1967 Ferrari 412P Sold at Bonhams Quail Lodge 2023

A 1967 Ferrari 412P Berlinetta by Fantuzzi sold for $30 million at the Bonhams Quail Lodge Sale — by far the most expensive car at any auction during the Monterey Car Week 2023.

Bonhams announced a magnificent 1967 Ferrari 412P Berlinetta by Fantuzzi for the Quail Lodge Sale -- it is by far the most expensive car on offer at any auction during the Monterey Car Week 2023. — © Bonhams|Cars / Pawel Litwinski

The 1967 Ferrari 412P, Chassis 0854, sold for $30,255,000 at the Bonhams Quail Lodge Auction 2023, as by far the most expensive car at the 2023 Monterey Car Week auctions in California, USA. It is the fifth most expensive car ever sold at public auction and the fourth most expensive Ferrari ever in dollar nominal terms. It is also thus far the most expensive car sold in 2023. Chassis 0854 is believed to be the sole car of this prototype Ferrari era that retains its original chassis, engine, gearbox, and bodywork.

1967 Ferrari 412P Berlinetta at Bonhams Quail Lodge Sale 2023

The 1967 Maranello Concessionaires’ Ferrari 412P, Chassis 0854, sold for $30,255,000 at the Bonhams The Quail Auction on August 18, 2023. Bidding opened at $27 million and the hammer came down at $27,500,000. The result was the highest of any car at the 2023 Monterey / Pebble Beach car auction series.

In dollar nominal terms, the 1967 Ferrari 412P, Chassis 0854, was the fifth most expensive car ever sold in a public auction. It is only the fifth car ever to achieve above $30 million in an auction and is the fourth most expensive Ferrari ever. It is the second most expensive car result ever for Bonhams, after the 1962/3 Ferrari 250 GTO that sold for $38,115,000 at the Bonhams Quail Lodge 2014.

1967 Maranello Concessionaires’ Ferrari 412P, Chassis 0854

The 1967 Ferrari 412P, Chassis 0854, was delivered new to Colonel Ronnie Hoare’s British Ferrari agency, Maranello Concessionaires Ltd, and liveried in Italian racing red with a Cambridge blue nose flash. The remarkable performance car went on to compete in the FIA World Championship of Makes during the heyday of Ferrari’s dominance.

The FIA World Championship of Makes, the sports-car World Championship of its period in the mid-1960s, showcased during the height of Ferrari’s dominance. For the 1967 World Championship racing season, just two privateer 412P cars were constructed alongside the Works 330P3/4 and P4 Ferraris.

In-Period Racing History

0854 as new in the pits at the 1967 Le Mans — Credit GP Library / Courtesy of Bonhams

The 1967 Ferrari 412P, Chassis 0854, first raced with Col. Ronnie Hoare’s Team in his preferred colors and in its first year was piloted by drivers Richard Attwood, Piers Courage, Lucien Bianchi, Jo Siffert, and prominent privateer David Piper. Upon its racing debut in World Championship Round 4, the Belgian Spa 1000 Kilometers, co-driven by Attwood and Bianchi, the 412P finished 3rd overall, gaining championship points that proved vital in securing Ferrari’s ultimate victory in the 1967 World Championship of Makes.

0854 contested in the 1967 Le Mans 24-Hours, and the Brands Hatch 6-Hour race in the UK, before changing hands to David Piper who completed that year in it at the Paris 1000 Kilometers, Kyalami (South Africa) 9-Hours, and the Cape Town 3-Hours.

Piper campaigned the car around Europe and South Africa over 1968-1969, winning at the 1968 Nuremberg 200 Kilometers at the Norisring, the Solituderennen at Hockenheim, and the Swedish Grand Prix. Piper had lightened the car by adopting open-cockpit glass-fiber body panels, the hand-formed aluminum Ferrari originals from 1967 being stored. This proved just as well as a minor collision during the 1969 East London 500 Kilometers race in South Africa caused a fuel leak that ignited, burning the molded GRP bodywork. Back in Europe, the car returned to racing with even lighter GRP open-cockpit bodywork, Piper competing at the Norisring and Hockenheim.

US Ownership and Restoration

In 1969, the car then passed into its first US ownership, with Chris Cord of Philadelphia, grandson of the Cord automobile creator. Successive owners have included a roster of top-tier collectors, including Sir (later Lord) Anthony Bamford, Sir Paul Vestey, John McCaw, and Bruce McCaw before passing to its current custodian in 2005. The passionate automotive entrepreneur owner oversaw a painstaking restoration over nine years, which included the refitting of its original aluminum bodywork, placing it in the guise of its final outing for Col. Ronnie Hoare’s Team, wearing race number ‘9’ at Brands Hatch. Its exacting refurbishment has ensured that today 0854 is believed to be the sole car of this prototype Ferrari era that retains its original chassis, engine, gearbox, and bodywork.

0854 has been actively demonstrated at shows around the US, including The Quail Gathering in 2015 and more recently at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in 2019, where it received the ‘Art Center College of Design Award’.