Ferrari Auction Record Busted

As nice as it is, this is not the most beautiful Ferrari ever bought and sold at auction.

Right now, however, it IS the most expensive Ferrari ever sold at auction.

This N.A.R.T Spider – the full official description has it as a 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4*S N.A.R.T Spider – just sold for $25 million. Add in the 10% buyer’s premium and the total forked out by the new owner is $27.5 million. If you’re into heart warming stories (and/or dismayed that someone could spend that much on a car) then you’ll be pleased to know that the whole $25 million will be donated by the selling family to charity.

I once asked former Saab owner and car collector, Victor Muller, what the most important thing was to look for when considering a vehicle for purchase. His answer was quick and unequivocal – provenance. The car has to be genuine and its history has to be supported. Anyone familiar with my machinations over the Canberra Fulvia will now understand my dismay that its reportedly remarkable low mileage and history was completely undocumented, aside from an old 1977 registration sticker on the passenger side window.

This N.A.R.T Spider was one of just 10 ever made. It has all of its matching numbers and it stayed in the same family its entire life. Every step of its life has been recorded and documented, right down to noting which original bits were temporarily removed and then reapplied during its restoration years ago. That’s provenance.

The owner was a guy named Eddie Smith. His is a rags to riches story, one of those American Dream tales of a guy pulling himself up by his own bootstraps. Born poor, he built a successful mail-order company in the 1950’s, got the car bug in the 1960’s and eventually owned a bunch of Ferraris thanks to a personal friendship with the importer. The only one he never sold was this Spider.

The full story is over at RM Auctions’ website and it’s a fantastic read.

Eddie Smith died in 2007 and his family decided to put his beloved Spider up for auction this year, with the proceeds of the sale being donated to charity – a wonderful gesture from a blessed family.

The guys at Petrolicious did a feature on this N.A.R.T Spider a month or so ago, in the lead-up to this auction. It’s consistent with all their videos in that it’s beautiful to watch and shows the car of at its absolute best.

Take the time to watch and appreciate. This is the most expensive Ferrari to sell at auction and in this video, you might just get a glimpse as to why.

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