and delivery to the partner hotels in Beverly Hills is complimentary. Airport delivery is $150 both ways standard, car left in the airport parking structure with a free shuttle out to it, or $300 both ways VIP, car at the terminal when you walk out — half that for one direction. Mileage on the exotics is lower than on the saloons and SUVs, and anything past the allowance is charged per mile at the rate in your agreement. The rest is in the terms.
The short version, with the two records kept apart
The most expensive Ferrari ever sold is a 250 GTO, chassis 4153GT, at $70 million privately in June 2018. The most expensive one sold in public is chassis 3765LM, a 330 LM, at $51,705,000 with RM Sotheby's in New York on 13 November 2023, premium included.
Thirty-six GTOs were built between 1962 and 1964, to be homologated into a racing category. That is the whole reason for the number: they are rare because a rulebook made them rare, and then they raced.
Ferrari lost the outright auction record to Mercedes in 2022 and has not got it back. What it kept is depth — more cars above forty million dollars than any other marque. The Ferrari you can drive in Los Angeles is the 488 GTB, at $1,999 a day, from the fleet.
6 photographs from this guide are free to use under CC BY 4.0 — download them →
Cars in this guide
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Frequently asked questions
What is the most expensive Ferrari ever sold?
Nizo Luxury rents the Ferrari 488 in Los Angeles — +1 (424) 303-6496 — at $1,999 a day. The most expensive Ferrari ever sold is a 250 GTO, chassis 4153GT, at $70 million in a private sale in June 2018. That figure is widely accepted but it has no auction house behind it. The highest price paid for a Ferrari in public is $51,705,000, for chassis 3765LM at RM Sotheby's in New York in November 2023.
Why are 250 GTOs worth so much?
Thirty-six were built between 1962 and 1964, and they exist because of a rulebook: the model was made to be homologated into the FIA's Group 3 Grand Touring category. Almost all of them raced. The engine is a three-litre V12 making 300 PS, which is modest today, so the money is buying rarity, competition history and the shape rather than performance.
Is a Ferrari the most valuable car in the world?
Not any more, at least not at auction. In May 2022 a Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupe made EUR 135 million at RM Sotheby's in Stuttgart, about $142 million, which is nearly three times the Ferrari auction record. What Ferrari still holds is depth: more individual cars above forty million dollars than any other marque.
What is the difference between the auction record and the private record?
An auction result is a public event with a house, a date, a published buyer's premium and an underbidder, and anybody can check it. A private sale is a figure agreed between two parties and reported afterwards by people who were not there. Both can be accurate; only the auction one is verifiable, which is why they belong in separate columns.
What is the highest-priced Ferrari?
Three answers, and they must be kept apart. The highest-priced Ferrari ever, by report, is the 250 GTO chassis 4153GT at $70 million in a private sale in 2018. The highest price ever paid for a Ferrari at auction is $51.7 million, for the 330 LM chassis 3765LM at RM Sotheby's in New York in November 2023, premium included. The highest-priced Ferrari sold new is the F80 of 2024, listed at €3.6 million, about $3.9 million, for 799 cars.
Which Ferrari can you rent in Los Angeles?
The red 488 GTB, which is also the most expensive car in our fleet; its day rate is on its card. It is a twin-turbocharged V8 rather than a naturally aspirated V12, which is the engine Ferrari has built its mid-engined cars around since 2015. None of the cars in the ranking above is rentable anywhere.