Rare Ferrari sold for £9.6m

Published Date: 30th Jun 2014

The first of five the Ferrari 375-Plus race cars sold for £9,600,000 at the Goodwood Festival of Speed classic car auction.

A 1954 Ferrari 375-Plus race car has fetched £9,600,000 (£10.7m including the winner's premium) at auction during Goodwood.

This car is the 1st of only five examples of the 4.9-litre, V12-engined racer. With this classic, Ferrari won the 1954 Sports Car Championship.

There were two basic Ferrari V-12s in the company's early years. Gioacchino Colombo designed the first, what you might call the small-block V-12. His successor, Aurelio Lampredi, penned the second, larger V-12. This began as a 3.3-liter, but was increased in steps to the 4.5-liter 375 MM in 1953. Then, in 1954, it was "stroked" to 4.9 liters and Ferrari varied from its usual naming system, calling it a 375 Plus. Horsepower was now at a claimed 330.

Bonhams was instructed to offer the car without reserve, and started the bidding at £2m. The bidding was close to stalling at £4.7m but was resurrected by auctioneer Robert Brooks, then crept up in £250,000 increments before the hammer fell.

The car was sold to a buyer in the room during the Bonhams auction at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, a celebration of car culture held each year on Lord March's estate near Chichester. According to the auctioneer, the £10.7m total is a world auction record for a Ferrari sports racing car. It is also the third highest price for any car sold at auction.