A 1957 Ferrari 315 / 335 S sold for €32,075,200 ($35,711,359) at the Artcurial Paris Rétromobile 2016 sale – the second highest dollar price ever paid for a car at public auction. This is also the highest price ever paid for a car at an auction in Europe and for an auction in euro. Only the 1962/63 Ferrari 250 GTO has sold for more in dollar terms – its price of $38 million was only €28.5 million at the time of sale. The 1955 Mercedes Benz W196R Formula 1 is racer now relegated to third place. The Ferrari, chassis 0674, joined the very exclusive club of cars that have sold for more than $20 million at public auction.
1957 Ferrari 335 S – Most-Expensive Car Ever
In euro terms, the 1957 Ferrari 335 Sport that Artcurial sold for €32,075,200 at the 2016 Paris Rétromobile sale is the most-expensive car ever sold at public auction. The 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO that Bonhams sold for $38 million at the 2014 Quail Lodge sale, converted to only €28.5 million at the time. In dollar terms, the $35,711,359 Artcurial achieved for the 1957 Ferrari 335 Sport is the second highest price ever paid for a car at auction.
1957 Ferrari 315 S
The 1957 Ferrari 315 S, chassis 0674, sold for €32,075,200 ($35,711,359) at Artcurial’s Paris 2016 Rétromobile classic car auction left the factory as a 315 S with a four-cam 3.8-liter V12 Tipo 140 engine capable of 340 bhp.
The car’s first race, as an official Scuderia Ferrari factory team car, was the Sebring 12 hours where Peter Collins and Maurice Trintignant led the first 20 laps but ultimately brought the car home in sixth place overall.
At the Mille Miglia, for Ferrari a far more important race, Wolfgang von Trips brought the car home second, behind Piero Taruffi. Von Trips almost certainly could have won this last ever Mille Miglia but in traditional Ferrari team spirit did not challenge the senior works driver.
1957 Ferrari 335 S
After the Mille Miglia, in preparation for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Ferrari upgraded the engine of chassis 0674 to the 4100 cc V12 Tipo 141 and the 315 S became a 335 S. Output increased to 400 bhp.
On lap 30 at the 1957 Le Mans race, Mike Hawthorn drove the new Ferrari 335 S at an average speed of 203.015 km/h – the first time ever that a lap here was done faster then 200 km/h. The car retired with engine trouble after five hours.
Chassis 067 finished fourth at the 1957 Swedish Grand Prix (the Kristianstad 6 Hours) driven by Hawthorn and Musso. At the Venezuela Grand Prix, Hawthorn and Musso drove the car to second place – in a race where Ferrari took the top four places – and help seal the championship for Ferrari ahead of Maserati.
1957 Ferrari 335 S as Private Racer
Early in 1958, chassis 0674 was fitted with a second Tipo 141 engine – that it still has today – and sold to Luigi Chinetti, the famous New York-based Ferrari importer.
At the hands of Stirling Moss and Masten Gregory, while sporting the blue livery with white strip of the NART, chassis 0674 finally achieved an outright victory when winning the 1958 Cuban Grand Prix in Havana.Chassis 0674 continued to race in North America during the 1958 season and obtained victories in the Road America and podium finishes on the circuits of Thompson and Watkins Glens. It retired during its final race, at the Bahamas Speed Week in Nassau in December 1958, never to have suffered any major accident.
1957 Ferrari 335 in the Bardinon Collection
After its retirement from active racing, the 1957 Ferrari 335 S, chassis 0674, was sold to a Pennsylvanian architect, Robert N Dusek, in 1960. In 1970, Pierre Bardinon acquired the car from Dusek to include in his world-famous collection of winning Ferraris.
In 1981, Bardinon had the Ferrari restored to its original body configuration – the ponton fender that was fitted for better cooling for the Venezuela Grand Prix is included in the sale.
Bardinon rarely showed the car in public, which will allow its new owner to participate in most prestigious concourse events around the world.
See Also:
- $20-Millioin Plus Cars – The Most-Expensive Cars in the World
- 2016: Ten Most-Expensive Cars Sold at Public Auction