Motoring / Cars and Bikes

Ferrari 275 NART Spider Most Expensive at Auction?

Could this classic Ferrari be the next record-breaking auction lot to break the top 10 list?

Apr 25, 2016 | By Staff Writer

There were only 10 of these made, and the last time one of them came up, it fetched $27.9 million. The Ferrari 275 GTS/4 NART Spider could easily make it to the top 10 list of most expensive cars auctioned, once bidding starts on May 14 at the biennial RM Sothebyā€™s Monaco auction. Sothebyā€™s already set it up with a very conservative ā‚¬19 million ($21 million) estimate.

For that matter, the most expensive car auctioned happens to be a Ferrari 250 GTO ($38,098,927), and with the exception of Fangio’s 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196 F1 car (third place, $30,069,371), the rest of the top 10 are all Ferraris. Classic Ferraris are gaining value in the field to the point that models built as recently as the mid-1990s are starting to see some healthy appreciation. Will this be the point where the bubble is primed to burst? Either way, the NART Spiderā€™s sleek styling and performance aims to at least ensure some kind of record.

Ferrari-NART-Spider-Interior-Auction

The car represents a combination of Italian engineering and American ingenuity. US Ferrari importer and race team owner Luigi Chinetti pitched the idea of a roofless take of the 274 GTB/4 to Enzo Ferrari himself, exclusive to the US market and each carrying Chinetti’s NART (North American Racing Team) badge. Due to the overwhelming expenses, production only stopped at 10.

“It is a privilege to present this NART Spider,” said Rob Myers, Chairman and CEO, RM Sotheby’s “Its offering at auction is such an extraordinary event. Ownership of a NART Spider represents membership in a club of only nine other enthusiasts around the world. If a Ferrari is the choice of car connoisseurs, then the NART Spider is the choice of Ferrari connoisseurs.”

Come May, whoever gets their hands on the tasteful red sheen and elegant form of the NART Spider, will surely have something worth bragging about.


 
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