The Alfonso de Portago raced 1956 Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta Competizione ‘Tour de France’ by Scaglietti is the lead car for the RM Sotheby’s Paris 2026 classic car auction.
RM Sotheby’s announced that the most expensive car on offer at the 2026 Paris classic car auction is the historically important 1956 Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta Competizione ‘Tour de France’ by Scaglietti, which instituted the “Tour de France/TdF” nomenclature. The legendary Marquis Alfonso de Portago drove this Ferrari to 1st overall at the 1956 Tour de France Automobile and several further races. It is the only Ferrari with an unbeaten race record and 1st in class at Pebble Beach (1994). The presale estimate is “in excess of €13 million” (USD $15 million).
RM Sotheby’s Paris 2026 Classic Car Auction
RM Sotheby’s will return to its traditional home at the Louvre Palace’s spectacular Salles du Carrousel on 28 January 2026 for the 13th running of its Paris classic car auction during Paris Rétromobile week.
In 2025, RM Sotheby’s earned an impressive €69,073,275 in Paris — by some definitions the highest-grossing European car auction ever. The top result was for the 1964 Ferrari 250 LM by Scaglietti, chassis #5893, which sold for a model record €34,880,000 ($36,344,960). This 250 LM won the 1965 Le Mans 24 Hours race and the sale set a new record for a Le Mans race-winning car.
Alfonso de Portago Ferrari ‘Tour de France’ at RM Sotheby’s Paris 2026
The highlight of the RM Sotheby’s Paris 2026 classic car auction is likely to be the 1956 Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta Competizione ‘Tour de France’ by Scaglietti, chassis 0557GT. Marquis de Portago won the 1956 Tour de France Auto series in this car, which led to the Tour de France nomenclature. He won several further races in this Ferrari, both in Europe and in the USA.
This historic Ferrari is offered on the 70th anniversary of its most famous victory. It is expected to sell for a model record “in excess of €13 million” (USD $15 million).
The model record is held by this car itself when it achieved $13.2 million at RM Sotheby´s Monterey 2015.
1956 Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta Competizione ‘Tour de France’, chassis 0557GT
Chassis 0557GT, the most important Tour de France example of the long-wheelbase 250 GT, was the ninth of 14 first-series cars and the seventh of only nine to be clothed in Scaglietti’s louvre-less coachwork. It was sold to de Portago, who entered the Tour de France Auto race wearing race number 73.
Piloted by a flamboyant and daring Marquis de Portago, chassis 0557GT took its first of four consecutive Tour de France Automobile wins for the Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta. The Tour de France Auto was considered Europe’s most challenging car race of the late 1950s — it was a series of six-day hill climbs, drag races, and circuit competition.
Following the car’s famous victory in the Tour de France Auto, de Portago drove the Berlinetta to a 1st overall finish at the Coupes du Salon at Montlhéry, while two weeks later the car achieved a 1st in class finish at the Rome Grand Prix. Portago’s final triumph in this car came the following year at the Coupes USA on 7 April, where he once again took 1st overall, achieving an undefeated period competition history for this magnificent chassis.
Chassis 0557GT further achieved a 1st in class at the prestigious Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in 1994, becoming the only known Ferrari chassis to achieve a perfect period competition history and a 1st in class at Pebble Beach.
Although the 1956 Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta Competizione ‘Tour de France’ by Scaglietti, chassis 0557GT, is clearly the historically most significant Ferrari on offer at Paris 2026, it will face stiff competition from three further Ferrari 250 GT models:
- The 1960 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider by Scaglietti, chassis 1915GT, at RM Sotheby’s was the third short-wheelbase California Spider, estimate €12,000,000 – €14,000,000
- The 1958 Ferrari 250 GT LWB California Spider, chassis 0923 GT, at the Gooding Christie’s Paris 2026 sale. It was the third long-wheelbase California Spider. Estimate €5,500,000 – €6,500,000.
- The 1960 Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta at Gooding Christies (estimate €8,000,000 – €9,000,000).